The Fools' Tournament
by Shenjay
Summary: Minato and Hamuko were complete strangers to each other. Upon meeting and awakening to their powers they entered a battle... A competition to screw each other's social life. -It gets extremely dark at times, you've been warned.
1. The transfer students

**Author's note: Welp, sorry for wordiness and stuff. The grammar is likely to be a bit off as I'm not a native speaker, so I beg you forget it/tell me where the mistakes are. I hope this fic will have some original twists compared to the other fics, as I don't plan of sticking totally to the cannon.**

**And yeah, I don't think anyone has done the whole competition for social links thing before, but who knows. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I'll try to follow a regular update schedule.**

**And uh, regarding this chapter... It's pretty boring. Things won't get interesting until they awake their personae, so please be patient.**

**Revised on 5th July 2011. I'm still looking for betas.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>It all began a 6th of April of 2009. Two soon-to-be second years walked towards the train station, different cities and different times. Complete strangers to each other, one aloof and lost in his own world where music drowned his thoughts and prevented him from falling asleep- his blue hair fell idly over his right eye providing a nice cover from people's sight if he did, though; the other eager and happy, was keen on arriving as soon as possible to her new home, cheerful music inviting her to keep a memory of everything she could see in the way. She wore her reddish brown hair in a messy bun, hair clips keeping her bangs from blocking her vision.<p>

They didn't meet when the later entered the wagon, since the train was completely full. As it got emptier, the boy casually glanced at the girl who kept her eyes fixed on the window, like looking at a ghost or maybe even a luminescent blue butterfly, just what he saw a second ago. After this derailed thought, he noticed they both were wearing the same uniform, that of those who would be attending to Gekkoukan High School from the following day onwards, but he didn't care enough to go and strike a conversation in the middle of one of his favourite songs. Furthermore, a voice just announced that the train would be late, so he wasn't in the talking mood.

Several stops later, the place was empty save for the two teens that kept ignoring each other and two or three more passengers. The doors opened, and as if they were subconsciously trying to avoid their destiny, they walked outside, each at one side of the train, ready to face a new day as the clock on the station struck midnight and their MP3s died.

The walk to the dorm was easy and uneventful for the boy. Well, uneventful might not be the best word… Let's say that what he lived in the way was already something usual in his life. Blood came out of nowhere, bathing the roads and reflecting poorly the light provided by a humungous full moon. As if the atmosphere wasn't ominous enough, all colours seemed to disappear, substituted by green and black hues and to top it, no person roamed the streets at that time. They all were busy turning into coffins, merely standing in the way, waiting for the time to finish.

But all of this couldn't bring him more than a dull surprise. He was way too used to it, not being capable to remember a time in which he hadn't experienced it. It was, in fact, the cause of his personality, his utter silence, hardly ever broken. He learned to keep all to himself, condemned to forever wondering if he was crazy or if he was simply alone in a world of oblivious people. Surprisingly enough, it was the later, as the girl walking among coffins could confirm. Fiery red eyes scanned the map she was given as she wandered in the dark streets, lost in a wrong turn back in the station. She could swear she saw a boy in red running around, following a black shape, but she knew better than to believe what she saw during that time so she decided to ditch it as a product of her imagination and quickened her pace even more.

That bizarre period was about to end, the blue haired teen could feel it. He had gone for a small walk ignoring the directions on his paper, trying to kill time until everything went back to normal. And so when he arrived to the building, he opened the door calmly, not expecting the first not so random encounter of his life: in a completely lighted room -which made the boy think his intuition was right- a child in an old prisoner pyjama, who looked just like Cesare, was apparently waiting for him. His creepily big blue eyes stared at him with expectation, making the older boy feel uncomfortable.

"You're late" the kid finally spoke, breaking the silence of the night "I've been waiting a long time for you. Now if you want to proceed, please sign your name there." The boy pointed to a red book. "It's a contract. Don't worry; all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know… The usual stuff."

Something in the equation of "creepy child" plus "contract" plus "what's a kid doing in a dorm for high school students" didn't seem quite fitting, but he couldn't bring himself to care about it. He was way too tired, and all he wanted to do was to be taken to his room and sleep forever or until the next morning, so he took the ink… feather?

"_Up-to-date technology."_ he thought sarcastically as he glanced at the old looking TV in the dorm. His sight went back to the sheet with the contract terms, which he skipped, and soon his hand was tracing kanji with really bad calligraphy.

"Arisato, Minato" the boy whispered in wonder, or maybe just to check that's what the symbols said, and then his expression changed to a grin "No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." He put more emphasis in his speech using the contract to cover his right eye, and then made it disappear somehow.

Those words left Minato puzzled. He looked at the boy intently as he expected some kind of ominous disappearance; instead, the little guy walked towards the door and excused himself, saying that he had someone else to visit. Right in that moment the lights went out yet again, and someone shouted from the stairs…

The brunette's meeting with the mysterious boy was rather similar, it even happened in the same place, except that once again, the room was illuminated and no one was in it other than the child.

"My name is Hamuko. Seikatsu, Hamuko." the red eyed girl explained with a kind smile after she signed the contract, thinking it was just paper stuff before moving in the dorm "You live in this dorm too?" The boy answered with an unnerving smile and his time speech from before, and then he muttered to himself something along the lines of "And so it begins…" and proceeded to disappear into the darkness that engulfed the dorm once again. She didn't notice until now that a boy her age was right next to her staring intently something on the stairs to the first floor. "_Am I seeing even more things?"_ she sighed, making the blue haired boy notice her.

"WHO'S THERE?" a voice shouted yet again, making Minato and Hamuko interchange confused glances. Their eyes went back to the source of the voice, a girl partially covered by the darkness of the dorm. She kept her hand a few inches away from her right thigh, where a belt held a…

"GET DOWN!" Hamuko cried as she tackled the blue haired boy to the ground as other girl took out a gun. Instead of pointing at them,however, she moved the gun towards her forehead.

"Takeba, wait!" yet another voice shouted from the upper stairs. Suddenly, the lights came back. A remix of "Burn my dread" filled the boy's ears, letting him forget the whole situation, and "Sun" gave Hamuko some insight into what she had just done, making her rush away from atop Minato- who seemed to be surprisingly comfortable dozing off on the ground; so much he wasn't willing to cooperate as Hamuko pulled him up with all her might, fearing she had hurt him.

"We didn't expect you to be so late" a red haired teen who looked slightly older than the rest explained. She looked away from the new arrivals, giving the girl wielding a gun a disapproving look.

"Who are they?" the other girl replied as she tried to hide the gun under her pink cardigan without much success. She nervously ran her left hand through her light brown hair, trying to compose her thoughts after what she had almost done.

"They're transfer students. It was a last minute decision to assign them to this dorm; they'll eventually be moved to the normal dorms." It was then when she noticed the puzzled expressions of the soon-to-be students "My name is Mitsuru Kirijo, and this is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you two."

"Is it okay for them to be here?" Yukari looked at Minato and Hamuko with distrust

"I guess we'll see…" Mitsuru whispered and motioned Yukari to greet the others.

"Hi… I'm Yukari" she whispered, still unsettled by the presence of the teens.

"I'm Hamuko Seikatsu!" the girl with red eyes introduced herself with her everlasting glee. Yukari found her unnatural eye colour slightly unnerving, just as she found Mitsuru's, which was a darker shade of red, but didn't give it much more thought; she could only smile at the girl's enthusiasm.

"Minato Arisato." The boy with blue hair glanced at the girl with tired blue eyes, too exhausted to care about the look of slight interest the brunette in pink had given him. "Nice to meet you."

Once the introductions were over, Mitsuru ordered Yukari to show each teen their respective rooms. They walked upstairs, Minato forcing his feet to drag him to the next floor, Hamuko rushing upstairs like she was high on sugar. When they arrived to the boys' floor, Yukari broke the silence that had filled the dorm since the little incident.

"Was everything okay in your way here?"

"_Yeah, coffins and blood, normal stuff_" Both thought, but instead they replied a "Just fine." simultaneously, which made the red eyed girl glance at Minato with curiosity while the boy dropped his sight to the ground, wondering why couldn't Yukari just tell him where his room was. He wanted to tell her badly that no one cared about her questions.

"…I see." Yukari replied unconvinced "Well, anyway, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but let's save them for tomorrow." She then explained a few dorm rules, and finally turned to the boy who was about to fall asleep, if he wasn't doing so already. "Your room is at the end of the corridor. Easy to remember, right?" She paused to see Minato nodding his head slowly "Well, have a goodnight!"

While Minato barely managed to arrive at his room and slump on the bed, the girls were talking on the way to the third floor. Hamuko remembered something that had been bothering her.

"Does that little boy live in the dorm too?" Disappointment filled her face as Yukari muttered a confused "what boy?" in reply. "_I really must have imagined it_. _Am I going crazy? Crazier?"_

"Anyway." Yukari interrupted Hamuko's train of thought "Your room is that one to the right at the end, mine is at the beginning of the corridor." She smiled trying to erase the awkward feeling provoked by their first encounter. "Good night!"

Hamuko shut the door behind her and sat down on her bed at the same time she let out a worried sigh. _"This promises to be an interesting year_." she thought, slightly less eager than before. She looked among her possessions, which had already been taken to the dorm days before her arrival, and soon she was sleeping in her pyjamas, even though she felt quite restless in that place.

The night went on without any occurrences, and soon the morning arrived. Minato's sleep wouldn't have been bothered at all by this daily phenomenon hadn't two girls arrived with it.

"You awake?" Yukari's voice asked from behind the door. Minato decided to ignore her, which only made things worse, as the girl next to her decided to check by herself.

"Come on, lazy!" Hamuko shouted as she tried to drag Minato out of his bed only to make him fall to the floor. "Don't tell me you fell asleep with your uniform on! Not a nice way to cause first impressions, dude!"

Yukari managed to bring the boy out of his shelter of sheets on the ground reminding him that that day was the first day of school, and their senpai, Mitsuru, had asked her to take them to school.

After a quick breakfast, they rushed to the station to take the New City passenger train, Anehazuru, which took them over the sea to Tatsumi Port Island, where their high school was placed. When the train stopped in Port Island Station, they quickened their pace to the school, noticing they were a bit short on time thanks to a certain bluenette who decided to zone out in the train.

Upon arriving to the school, Yukari walked ahead with Minato to make sure the boy followed, while Hamuko stayed behind, interested in taking a close look at everything she saw- specially the students wandering around. Minato had mentally labelled her as spunky because of this, even though he pretty much did the same as soon as the girl with the cardigan and him went their separate ways after she gave him a quick reminder of not telling anyone about the last night.

"_Smooth, Yukari, smooth_." He thought as a pair of students glanced at him and whispered about something involving him and Yukari while he checked a table where all the student names were listed. He found his written under "2-F", and soon he found something just as interesting "_Oh, hello there, gossip fuel_." Yukari was in his homeroom. He noticed Hamuko's name was there as well, but he honestly cared about her way less than he did about Yukari… That girl was really something. Hamuko was okay but… She lacked charm or something.

"Speaking of the devil" he muttered to himself as the aforementioned girl rushed to his side, asking where the heck they had gone and why they had left her alone, shaking his arm while pouting. Minato looked around only to see people staring at them and whispering.

"Didn't that guy just come to school with Takeba? Who's this chick now?" A guy said a bit too loud, enough as for both stars of the story to hear it. Hamuko's expression showed she was kind of upset, and she seemed ready to say something back to the offender when Minato stopped her explaining that both of them and Yukari would be in the same classroom, much to the girl's delight. Then he remembered Yukari mentioned before leaving that they should go see their teacher, and soon, they were heading to the faculty office together, at Hamuko's request.

Inside, a brown haired teacher was speaking with a work partner about… "_Did I just hear "cake"?_" Minato wondered for a second what kind of topic was that. Right after, he cleared his throat trying to get their teacher's attention. She turned around immediately and glanced at the teenagers with questioning eyes.

"Oh, are you the new students? You're Minato Arisato and you're Hamuko Seikatsu… 11th grade, correct?" the teacher took a folder and overlooked a bunch of pages before she carried on talking "Seems you two have a lot of common. You both have lived in a lot of different places, and apparently in 1999… Ten years ago? Your parents…" Her words stopped with a gasp, as she noticed the pained looks in both teenagers' faces. What she didn't notice was the curious glance they gave each other right afterwards, deeply surprised at the coincidence "Sorry, I've been busy and I couldn't read this beforehand. I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach composition. Welcome to our school."

"Pleased to meet you!" Hamuko answered with a smile, while Minato only nodded to show he was listening.

The teacher smiled back at Hamuko "So have you seen the classroom assignments? You're in 2-F, my class. But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will start soon. Follow me."

The teens did as ordered and soon they were sitting in comfortable cinema seats, which Minato could have used to take a quick nap hadn't Hamuko been next to him blabbering about whatever. She was thankfully silenced by the words of the principal.

"As you begin the new school year, I'd like each of you to remember the proverb "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well." When applied to student life, this means…" The principal kept talking and talking.

"This guy is in love with his own voice." Hamuko whispered to Minato and giggled, and he couldn't help but to chuckle as well, first for how right that was, and second because he found it ironic that _she_ was the one saying it.

"So you heard? We've got two transfer students this year, and one of them came to school with Yukari Takeba. THE Yukari Takeba!"

"No way, man! I heard a lot of people saw him in the school hall acting like he was really close to the other transfer student, the one with the weird eyes."

"My, rumours spread fast." Minato commented with an annoyed tune from his seat, right ahead of the student who talked first.

"You guys can't gossip in low voice like normal people or what?" she shuffled on her seat to face the gossipers "And just so you know I met this guy yesterday, alright?" after retorting at them, Hamuko sat down normally, but she was still paying attention to the guys' chatter.

"…I guess she really gets around." One of the boys whispered and the other nodded in agreement, missing the twitching girl in front of them.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST…" she was cut off by the deadly glare Ms. Toriumi gave her, which made her sit down on the act, right before a stern faced teacher made a comment about someone in the composition teacher's class talking, which made the teacher's glare change aims.

The meeting was over as soon as the principal finished his speech, which was most likely ignored by the whole auditorium, and so all the students headed towards their respective classes, where the teacher gave them a few more pointers about the school, and a long lecture. Finally, the class was over.

"That was loooooooooong." Hamuko stated and then added a yawn to reinforce it. "I think your drowsiness is rubbing off me, dude."

"Needs more coffee." Minato replied half drooling in the table. A sudden scream made him raise his head in alert, a thread of saliva still decorating his chin.

"'SUP DUDE!" a boy with a baseball cap was the source of the noise. Minato glared at him and proceeded to go back to his previous position "Hey, I'm Junpei Iori, but I'm… Uh… Sure you guys have seen me around." He rubbed the back of his head and looked at the blue haired boy and then at Hamuko. "What's his problem?" he muttered, and after getting a shrug in response, he continued with his monologue. "A-anyway, I just wanted to say that I was a transfer student back in 8th grade, so I know how it feels to be the new kid, and I wanted to tell you guys can tell me if you need… _Anything._" He said the last word with a lame try at a seductive voice as he winked at Hamuko, making her wince. "Huh, I guess the rumours weren't true after all."

"Ugh, I thought you'd know better than to believe those stupid rumours." Yukari answered from the door, having apparently watched all the interchange. "I mean, I'm already used to rumours, but it's her first day! Give her a rest!"

"Alright Yuka-tan. SO…" Junpei wore a mischievous grin again "What about those rumours about you and the sleeping blue guy?" said boy looked up at the mention of his hair colour. "You know, coming to school together, like if you were all close… Come on, give me the dirt!"

"I-I… You guys took it wrong!" she looked at Minato with a worried face while Junpei went back to hitting on Hamuko "You didn't tell anyone about… You know, right?"

"I didn't." The boy reassured her with a serious tune.

"Seriously though. Don't tell anyone about last night."

Junpei almost fell down when he heard the last phrase. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? Y-You guys really—?"

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Yukari shouted at the teen with the cap, who flailed his arms as he tried to compute the information. Hamuko observed the situation thoroughly amused from her desk, which was placed next to Yukari's. "_Better than TV."_

Yukari finally stormed off, unable to get Junpei to reason. The boy then proceeded to praise Minato by saying he really was the man, and that it was great it was only his first day and people were already talking about him.

"He comes to school with the most popular girl and he's Mr. Charm and I arrive a bit later and I'm the new slut." Hamuko spat the last word with a weird mix of resignation and amusement. "You better help me out of this, Minato-kun."

"Minato-**kun**? When did we get on first name basis, even?" Minato asked as he glared at her. Surely, she only wanted to make things worse.

"Ah, forget it man. Rumors are just rumors, they'll soon be gone." Junpei nodded to himself. He opened his mobile phone to check the hour, just to realise how late it was getting "Hey, wanna walk home together?"

Before Minato could politely decline the offer, Hamuko accepted and somehow dragged him along. She had found Junpei's bad tries at seduction funny, so she considered she might as well spend some time with the guy as a compensation for turning him down right after meeting him.

Junpei and Hamuko made small talk while Minato listened to music as he walked by their side. Soon they arrived to the dorm and Junpei took off to his house.

"I'm beat. I'm going to bed." Minato announced after he signed his name in a sign-in book which had to be delivered to the school every so often to make sure no one missed the dorm's curfew. He could swear he felt his head spin as he finished writing his name, just the same as when he signed the contract the mysterious little boy gave him. "More contracts?"

"World moves on contracts, man." Hamuko stated as she motioned him to move so she could write her signature as well.

"What contracts are you talking about?" Yukari asked confused from the sofa.

"The one the little boy gave me…" the blue haired boy saw Hamuko open her mouth but he didn't mind her.

"You too see things?" the brunette in a cardigan hit her forehead with the palm of her head "Look, there are no children in this dorm, so no boy could have ever given you a contract." She sighed "You guys ate something bad in the station?"

Minato shook his head ending the conversation, and then headed to his room. "Eh, you know what? I think I'll go to bed early too." As Minato reached the corridor of the boys' floor, Hamuko stopped his steps by blocking the way to his door with her body and arms. "You!" the boy was trying to avoid her without results. "You saw that kid too!" he stopped abruptly and looked at her with an undecipherable expression which turned into Minato's version of shock: paying attention "You… You were conscious at that time too, right? You saw the kid and you could see the coffins and the blood and everything, didn't you?"

Red eyes were fixed on blue ones, begging him to answer. Minato barely nodded his head, and whispered something about talking the following day before he carefully moved Hamuko aside in order to enter to his room. The girl was left on the outside, gaping, until she regained her senses and began stomping on the ground "Why not now?" she shouted at the closed door. She didn't receive any answer from inside, so she kicked the offending furniture with all her rage, regretting badly ever doing so as she let out a loud scream.

"Is everything alright?" Mitsuru asked from downstairs, suspicion in her voice.

"O-oh yeah, everything is perfectly fine, I… uh- I tripped and hurt my feet, that's it!" Hamuko lied as she tried her best to stop jumping in pain.

"Do you require my assistance?" the red head offered as she slowly got up from one of the armchairs in the lounge.

"N-NO! I mean- That won't be necessary, thank you!" Hamuko then proceeded to limp her way upstairs trying her best not to be seen. She knew better than to let Mitsuru see her in the boys' corridor. Soon, she arrived at her room and fell to the bed ipso facto, cussing mentally at Minato. In spite of this, she couldn't take a thought out of her mind. "_I'm not…_"

"_…Alone._" Minato thought as he closed his eyes, falling in Morpheus's arms. The fact of finding out he might not be crazy after all made a small smile creep into his usually stoic face.


	2. The awakening

**Author note: I am updating earlier than expected. Why? I was bored and I'm almost done with the next chapter as well. There.**

**Once again, sorry for my grammar and so on.**

"Did you hear the rumour…?" Minato turned his head slightly towards the girls standing next to the school gates. "That story about the first-year student! Not only did she stop coming to school, but every time her mother tries to talk to her she only mutters to herself "It's coming! It's coming!" What's with that face? You don't believe me?" After hearing these words, the blue haired boy kept marching onwards, not interested in ghost stories and the like.

The most interesting thing about the day was that Ms. Toriumi asked Junpei about her favourite author after ranting a while about him. Hamuko tried to get Minato to give him the answer, but he was just as spaced out as the student with the baseball cap, so he gave him a wrong answer, earning a groan from the teen and a "thanks for nothing". Minato got the distant feeling that he was missing a chance to be a cool boy and such, but he shrugged it off and went back to sleep.

After school, Minato wandered towards a bench in the gardens of the school, waiting for Hamuko. He was pretty sure she would show up any second, and she didn't disappoint.

"Hey!" she greeted trying to get her breath back after having run all over the building looking for him. "Can we… Can we talk now?" her tune denoted an order rather than a request. She got a nod in response. "Why couldn't we talk about it yesterday anyway? Were you THAT tired?"

"I uh… I don't like the dorm." Seeing Hamuko's puzzled face, he added "It doesn't seem a safe place to talk about such a weird kind of things." Minato then looked down, trying to seize his words. He wasn't used to talking more than needed. "I don't know where to begin." He paused for a second, and looked at Hamuko straight in the eye "How long have you been experiencing that time?"

"I don't remember a moment I haven't lived it. Night after night at midnight, it's been the same as far as my memory reaches." Minato's eyes lit up and Hamuko could tell he was in the same boat. "Let's see… You too see a weird ass creepy moon, coffins, blood and such don't you?" she said that phrase in a whisper, half worried about some student hearing her and think she was weird, half scared that Minato and she would be talking about completely different things.

"I do." The boy got quiet again and a thick silence fell upon the two teens.

"So? Do you have any idea about what is it? Or… Why no one else seems to know about it?" The silence returned, and the bluenette shook his head with sad eyes. "Hey, don't look so down. I mean… We just discovered we aren't crazy! The fact we have found each other here is pretty awesome, don't you think, Minato-kun?" Hamuko tugged at Minato's sleeve trying to cheer him up, but the boy seemed to have zoned out. The girl furrowed her brows in annoyance. "Mi-na-to-kuuuun!"

"…Wasn't Takeba-san fine when we entered the dorm?" Minato questioned after focusing his sight on her again. After thinking about it for a second, another realization hit Hamuko.

"So was Mitsuru-senpai…" she muttered, almost in disbelief. "That's why Yukari asked if everything was fine! They know about it! They live it too! They're keeping information from us! THEY MUST KNOW ABOUT US!"

As Hamuko got louder in her rant, Minato tried his best to quickly take her away from the school garden, where a considerable amount of students had begun staring at them. Those would later confirm that Minato and Hamuko were dating behind Yukari's back, insisting that Hamuko herself had shouted about how they had been discovered by her.

The way to the dorm didn't seem so long the day before. The boy had finally managed to get Hamuko to calm down a bit when they reached Port Island Station, but she still seemed pretty mad. The girls at the dorm would have to give them an explanation or two. As soon as the train stopped in Iwatodai, they rushed to their building.

"Oh, they're back." Yukari commented from her usual seat in the sofa after Minato opened the front door. She couldn't read the slight exasperation in the boy's face- not that anyone could read his expressions —but she didn't miss Hamuko's glare.

A sophisticated looking man shifted his sight from one teen to the other as Minato closed the door softly, just to make sure Hamuko wouldn't kick it shut or something. "So, these are our new guests…" he stood up and walked towards them, not giving them time to ask anything first "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school. "Ikutsuki"… Hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself, even I get tongue-tied, so just Chairman is fine." He smiled and motioned the students to take a seat. Minato sat next to Yukari, and Hamuko sat on the armchair, cross armed. "I apologise for the confusion regarding your accommodations_._ However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment. Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Why are you here? Shouldn't a Chairman be busy or something?" Minato couldn't avoid thinking that Hamuko wasn't focusing her anger on the right people.

"T-to welcome you all, of course!" the Chairman shrugged slightly "Well, to be honest, I do have other business here. Speaking of which… Where's Mitsuru, Yukari?"

"Upstairs." Yukari answered as she stared back at the red eyed girl who had been glaring at her since she arrived.

"As diligent as always, although it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello. So uh… Is there anything else?"

Before Hamuko could ask something insolent again, Minato spoke up "Are there any other students in the dorm?"

"There are only five students in the dorm: you two, the most recent guests, Yukari, Mitsuru, and a senior named Akihiko Sanada. I hope you'll all get along…" Ikutsuki surely felt the bluenette and brunette's uneasiness "You two seem tired, why don't you go to bed? As they say, "the early bird catches the bookworm!" He he… Well, I've to leave now. Have a good night." He then opened the door and left like that.

"You'll get used to his lame jokes. Erm… I think I'll be going to bed now." Yukari did her best not to run upstairs, but that was just what she did when she saw Hamuko getting up from the armchair. Apparently, she had noticed that those two were after something, most likely the answers to their questions, thing she had promised the night they arrived.

"It's no use. Don't waste energy." Minato whispered to the red eyed girl, who hanged down her head in defeat.

"As soon as we get a good chance to talk, I'm not gonna let them go until we have ALL the info we want." She put her hands on hips and straightened her back in an "I'm-very-serious" heroic pose, which she ended as soon as she realised Minato was staring with an awkward expression. "You need to learn how to make faces, man."

They said goodnight to each other at the stairs, and as soon as they went to bed they found sleep… Or something similar.

"Welcome… To the Velvet room"

A man with a long nose stared at them in their dream. His eyes seemed bulged out, and hair was lacking atop his head. He had a grin like that of the Cheshire cat, which gave both of the teens a shiver. Besides him, there was a person with golden eyes and grey hair wearing a blue suit and wielding a book in their hand. In Minato's dream, this person was a woman, in Hamuko's, a man. Both were pretty good looking, and they couldn't help but to stare at their respective guest with awe.

The dream was placed for both in some kind of elevator covered in velvet, with nothing more than a love seat in which the long nosed man was sitting, a table covered in a blue mantel, and a chair in the shape of a lyre in which the protagonist of each dream was sitting. There was a mirror behind the lyre chair, in which the whole elevator was reflected. In the reflection, everything was blurry save for Igor and the furniture. The assistants' reflection was –apparently—gone, but it actually appeared in the opposite side of the room's reflection, blurred out as well.

After staring for a little longer in silence, the creepy man spoke up. "My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance." The man pointed to his companion. Elisabeth was the woman; Theodore, the man. He explained that each were residents there, just like him. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… It's been years since we had a guest… Or two, for that matter." He chuckled as he showed the contract which the mysterious boy in the dorm days ago wielded, and carefully placed it open on the table. It had two pages signed, but one of them seemed fuzzy, a different one for each reader. "Only those who have signed the Contract can enter this place. Henceforth, you will be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return... That you abide by the Contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make." He then handed a key to each teen, thus finishing the dream.

None of the teens could remember the dream they had that night when they woke up, but they knew it was really bizarre, and abstained from commenting it the following day when they headed to the dorm together, as Yukari seemed to be avoiding them –Minato thought this was because of Hamuko's behaviour—and Mitsuru… Well, she somehow seemed above the whole walking to school with her kohai thing. Having almost reached school, Junpei pretty much assaulted Minato, throwing the sleepy boy to the ground, as he didn't see him while frolicking happily – like a happy idiot, rather.

"What's up!" he asked as he helped him up "Man, today is the perfect day! The sky is blue... We're young... What more could we ask for? Dude, listen to this... Oh, wait! I'm not supposed to say anything... Sorry, man." He then proceeded to run away almost hopping instead of walking, once again. Minato could swear he heard him giggle while doing so.

"What a lively boy. You should be more like that, Minato-kun! Ah, who knows, maybe I'll even give him a chance next time he hits on me." Hamuko tapped her chin with the tip of her index finger, really considering the possibility. The bell rang almost immediately, and they had to rush to their class.

The morning went by quickly, or at least until it was time for Mr. Ekoda's class. When Hamuko heard around school that literature classes could make you die of boredom, she didn't think they were being literal. As much as she tried to fight, to stay awake and learn something, she stole Minato's role as a sleepy head, and found out her table was the most comfortable pillow ever right at that moment. It was a bit of a dumb act, though, as she was in the first row of desks and Mr. Ekoda spotted her quickly, giving her a bunch of extra assignments to be done at home as a punishment. Minato on the other hand, had used the attention given to Hamuko in his benefit, and had been able to sleep without being interrupted at all.

This time they took different ways to the dorm, as the red eyed girl groaned something about screwing Mr. Ekoda and some homework. Minato preferred to think he heard wrong, and took a walk around Iwatodai before going back to the dorm. When he entered, he saw Hamuko in the kitchen, her face touching the table and her arms hugging each other. She had fallen asleep.

"_Maybe she was right about my drowsiness being contagious."_ The boy considered letting her sleep there until someone came by and woke her up, but he ditched the thought. He went back to the door to sign his name in the sign in book, and then headed to the kitchen looking for something edible. He found some just-add-water chicken noodles, and sat down in front of Hamuko. After a few seconds the girl opened her eyes just to see the boy slurping noodles nonchalantly.

"Did you make instant noodles for me too?" she asked and then added a yawn. She raised her head just to see her homework was still only half done.

"Nope." The boy sank his chopsticks into the soup and put some more noodles in his mouth.

"Then stop being a prick and get me some." She kicked his foot under the table. Homework had made her hungry, and when she was hungry her state of mind was comparable to Minato's when in lack of sleep. Her dorm mate handed her his cup of noodles, which was near empty. "Like I'm going to eat that." She made a sound similar to a snarl as he shrugged and walked upstairs, humming a song from his MP3 repertory. As soon as he disappeared from sight, she took the cup of noodles and began eating desperately.

After she was done with her homework, she headed to her room. In the way she found Minato buying some drinks from a vending machine.

"How did you like the noodles?" he asked casually as he took a sip from a tin of Mad Bull he had just opened.

Hamuko grumbled a "shut up" as she stole a Cielo Mist and abandoned the boys' floor, leaving a snickering Minato behind. He stopped his laughter when he realised that no one else seemed to be in the dorm. They probably were just late with club activities and all, but he had a bad feeling. Being unable to take it out of his mind, he decided to go to bed.

It was midnight already. Hamuko was having trouble sleeping and she could swear she was hearing voices from upstairs. The words were really difficult to catch, but she was able to tell that they belonged to the dorm members.

"…Same as last night."

"…Interesting… Potential… Common symptoms…"

"…Guinea pig."

"…New members... Classmate… Your age?"

"…But still."

She was sure those were Mitsuru, the Chairman and Yukari chatting. Something told her that had she been able to catch all the words, she wouldn't still have understood the conversation. There was a sudden beeping sound which she heard easily.

"..Akihiko?"

"Believe this… Is huge! …Chasing me… Almost there."

"…Bringing that here?" Hamuko felt VERY uneasy when she heard the shocked tune in that voice.

"Mr. Chairman!"

"…Prepare for battle!"

This couldn't be good. Hamuko decided to get up and change into the first thing she found—her school uniform. She was positive she had heard "battle", but she hadn't any kind of weapon at hand. She ran out of her room towards the 4th floor, but found no one was there anymore, so she ran downstairs again, finding Yukari in the 2nd floor, the boys' one.

"What the hell is going on?" Hamuko asked as she took a peek downstairs. She could see a boy with silver hair and a red vest sitting by the door, panting and bleeding, talking about something about to arrive. Before she could even blink, Yukari grabbed her wrist and they ran to Minato's room, breaking in with a half assed warning.

"I woke up from the noise." He stated as he finished putting on the jacket of his school uniform. It seemed he had fallen asleep with it once again. "Is there anything wrong?"

"I don't have time to explain! We have to get out of here NOW… But um, take this… Just in case." Yukari handed Minato a knife, and bit her lip worried upon realising she hadn't anything for the girl. They ran downstairs, headed to the backdoor, which was placed next to the kitchen.

"Alright, we should be safe for now…" suddenly, a voice resonated in everyone's minds, leaving Hamuko and Minato utterly confused, but Yukari seemed to know what was up.

"Takeba, do you read me?" the voiced asked. It seemed Mitsuru's.

"Y-yes! I hear you!"

"Be careful! There's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"

"WHA-?" Before she could even finish, something hit the door, making even the ground tremble. Everyone stepped back cautiously. "What are we going to do…? They're downstairs! Do we have any choice but to go further up?"

The three teens ran upstairs as fast as they could. Every time they tried to stop and catch their breaths, they noticed the banging noises getting louder mixed with some cracking noises, coming from the door as well. This encouraged them to run for their lives and remembering to breathe later. They arrived to the 5th floor, in which there was only a door and some old unused furniture.

"O-oh yeah if we go through here..!" Yukari pushed the others to cross the door, and after she went through it she shut it with a key and some code. "We should be safe here."

"A roof is your idea of a safe place?" Minato shouted in shock. Before he could say anything else, loud thumps made the dorm shake, and soon a squeaky noise filled their ears. The three teens turned around slowly, just to see a black hand moving its fingers as it reached out for the ledge of the roof. Soon, many other hands followed it, until a hand wielding a blue mask showed up. The mask had the Roman number "I" in it, and a surprised expression. The hand turned the mask to one side and the other, and then it noticed them. Time seemed to freeze as dozens of hands wielding knives produced out of nowhere. The ones which didn't have them were used as some kind of feet which moved the black mass made of hands.

"These monsters… We call them shadows." Yukari explained as said monster kept approaching. She reached out for the gun on her right thigh, which Minato and Hamuko hadn't noticed until now, and, panting, she pointed it to her forehead. Small tornados formed around the monster, yet it wasn't clear whether if it was it or the girl who provoked them. Yukari gasped and pointed the gun to her forehead again. Yet another tornado appeared, and at the same time, the "shadow" hit Yukari with one of its knives, sending the brunette to the ground, and throwing her gun right at Minato's feet, on a blood puddle.

The boy stared at the gun with a blank expression, maybe some surprise. He then looked up to see the girl laying on the ground, and the one next to him, who was staring at him with a similar expression. The shadow headed towards them, but neither Hamuko nor Minato could see it anymore. Instead they saw a boy… The one they had seen at the dorm days ago.

"Go on…" the kid said with a grin. He then pointed his index and middle fingers to the side of his head "Can you…" he made a shooting gesture "…do it?"

The surprise in Minato's face was completely gone, replaced with a serious and calm expression. He picked up the gun and held it carefully with both hands. He could feel his heart thumping, as images of Yukari pointing the gun to her head filled his mind, and he slowly –much to Hamuko's dismay, who the shadow was about to reach—put the gun on his head.

"Per… So… Na." a sound of shattering crystal was heard as he pressed the trigger. He felt a blow freezing his mind, not too far of the feeling Hamuko had and which made her shudder, thinking it was just the impressive image that had formed before her eyes. A figure with black face and white hair, resembling Minato's slightly, had caught everyone's –including the shadow—attention. It wore a red scarf and carried a lyre on its back, over its blue and white armour- wait, it wasn't armour, it was its actual body. In the centre of its torso there was a speaker which thumped as the creature spoke.

"Thou art I, and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul I cometh. I am Orpheus, Master of Strings." The creature then roared as Minato smiled in satisfaction, proud of his achievement. In a matter of seconds, a cracking sound came from Orpheus, and Minato clutched his head as he fell on his knees, throwing his evoker to the ground. The shadow used this moment to throw itself over the boy, cutting him with one of its knives.

The brunette girl gasped and she no longer could hear her own thoughts, drowning in desperation. She had seen what Minato and Yukari did, and what the little boy told them to do, yet she still had her doubts when she picked up the gun and shoot herself, making another creature appear out of the crystals shot by the gun. She opened her eyes just to see the creature was awfully similar to Minato's, except that it had a white head with long brown hair covering it. Its lyre was heart shaped, and its body was yellow instead of blue.

"Thou art I… And I am thou." Hamuko didn't have time to enjoy the creation of her mind. She fell to her knees immediately, holding her head in pain as purple flashes blurred her vision. The shadow wasn't willing to attack anymore, it seemed to be… Frightened.

Floating above them, the creatures seemed to suffer the same as its owners, as they mimicked their owners' movements. The cracking noise got louder, and suddenly, the creatures began attacking each other and twitching violently. Yukari, who had recovered a bit around now, could only stare at this event as she had crawled away from the battle zone.

Giving a last sharp cry, the creatures broke each other's faces, and a black mass came from both of them, taking some consistence in the air. It bit the air with its metal jaws as it strove for freedom. It let out a blood freezing roar as it swung a katana in the air, making both Minato and Hamuko move forward as if the monster's action affected them. They could see the monster better now and noticed some coffins floated around it, all attached to a chains coming from the shoulder pads it was wearing. The monster was, in a single word, overwhelming.

The shadow tried to escape, run for its life, but the new monster didn't allow this. It bit the shadow morbidly, and it ripped off its arms one by one. When there were only a few left, it raised its katana and cut right through the shadow's mask, putting an end to its existence. It then proceeded to take one of the remaining arms and crush it with its bare hand, until it melted and the weird black substance dripped from its fist. It made the creature groan in pleasure or some sort of horrendous laugh. Once it was done with its fun, it roared again. It disappeared for a second, and the next only both male and female Orpheus were in the place just standing in the air. They vanished like nothing had happened, and Minato and Hamuko finally gave up and fell completely to the ground, hearing the distant voices of Yukari and the others.

Next they knew they were in their respective Velvet Rooms. "It's so nice to see you again." Igor's greetings seemed sarcastic "You became unconscious after awakening to your "power". It's nothing to worry about, though. So just relax. By the way... I see it was Orpheus who heeded your calling." He made a short pause and continued speaking "That power is called a Persona… It is a manifestation of your psyche."

"Wait…" Minato and Hamuko had the same idea at this point, but only Hamuko voiced it. "Why did I get an Orpheus too?"

Igor's grin seemed to decay a tiny bit, before it came back with an explanation. "The way see it, you two must be more similar than you'd think. You can think of a Persona as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships." He seemed to know more than that, yet she didn't pry.

His speech went on the same way for both guests. "The ability evolves as you develop your social links, your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability."

His tune changed to a more serious one "In the past, social links did not play an important role, and we could welcome several guests who honed their power without their acquaintances help. There was an… Occurrence which severed deeply the power of the personae. I would much rather not talk about it." He shifted in his chair and his smile was gone for a second. "We are assisting two guests now. You might remember I mentioned it the first time we met. Ergo, I am afraid that the power we can give you has been consequently limited, just as much as your capability to obtain social links has."

"What does you mean?"

"What I want to say is that you, Fools, are on a race for strength. Let me help you understand with an example: If your intention is to approach a person by helping them overcome an issue, but someone performs this act before you are able to, you will find that you have no means to fulfil your objective, and this friendship will never be born. Hence, it will be impossible for both of you to share strong, unbreakable bonds worthy enough of constituting a social link with the same person. Do you comprehend?"

"I… Think I do."

"Excellent! That means the only obstacle left in your way is figuring out who is the other Fool. I believe you might have a hunch already." Igor lowered his head a bit, apparently reconsidering something "In spite of my previous words, you should not forget that you might be able to find a great ally even in your worst enemy. It is the most noble, yet hardest way to achieve your aims. Please, remember that." He made a short pause and his creepy grin was fully restored. "Now then, time marches on your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you'll come here of your own accord. Until then… Farewell."


	3. The competition begins

**Author note: Chapter keep getting wordier and wordier even though there are only like, two days a chapter. I blame the fact that now school's over I have a lot of free time.**

* * *

><p>"Grn?" That was the most coherent thing Minato could say when he regained his senses. He opened his eyes a little bit, just to see a brown haired girl sitting on a chair next to his bed. She looked completely flabbergasted.<p>

"You're awake…! Thank goodness you finally came to… Honestly, how much do you sleep? It's been a full week!" that was Yukari. THE Yukari as a student had called her a few days ago and she was in the same room as him, staring at him like if he was the most awesome thing ever. "…I was so worried about you… " He needed a few seconds to compute the information and figure out why she would be worried about him. When he remembered the reason, his previous conclusions fell down, leaving him a tad disappointed, and he only could wonder where he had ended up after the events from the night of the awakening. Yukari –for a change- understood Minato's questioning face.

"This is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It's just a short walk from the station. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He said you were just exhausted, but you kept sleeping and sleeping... You know how worried I was? Um... I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. Either of you, I mean. But… Your power… Uh…" she shuddered for a moment, remembering the horrible thing that came from both of the Orpheus after they destroyed each other "…It was certainly amazing. That power you used, we call it "Persona", and that thing you defeated was a "shadow". They're our enemy."

"And there I thought they just wanted to play." Minato offered Yukari a friendly smile. It was quite a rare occurrence, and it was the best he could do in this state to thank his dorm mate for the time spent caring for him. Yukari smiled back, and then she looked down. She seemed to be pondering about something.

"You know… I'm… Sorta like you." She kept her eyes on the ground. "My dad died in an accident when I was little… And my mum and me aren't exactly on good terms… I was told of your past, so I wanted you to know mine…" she made a small pause and then continued "It was back in '99... There was a big explosion in the area. Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but nobody really knows what happened. He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group, so I'm hoping if I stick around long enough I'll learn something. That's why I'm going to Gekkoukan High, and why I was there when this happened to you..." she then chuckled softly "And here I am telling you all this right when you woke up. While I was waiting, I thought to myself, "I've been hiding so many things from him... And when he wakes up, I'm going to tell him the truth.""

"So, thanks for listening. I've been wanting to share that story with someone for a long time" she seemed pretty ashamed after telling all this. Minato tugged at the sleeve of her cardigan.

"Thanks for telling me. I um… I promise I'll do my best to help you find out about your father." His hand slipped down her sleeve and squeezed her hand gently. She grinned at him in the most gorgeous way he had seen in his life. "_Well, there had to be a reason she is the most popular girl at school._" Suddenly, the door was pushed open and Yukari freaked out badly, not even knowing where to put her hands as she quickly pulled it away from the boy's grip. Minato let out an inaudible sigh and turned his head slightly to see who had interrupted him, even though he already knew who it was.

"Mi-na-to-kuuuuuuuuuun!" Hamuko ran towards his bed cheerfully. Soon she was shaking his arm with a worried expression, though. This had become her own way of greeting the blue haired boy, apparently. "What are you, a marmot? I think you sleep ENOUGH in class. Don't you think so, Yukari?"

"Ah… Hamuko, I don't think you should be telling him off when you got up just two hours ago." Yukari chuckled as Hamuko nervously commented he didn't need to know that. It was only after hearing about the brunette waking up when Minato noticed she was wearing a hospital nightgown. He then briefly wondered when Yukari and Hamuko began calling each other by their names. Heck, they had dropped the honorifics, even! "…Oh well, I'd better go tell the others you are awake. Later!"

Hamuko and Minato interchanged glances as soon as Yukari left. "You did that on purpose." The boy frowned in annoyance.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." Minato rolled his eyes, and this gesture didn't go unseen by Hamuko.

"Hey, I'm sorry for interrupting your flirting, but I wanted to see how you were feeling. I bet you'd have done the same for me had you woken up earlier." She made a little pause and then began laughing "Pffft, yeah right. What am I thinking? I almost forgot that you suffer from a chronic case of dick-ness."

"Excuse me?" Minato seemed a bit offended "If you only plan to bother me, get out of my room."

"Hmm hmm hmm…" Hamuko hummed as she looked up pressing her lips together. She mouthed a "nope" and after she moved her free hand towards Minato's face in order to show something she had been hiding behind her back since she entered the room: a cup of instant noodles.

"Akihiko-senpai brought this." She took away the paper which kept them warm while the water acquired the taste of the soup and began eating with a happy expression. Minato stared at her- or rather at her food—with his mouth opened, having just realised how hungry he felt after sleeping for a whole week. Hamuko smirked as she got the result she expected. "…And you're not getting any noodles for being such a prick."

Hamuko kept slurping the contents of the cup until she considered Minato had stared deadly at her for enough time. She gave him the cup sticking her tongue out at him and then took off, mentioning something about needing to stretch her legs out. Minato looked inside the recipient and noticed that all the soup and vegetables remained untouched, but there were no noodles left. He shook his head and snorted, and then he began drinking the soup, trying to avoid the vegetables as well.

The day went on without any remarkable events other than a couple of visits from the other members of the dorm, namely Mitsuru and Akihiko. The latter quickly introduced himself and handed him a cup of noodles, saying that Minato needed to get stronger so he didn't black out again. The hours went by slowly, and when "that time" hit, he found out the hospital looked surprisingly creepy at night, reminiscent of one in a videogame he had played, except his didn't have any monster nurses. A soft knock on the door scared the daylights out of him, but he relaxed –a bit—when he heard Hamuko's voice begging to let her in, as she didn't like being alone in such a place. In the end, she managed to persuade Minato to let her in his room. Truth to be told, the boy thanked the company as well. They mostly did small talk—well, Hamuko did, Minato only listened and tried his best not to fall asleep—and before everything returned to normal, the girl left and ran to her room, saying that she owed him one.

The next morning both teens left the hospital together, but they went their separate ways on Port Island Station. Minato was still feeling a bit drowsy, and the girl didn't want to wait for him. Upon arriving at the school gates, he saw Yukari and waited for her.

"Mornin'. You seem to be doin' pretty well." She commented cheerfully as she looked at him from head to feet with a smile. Minato was about to ask if she was checking him out or something, but he refrained from doing so as he didn't feel brave or cool enough to pull that one off. "Hey, sorry to hit you with this first thing in the morning, but Ikutsuki-san wants to talk to you today. Come to the 4th floor of the dorm after school today, okay? Don't forget." The bell rang and they had to stop their chat.

Mr. Ono's class was a pain, not as much as Mr. Ekoda's, but still pretty bad. The teens knew what they could expect from classes this time, and after a full week of sleep, they faced them with a surprising amount of attention. So much that when Junpei was asked about houses in the Jomon period, the blue haired boy took his chance to prove Hamuko –or rather himself- that he could be nice and gave him the correct answer. Students all over the class whispered about him in awe and he felt he became slightly cooler.

Many classes later, Minato noticed Yukari and Hamuko were commenting the 4th floor thing in front of him, and since they were at it, Yukari apologised –apparently for a second time—for having hidden information, and the red eyed brunette apologised for having been a bit of a jerk. They gave each other a hug afterwards and Minato thought this situation was important somehow and that it should have worried him, but he couldn't figure out why. He decided it probably had to do with hormones and the wish to be the one embracing Yukari, touching her and... As his thoughts trailed off slightly, the students got up from their chairs, meaning the class had ended. The brunette and he proceeded to head to the dorm, not without hearing some whispers here and there. They seemed to be about Hamuko and Yukari engaging in a bitch fight over Minato which ended up with the first and last teens in the hospital. _Nice_.

There was no one to be found in the lounge, so they walked to the 4th floor, both feeling a bit tense. They felt like if they were going to be initiated to some creepy cult.

"Ah, there you are" The Chairman spoke in a calm voice. "I'm glad you're okay. I wasn't sure what I'd do if anything happened to you." Despite his words referred to both teens, he was clearly looking at Hamuko, which made her shudder. She gave Minato an uneasy look which he answered furrowing his brows, being a little bit freaked out as well.

"Why did you call us here?" He asked trying to erase the weird first impressions.

"I needed to talk to you. Please, have a seat." The teens did as he said. Minato sat down next to Yukari, and Hamuko found a place in the chair next to Akihiko's, right opposite to Minato's seat. "Oh I believe you have already met him, but this is Akihiko."

"How ya doin'?" the boy asked with his incredibly low voice. It made him sound like a detective from a noir film. Ikutsuki then nodded to himself and took a deep breath.

"Okay, let me start off by asking you this… Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?"

"Yes."

"Of course."

The Chairman blinked in disbelief. "W-well I guess this is a huge advancement. "

"They have already experienced it firsthand, Chairman." Mitsuru explained. "However, that was truly an interesting reaction." She seemed truly amused. "You know the signs: the streetlights go out, nothing works, coffins appear everywhere… Doesn't it feel like you're in a different time? That's the Dark Hour, a time period hidden between one day and the next."

Her words didn't tell them anything they didn't already know, save for a name for that time. "Hidden?" Minato seemed a bit suspicious when he asked this.

"I guess it's more like people aren't aware of it. But, the Dark Hour does exist. It occurs each night at midnight. It'll happen tonight, and every night to come." Minato and Hamuko wanted to yell "We all know!" at the Chairman, but they decided against it.

"Normal people don't realize it, since they're all sleeping in their coffins. But, that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting." Akihiko smirked "…You saw that creature. We call the ones like that "shadows". They only appear during the Dark Hour and attack anyone not in a coffin." His expression softened "It's our job to defeat them. Sounds interesting, huh?"

Mitsuru got visibly angry at his words. "Akihiko! Why are you always like that? You just got hurt the other day!"

"Now now!" the Chairman said in a concealing tune "He does his work well. Long story short… We're the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. S.E.E.S for short. On paper, we're classified as a school club, but in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating shadows. Mitsuru is the leader. I'm the club advisor."

"A shadow feeds on the mind of its prey; the victim becomes a living corpse. They're responsible for most of the incidents in the news, if not all of them." Minato cleared his throat awkwardly and Hamuko became suddenly interested in her feet. None of them had checked the news lately. Not their fault, they had been busy. "…I refer to the Apathy Syndrome cases. I am certain you must have heard of them in school or else."

"_Sure, why not" _"So how do you fight them?" the red eyed girl turned her head towards Ikutsuki.

"Although rare, there are those who can function during the Dark Hour. Some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows. That's Persona, the power you used the other night. The Shadows can only be defeated by Persona-users. Which means it's all up to you guys." The Chairman looked at the teens intently, and they nodded to show they comprehended the information. "I'm glad you're quick to understand."

"What he's trying to say is…" Mitsuru said as she opened a case that had been lying on a table which separated the chairs and the sofa "We want you to join us." She pushed a case towards the surprised teens and opened it. It had two guns in it. "We've prepared an Evoker for you. We'd like you to lend us your strength."

Hamuko bit her lip while looking away and Minato faltered. They were thinking about what happened a week ago when they summoned their personae, but Yukari thought they were scared of the whole fighting Shadows thing. "Senpai, that's not the way to ask such a thing… They need time to think." she shot Minato a stealthy glance, which the boy didn't miss. "But I'd be really happy if you decided to join." Half a second later, Minato reached out for his evoker. Hamuko took it soon after and the brunette with the cardigan let out a relieved sigh. "I was afraid you'd say no… Welcome aboard!"

"Thank you so much. I'm really glad. Oh I almost forgot… About your room assignment… Why don't you just stay here?" Minato pressed his lips slightly, not liking the idea. "I don't know what the holdup is, but I guess it worked out in the end." Ikutsuki chuckled and Yukari looked at him with a worried face.

"Holdup? But wasn't that…" she seemed to realise something "Oh, never mind."

Everyone fell into a comfortable silence after several cheers and "thank you"s were heard all over the room. Suddenly, an image appeared in Hamuko and Minato's minds and a white flash blurred their vision. It was a card featuring the picture of a vagrant walking with a dog by its side. Below them, the number 0 appeared. A deep, ominous voice, reminiscent of Orpheus's began talking "Thou art I… And I am thou. Thou has established a new bond. Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana." And then the card vanished and their sight became clear again.

Both teens looked around, completely bemused. Nobody else seemed to have realised what just happened. _"…A Social Link?"_ By some chance, Minato and Hamuko glanced at each other, shock still obvious in their faces. They kept their eyes fixed on the other's for a few seconds, until they couldn't bear it anymore and looked away, wincing in frustration. They had just remembered Igor's words, and it was obvious for each other who "the other Fool" was. Yet, they couldn't help but to think Igor seemed to have been wrong in his explanation. Both had clearly felt the formation of the social link, judging by their faces. They seemed to understand this almost at the same time, as they looked at each other no longer frustrated, but deeply confused.

The whole new social link experience left them a bit dazed and tired, so they barely had time to order their thoughts when the meeting was called off. Everyone was told to go to their rooms, and so they did. However, Minato and Hamuko still needed to talk about what just happened, and so, when everyone seemed to be sleeping already, Hamuko left her room and snuck into Minato's, startling him even worse than at the hospital.

Before they could begin discussing the matter which worried them both, the Dark Hour hit. Both teens felt a bit dizzy and closed their eyes for a second. When they opened them, there was a kid standing in front of them, smiling with curiosity in his big sky blue eyes. He wore a prisoner pyjama and his dark blue hair sported a bowl-cut. It was definitely the boy of the contract.

"Hi, how are you?" he greeted the teens, who had to check they weren't dreaming.

"Who are you!"

"Why the hell do people keep getting into my room?"

"Um…" the boy didn't seem to have answers to either question. "We all have met before." He chuckled in a very unnerving way, which was followed by an equally unnerving message "Soon, the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you."

"…Thanks?" Minato whispered, still puzzled. He noticed Hamuko's expression and grabbed her arm as he caught her getting ready to run the hell out of the place.

"The end of everything…" the boy muttered to himself as he casted his eyes down "To be honest, I don't really know what it is." He stared at the teens in silence for a few seconds, which felt like hours. "Oh, looks like you've awakened to your power… And an unusual power it is. A power that takes many forms yet is bound by none… It may prove your salvation, depending on where you end up." This boy talked in a creepily similar fashion to Igor's. Lots of words, few sense. And furthermore he kept changing topics. "Do you remember when we first met? I expect you two to honour your commitment." The boy smiled "I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me…"

The boy disappeared all of a sudden, and reappeared besides the door, seeming ready to open it, yet he stopped. "Is it appropriate for a girl and a boy to be in the same room at this hour?" Minato and Hamuko looked at each other gaping, not being able to believe a boy… Ghost… Thing was asking them for explanations. However, that was not his intention. He was actually curious. "If it is not, then I will visit you individually next time." He grinned at them with some weird kind of cute toothy smile "Okay then, see you later…" And he left. The teens' hearts seemed to be working at a bazillion beats per hour after this fateful encounter.

"WHAT was that?" Minato asked as he got his breath back

"HELL was that! I-I'm outta here, dude!" Hamuko ran away, leaving a very scared Minato staring at the door. They hadn't been able to talk about the social links issue even, so he decided the best thing he could do was to sleep. It didn't work very well.

Having almost reached the corridor of the girls' floor, Hamuko encountered Yukari, and almost fell down the stairs after jumping scared, still high on adrenaline. She stuttered an apology. "Hey, where do you come from?" Yukari asked seeing the anxiety in the other girl.

"Uuuuuh… Midnight snack? Dark hour snack, rather!" the girl laughed nervously, wanting to end this talk as soon as possible and hide under her blankets.

"Are you okay?" Yukari seemed rather suspicious "I got up because I heard some voices coming from the boys' floor." She suddenly looked at Hamuko with wide eyes "Were you-?"

"N-N-NO! I erm… I found Minato in the stairs and we talked for a bit, just like we're talking right now. That's all." she tried to sound as convincing as possible, but her stupidly fast breathing was making the task very difficult. Yukari pressed her lips and whispered something along the lines of "if you say so" The girl shrugged and walked back to her room. Hamuko could tell that the other brunette didn't buy her lie, but another thing had caught her attention. "_Was she… Jealous?"_ After this thought, she felt slightly calmer and she finally headed to her room. Before going to sleep, she decided that she would look for Minato the following day and clear the issue of the social links.

* * *

><p>This time Yukari joined the teens in their way to school, so they didn't get to have their private talk, and Hamuko knew it was pretty much her fault for making her suspicious. As they walked, Yukari thanked them for joining, explaining that Akihiko was injured and she wasn't comfortable around Mitsuru.<p>

"Never fear! Hamuko Seikatsu is here for you twenty FIVE hours a day, seven days a week!" Hamuko adopted a heroic pose "Leave it to me!"

"I am here too, you know." Minato waved his hand lazily at the girls.

Yukari chuckled. "Yeah! Let's do our best together! But… I wonder when Senpai's injury is going to heal…"

The classes went by without any remarkable occurrences, which made them seem more boring than usual. After school, the three dorm mates began chatting, trying to kill time until it was time to go back to the dorm, and Junpei took his chance to approach them and talk together. Out of the blue, Mitsuru entered their class, provoking comments full of admiration among her kohai.

"Can I have a minute?" she didn't wait for an answer "Come to the lounge when you get back to the dorm. I have something to tell everyone. I'll save the details for later. See you there." And then she left.

"Wow that was fast." Junpei commented when she disappeared from sight. Minato groaned a bit because he wanted to sleep at a normal hour again.

"She's probably busy with things like the Student Council, unlike us."

"Whoa, Yuka-tan, do I sense some hostility?" At least this time Junpei asked before jumping to conclusions.

"Well, it's not that I don't like her… She's just…" Yukari looked down as she tried to choose the correct words.

"She seems Ms. Perfection from Emotionlessburg." Yukari widened her eyes, a bit shocked Hamuko had said that aloud, even though she couldn't agree more. The red eyed girl remembered that she wanted to test something "I think she's the perfect match for you, Minato-kun. You could be robots together or something! You should totally go for her, dude…" she smirked as she noticed Yukari got a bit tense and her gaze focused on Minato.

"Not interested." The brunette seemed a bit relieved. Hamuko thought about acting like a match maker or something, but what if Yukari was one of those social links which couldn't be shared?

"_Damn, I forgot about the talk. Guess I'll have to give him a little visit tonight too."_ She bit her lower lip as she thought just how weird that sounded, and after a little while she realised the others were staring at her. Something told her Yukari had taken it the wrong way, maybe considering if she was relieved as well to hear that Minato wasn't after Mitsuru. She decided to play along out of boredom "So, uh, Minato-kun, who's your type then?" No one noticed Yukari's glare as all the eyes were focused on Minato.

"Like I said… I'm not interested in girls." The females looked at him with a blank expression and Junpei hopped away with his chair stealthily. It took him a pair of seconds to notice what he had accidentally said. "W-Wait! No! That's not what I mean! I like girls! I LOVE girls! Y-You two are totally HOT and I'd love to—Erm… What I was trying to say was…" The situation took a level in awkwardness. The aforementioned girls interchanged glances and proceeded to pick up her school bags and leave, not saying a single word. In the classroom, Junpei patted Minato's shoulder, laughing heartedly at the boy's antics, and then offered him to go with him to apologise or something. Minato vowed to himself that he would never answer to a question regarding his relations ever again. Especially if it came from Hamuko.

Yukari and Hamuko had decided to stop by the Iwatodai strip mall, under Yukari's recommendation. They were eating what the red eyed girl defined as "Weird ass tako-less yaki."

"So uh, about earlier, really, it's not that I don't like her or anything, y'know?" the topic shifted from Mitsuru to the boys "Junpei is always saying weird, creepy stuff in the most perverted way possible, huh? He's like the poster boy for sexual harassment."

"He seems pretty nice to me…" Yukari made a weird face. "The one I didn't expect to be like that is Minato-kun. He seemed rather… Collected."

"Uh yeah… That was pretty... Something. Still, he's more normal than Junpei any day. For example, last year he-"

Before she could tell the gossip, a loud "WHAT'S UP!" made one of the girls sigh in annoyance. The other snickered as she saw a blue haired boy besides the boy with the cap that had just shouted at them. Junpei was looking at the girls with a happy face, but Minato's seemed a tomato and he couldn't look at the girls straight in the eye.

"What's wrong Minato-kun?" she put her hands on her hips "Is this too hot for you?" If looks could kill, Hamuko would have been stabbed by Minato's eyes. The girl laughed mischievously. "Oh man, so was that why you were so freaked out when I got into your room? Dude that's so-" Hamuko couldn't finish her phrase. She had just realised she said something she shouldn't have. "W-wait."

"So you WERE in his room yesterday!" Yukari was flabbergasted. Minato seemed to be trying to cast a Hassou Tobi on Hamuko with his glances.

"I-I was, but not that way!" Minato was saying "Oh crap, oh crap!" to himself once and again, like if it was some sort of mantra. "We were having a chat."

"Is that what they call it now?" Junpei got a glare from every teen so he raised his hands begging for mercy.

"Shut up, STUPEI." Yukari took a hand to her forehead and sighed "Look, I don't really care about what you did in there, but if Mitsuru finds out you were in a boy's room past curfew, you two will be in deep shit."

"But we were just talking! REALLY!" Hamuko pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering that the night before she had told Yukari a different excuse.

"We didn't want to worry you." Minato's statement made everyone look at him confused "We needed to talk about… Um…" he glanced at Junpei, who seemed to have his ears set in gossip mode. Hamuko volunteered to be the one to keep him at a reasonable distance "…Yesterday's meeting. We wanted to discuss it and see if we considered we had taken the right decision. It was my fault, I told her to meet me in my room at such a late hour because we didn't want to concern you and the others unnecessarily." He bowed and added "My most sincere apologies."

"I see." Yukari faltered for a second, but her face became obviously happier right after. She completely believed in Minato's lie. "Well, if you had such doubts, you could have just told me, you know? It would have been no bother, really, and it's a way better option than getting expelled, so, share it with me next time, okay?"

Junpei ran towards Minato and Yukari when he heard the last phrase. "Did I hear it riiiiiiiight! You guys are gonna have a three-"

When the dorm mates parted ways with Junpei, the boy had a mark in his left cheek, and it was hand shaped. They saw him run away after he quickly said goodbye, because the boy said that he was meeting someone. Yukari was the first one to enter the dorm, and when Minato was about to follow her, Hamuko held his wrist. She casted her eyes down "Um, thank you… We could have been in trouble if you hadn't lied to her, so uh… I guess I owe you one…"

"Two. You still owe me for the hospital thing."

Hamuko nodded cheerfully. "I'll pay them, I promise." They proceeded to enter to the dorm, finding no one but Yukari in the lounge, so they decided to go to their respective rooms. When they reached the tables in the boys' floor, their intuition told them this was the best moment they'd get to discuss Igor's message, but with Yukari downstairs, they decided against it.

It wasn't long until the door opened and a silver haired boy entered through it. He seemed to be talking to someone. The teens walked down after they were called by Yukari.

"Okay, they're here now. What's…?"

"Hey, gimme a hand! This is freaking heavy!" a familiar voice called from outside

"That voice…" Hamuko and Minato looked at the door with wide eyes "No no no no no no, DON'T TELL ME…"

Junpei ran through the door as soon as Akihiko lifted his suitcase with only a hand "Ta-ta-ra… Tah?" the boy saw very unwelcoming, known faces. "YUKA-TAN? …Minato-kun? Hamuko-chan? What are you doing here?"

"I SHOULD BE THE ONE ASKING THAT!" she shouted out of her lungs, scaring the teen with a cap badly. "Why is HE here? ...Wait. Don't tell me…" she seemed horrified at the idea she had just had.

"Well, I ah, see you know each other. Junpei Iori will be staying with us as of today." Akihiko seemed a bit uncomfortable with the exchange happening between his kohai.

"He's staying here? You gotta be kidding me!"

"I bumped into him some nights ago. He has the potential, but only awakened to it recently. I told him about S.E.E.S and he decided to help us." The senior explained his part, and then he decided to retire to the kitchen.

"He found me cryin' like a baby at the convenience store. It's embarrassing dude, but senpai says it's normal in the beginning." Junpei seemed proud of his story "So what happened to you guys? You cried or something too?"

Hamuko and Minato shared a pained look as they remembered the image of their personae destroying each other, and then the monster which surged from that. "…Yeah, something like that." Yukari could easily tell they hadn't got over that weird event yet.

"It happens to everyone, don't worry! But dude, seriously, you too have the potential? That's pretty awesome! I'm glad I'm not alone. Anyway, I bet you're stoked too, right?Havin' me join..."

"Uh? Yeah… Sure." Yukari seemed less than amused

"We can be like, a group of heroes!" Junpei seemed to love the idea.

"…Heroes?" Hamuko hadn't thought about this before. By destroying shadows, they would be helping people. "Fighting in the night, in a hidden hour to which people is completely oblivious…"

"…Destroying shadows, even if those people will never know a bunch of teenagers save their asses every night…" Junpei walked towards Hamuko and then they stared at each other. "That'll be us, secret heroes." Next they knew, they were squealing like Akihiko's fan girls –who they had seen every time the boy walked out of school- after a match. They kept ranting about how awesome it would be and trying kick-ass heroic poses much to Minato, Yukari and Akihiko's –who had just came back after having a protein shake- amusement. When they calmed down a bit, their senpai spoke up.

"I think we're about ready." He had a smirk in his face.

"Oh we're gonna do something?" Junpei asked with delight

"Sweetness!" Hamuko couldn't help but to hop in expectation. "What is it, what is it?"

"With this many people, we can begin exploring that place." Yukari seemed shocked at her senpai's words.

"You mean… Tartarus?"

"Tartarus? What's that? …It sounds like toothpaste." Junpei looked at Minato and Hamuko, but they were just as confused.

"We believe we can find the reason for the Dark Hour there. The Chairman will give us the details tomorrow night, so be ready."

They chatted for a bit and then everyone decided to go to bed. Everyone but Minato and Hamuko, who were staring at each other intently on the sofa from the lounge.

"We need to talk." Hamuko finally voiced the thought that had been eating her since she woke up in the hospital. Minato nodded in response.

"You sure you want to talk about it at this hour?" the bluenette was a bit tired and he wanted to go to bed. "Do you want more rumours?"

"I don't give a damn about the rumours, Minato!" she spoke a bit too loud.

"…Don't be a Fool." The girl looked at the blue haired boy, who was staring at his feet. She had caught perfectly the message in the last word and she only smiled sadly in response, which made Minato look at her in the eye. "So you are the other Fool Igor was talking about…"

"You dream of Igor too, huh? …Look, we didn't choose any of this. Fighting to make friends sounds like the most stupid thing ever, doesn't it?" Hamuko was expecting a nod, or some soothing word, but Minato went back to looking down with a serious expression. "We'll just go different ways, that's it! There are thousands and thousands of people in this city! We must be able to make these social links without getting in each others' way."

"You know you can't befriend thousands of people. In the end it gets reduced to a few good friends in life, and I'm sure that those people will be necessary for both of us." Minato could tell the girl wasn't willing to listen "You probably will have friends more easily, being a happy person and all that."

"But… I don't want to… H-hey! We both have the S.E.E.S social link, don't we? Maybe Igor was wrong! A-And anyway, who cares about making personas stronger, I'm sure we can do it by fighting or something, like in videogames!" The girl seemed ready to cry. It really affected Minato.

"Remember you still owe me?" the girl looked at him with sore eyes, making her natural red eye colour seem weirder than it already was "You can pay the first by not holding anything in the competition. And the second… Promising we'll be friends deep down, no matter what we have to do with the others." He extended his hand towards the crying girl "Deal?"

Hamuko and Minato stared at each other for what seemed hours, and then Hamuko finally muttered a "Deal" and shook his hand. In that moment they felt the same as when they got the S.E.E.S social link, with both wondering why they had the Fool repeated, until they noticed this time instead of 0, the card said XXII. But truth to be told, they didn't care about this. They were perfectly conscious of what was waiting for them from now on, and they didn't have time to celebrate a new social link.

"Let's do our best, okay?" Minato suggested as he got up from the sofa and walked towards the stairs.

"You'd be surprised at how much of a bitch I can be when I want to. Just sayin'"

"Oh, so you aren't always one?" Minato mocked and Hamuko stuck his tongue at him. When it was time to say goodnight and go different ways, Hamuko gave Minato a hug.

"Sorry in advance." She muttered with a sad smile in her face. She then ran away, leaving behind Minato, who stared at the staircase in wonder.

"I should be the one apologising." He finally muttered with a smirk as he walked to his room.

The year truly promised to be interesting, both could feel it as they went to bed.

* * *

><p><strong>R&amp;R is really appreciated, you know? :D<strong>


	4. Want to be close

**Author Note: sorry for the slight delay. I really need to set a thing like updating days or something, but I wouldn't be able to stick to that. I only write when I feel like doing so, and the chapters would come really boring if I had to write in a hurry.**

**I intended for them to have at least the magician social link for this chapter, but dude I was so tired. For some reason this came out as a difficult chapter to write. Maybe it's because I had to think very well how would they act. Oh well, at least the song reference in the title fits the chapter well.  
><strong>

**Oh, hey, thanks everyone for your kind reviews and your favourites! I really appreciate them and I hope I won't disappoint you.**

* * *

><p>"Wow." That's all the teens could say. And it was an understatement. Their school, the place they spent hours in from Monday to Saturday, had just turned into a gigantic tower which seemed to reach the sky. They didn't really expect this when they came to Port Island after talking with the Chairman, who couldn't accompany them because of not being a Persona-user.<p>

"This is Tartarus. The labyrinth that reveals itself during the Dark Hour." Mitsuru explained as she walked towards the entrance.

"Labyrinth? What are you talking about? What happened to our school?" Junpei inquired, obviously scared.

"Once the Dark Hour passes, everything returns to normal. We believe this is the Shadows' "nest", as the Chairman mentioned earlier."

"But- WHY? Why'd our school turn into a giant tower?" Mitsuru shrugged in response. She either didn't know the answer, or didn't want to talk about it. "You don't know either?"

"I'm sure it's complicated." Yukari answered for her, but she was the most suspicious of Mitsuru.

"Well, maybe now we'll find out." Akihiko said with obvious eagerness in his voice. "Mitsuru and I have only gone into to take a peek; this will be our first time exploring it. Exciting, isn't it? There has to be some sort of clue in here about the Dark Hour…"

"You acknowledge you won't be accompanying us tonight, right?" Mitsuru's tune was even colder than usual

"You don't have to remind me." The silver haired boy looked down with resignation.

Everyone got into the tower cautiously. Junpei was visibly the most amazed in the group upon entering it. "Whoa, it's just as cool on the inside"

"And it sure is creepy." Yukari unconsciously got closer to Minato, who seemed ready to fall asleep any second.

"This is only the entrance. The labyrinth lies beyond the doorway at the top of the stairs." Mitsuru headed to some sort of weird motorbike which was parked besides said stairs.

"First we'll have you three get a feel for this place. Why don't you go have a look around the second floor?"

"What? By ourselves?" Yukari seemed really scared. Hamuko took her chance to see if she could become closer to her now that Minato was feeling too sleepy to care.

"Yukari, didn't I tell you that you can rely on me? I –and these guys around here- will make sure nothing bad happens to you!" the girl couldn't avoid thinking that it sounded weird coming from her. Yukari apparently shared her thought, as she was chuckling with an awkward expression.

"Anyway, we're not asking you to go very far, and I'll be feeding you information from here." Mitsuru's words seemed to calm the brunette a bit.

"We also need to appoint a leader to make any necessary decisions." As soon as Akihiko said this, Junpei jumped in excitement.

"ME, ME! PICK ME!" the boy kept hopping and Hamuko began jumping with him using the exact same words.

"Eh… You." Akihiko pointed at Minato. "You're in charge." The silver haired boy had chosen Minato for what he thought was an incredibly calm demeanour, but, actually, the boy had already fallen asleep in the place. Akihiko didn't notice this because the blue haired boy's bangs hid his eyes, as usual.

"WHAT? HIM?" Hamuko and Junpei seemed to have a sudden rapport "Senpai, I mean, look at him! You can't make this sleepyhead our leader!"

"I can be quite a good leader when I want to. Just sayin'." Minato half opened his eyes to look at Hamuko over his shoulder. The girl frowned at the use of her quote, as he was clearly provoking her.

"Well he has fought a shadow before… You too, but… Is it even safe to bring you both here?" The red eyed girl seemed a tad worried at Yukari's words.

"Maybe it'll be fine for as long as we don't summon them at the same time…" she had difficulty believing her own words. Junpei didn't have a clue of what happened a week ago, so Hamuko promised they'd give him an explanation later.

"Well, there's another reason as for why you can't be a leader, Junpei. Can you summon your persona without any difficulties like Minato and Hamuko can?" he took two fingers to the side of his head and made a shooting motion "Bang!" Junpei stuttered in response. "As for you…" He seemed to be looking for a reason. Hamuko got the impression that he didn't dare tell her what worried him about her being a leader. Maybe it was because they didn't know each other well enough, so Hamuko decided that he'd be her first try at a social link as soon as they came back to the dorm.

"If you believe you'd be a good leader, Hamuko-san, maybe we could shift roles next time we come here." Minato suggested nonchalantly and their senpai seemed to approve. Akihiko then offered everyone to show them the interesting things in the entrance, so Yukari and Junpei went with him and Mitsuru as the other two did sightseeing by themselves.

"I liked you more when you were a dick." The red eyed girl commented as she followed the leader around the place. For whatever reason, the two felt tense when they were with everyone else, but they felt they were free to joke when they were alone.

"Who says I'm no longer one?" Through a picture window they could see some towers going up and down in impossible ways. They walked around for a bit and saw some kind of grandfather clock made of gold just standing there. It had the same feeling as the sign-in book in the dorm, but as much as they observed it, they couldn't figure out how to use it. Hamuko noted that maybe it was some sort of time travelling device, and Minato's only answer was patting her shoulder in a mocking way. When everyone seemed done messing around, something caught Minato and Hamuko's attention: a blue door. They were surprised they hadn't seen it before, and walked towards it ignoring the calls of the rest of the team. They just stood before the door which had a double lock. Minato reached into his trouser pockets and Hamuko looked inside the ones in her jacket, searching for the key which manifested itself in the clothes, and then both proceed to unlock the door. Suddenly, the world turned white and the next second they were in their respective Velvet Rooms. Igor was staring at them with his toothy grin on.

"I've been waiting for you. The time has come for you to wield your power. The tower you are about to venture into… How did it come to be? For what purpose does it exist? Regrettably, you are not yet capable of answering these questions. That is why you must be made aware of the nature of your power. Your power is unique…" Igor could easily tell the teens' faces were asking an "Is it?" which made him chuckle. "Don't let the fact that someone else shares the same power deceive you. You both are like the number zero… You're empty, but at the same time you hold infinite possibilities." Did he just call them shallow or something? "You are able to posses multiple Personas and summon them as needed. And when you have defeated your enemies, you will see the faces of possibility before you. There may be times when they are difficult to grasp... But do not fear. Seize what you have earned. Your power will grow accordingly... Be sure to keep that in mind_. _My spare time will soon be scarce. But please, come again of your own accord. I'll tell you then about my true role… The manner in which I can best assist you." Both guests couldn't help but to think sarcastically that he had already done enough for them. "My assistant will aid you as well." Elisabeth waved her hand happily; Theodore did a very formal bow. "Until then… Fare well." And their sight went white again.

Minato and Hamuko blinked in confusion as the rest of people in the tower entrance bombed them with questions while surrounding them. Most of them where about if they were okay or what made them walk like zombies towards a specific point. This proved something: the others couldn't see the blue door, hence they surely hadn't even heard of Igor. This was somehow reassuring, as it made the teens feel special. Hamuko said something about having to discuss battle strategies, and then almost half an hour –judging by Mitsuru's equipment- after the Dark Hour started, the teens decided it was time to enter the so called labyrinth.

Before leaving, they were given what Mitsuru considered adequate weapons for them: a naginatas, two swords and a bow. Hamuko had some trouble relating naginatas to her, so she commented that the red head probably meant the weapons were "adequately cheap" for them. Yukari and Junpei seemed happy with their weapons, especially Yukari who was in the Archery club and was used to bows; Junpei, on the other hand, hadn't hold a sword in his life, and judging by how he wielded it, he thought it couldn't be very different from a bat –surprisingly enough, the pose worked. Regarding Minato… He didn't seem to care. He had been given a sword, but he asked Yukari if she'd lend him her bow for a moment, and he proved to have great accuracy with it. The same couldn't be said of Hamuko, who couldn't even shoot an arrow with it and didn't seem to be able to wield a sword either, holding it even worse than Junpei, so she admitted that naginatas were actually a good choice for her.

After walking a few seconds, they heard Mitsuru's voice. She informed them that they were entering the first block of Tartarus, which she called "Thebel." It was just like the school… If it were a Vanguards painting. Thousands of stairs went up and down in the distance, and pieces of the tower floated around defying gravity. The place made no sense at all from a structural point of view.

Their first encounter with a shadow was rather casual. They were walking around when Junpei felt something dripping on him. He looked up seeing a blob of black substance with a mask stuck to it. Before the boy could even scream, Minato shoot the Evoker on his head and summoned Orpheus –not being able to avoid thinking that it had been a while since he last saw him- and instinctively casted an agi spell on the shadow. He didn't manage to defeat it, so Hamuko jumped in and summoned her version of Orpheus. Ignoring Junpei's exclamation of surprise at seeing two surprisingly similar personae, she ordered it to cast a Cleave spell leaving the shadow quite stunned. Junpei saw his chance and decided to slash the hell out of it, finishing its existence. The boy jumped around raising his sword in the air and high-fived Hamuko. After the battle everyone felt a bit stronger. Hamuko commented their personae had to have levelled up or something. Junpei seemed to agree with the idea. Yukari told them not to be stupid, as it was not a game.

They encountered one or two more shadows wandering around and fought them as well. At some point, the teens found a row of stairs which seemed to make more sense than the rest, but Mitsuru forbid them from going up. Instead, she asked them to look for an "access point", also known as a way to go back. They were pretty tired of searching the place, and their reflexes were less sharp than before. That's why they didn't notice when an eagle shaped shadow attacked them from behind, sending a very confused Minato flying in the air. He crashed against the ground seemingly hurt. Hamuko ran towards the shadow and used agi, but it avoided the spell easily and attacked her as well. Junpei didn't know what to do. He couldn't kill the shadow with a slash and one of Yukari's shoot only. He thought about what to do for a second, looked at the evoker hanging from a belt under his jacked, and the rest came out instinctively. He shot his head with the evoker, and soon a creature appeared out of thin air. It was covered in a metallic suit, and had some sort of metallic wings which seemed rather sharp. Junpei commanded it to attack with a Cleave spell, and the shadow fell down after having been hit on a weak spot.

"_The enemy is down!_" Mitsuru announced the obvious through her communication skills "_You should strike all together! It's a tactic we call "All-out attack._" After the communication, Minato got up with a jump.

"Let's do this!" he commanded, and soon they were all running towards the shadow, beating it with all they had. After they were done, the shadow remained still a pair of seconds until it exploded from the massive damage taken. Minato smiled victoriously.

"Oh hey, what's that?" a card fell delicately from the sky, spinning around itself slowly in the process. Both Hamuko and Minato approached it, having a familiar feeling. There was a picture on the card which showed the image of a woman wearing short black leather clothing in some parts of her body. She had long blond hair and angel wings. A voice told them she was called "Angel".

"A Persona." Minato and Hamuko said this in unison. Then they looked at each other. Then at the card. Each other. The card. Each other again… And then they threw themselves over the card, kicking and punching each other, trying to be the one to get the persona before the confused gaze of Yukari and Junpei. The whole fighting each other situation reminded her of what their personae did.

"Stop!" Yukari demanded angrily "What the fuck are you doing?" The teens looked at each other, seemingly snapping out of a trance or something similar. Hamuko was trying to strangle Minato quite ineffectively and the boy had just punched her on the abdomen. They slowly stopped their movements and glanced at the spectators, and then at the person they were fighting against. Upon understanding the situation, they couldn't have put it better. What the fuck were they doing? "Are you fighting for THIS?" she took the card with the persona and stared at it. Then she proceeded to tear it apart, making the teens feel something in their mind screaming in pain. The teens looked at each other miserably as they got up from the ground. At least she could have given it to one of them instead of breaking it. "WHAT was so interesting about it to make you do that!"

"It had a… Persona in it." Hamuko clutched her head feeling a bit dizzy "Don't ask me how we know it. We just do." Yukari widened her eyes at this fact, but she still seemed pretty worried about the two of them. "I-I don't know why we did that. I mean…" the girl was completely embarrassed and felt very guilty.

"How the hell will you use a persona if you kill yourselves?" Junpei was rather angry. The group decided to split up to keep looking for the access point. While they were at it, Yukari decided to share what happened on the day of Orpheus's awakening with Junpei. The boy was shocked to hear about it.

"What happened to us, man?" Hamuko asked Minato as she touched what would become a bruise in her arm. "I don't think this kind of "fighting" is related to "fighting" for social links, do you?"

"I have no clue." He rubbed his throat "Maybe this is what Igor meant when he said that sometimes the personas would be difficult to grasp?"

"Minato-kun, it's not the time to joke about that…" the girl looked utterly down "Maybe it has to do with the Personas we're using? …You saw what they did to each other that night."

"Igor said they're a reflection of people's psyches. As far as I know, I don't… Didn't have anything against you back then. Maybe they saw things coming." Minato's logic didn't make much sense to himself. "And to think that we still haven't made a single social link even apart from the ones in common… How will it be when we have actually started?"

"…It's been only four days, don't rush things… And please don't make it sound like that. Thinking about it that way makes it just too creepy." As she ended her phrase, Junpei pointed to a small device which glowed with a green light.

"_Yes, that is the access point! Please, come back orderly and give us a full report of what happened after the battle against that last shadow_." Minato and Hamuko winced at Mitsuru's request.

"I don't think we'll be making many friends if we go together to meet someone and begin discussing out of the blue." Minato commented as Junpei slowly got in the device, checking it was safe, even though Yukari had already disappeared through it. "I know I said we'd be still friends, but maybe we shouldn't be close to each other. I think it gives us the need to fight when there are potential social links around. And being a dick to each other will give us a hard time socializing, don't you agree?" Hamuko nodded. It was her turn to use the device. "I guess this is a goodbye?"

The girl stopped right before her feet came in contact with the green platform "Just a "see you later"." And then she disappeared. Minato followed head on.

The explanation about how they had engaged in a fight without even realising was not only awkward but worrying. The result was that Hamuko and Minato were forbidden to be in the same group, just for their own safety. Later, out of Tartarus, everyone congratulated Junpei for summoning his persona, and encouraged Yukari to summon hers next time. Surprisingly enough, the teens felt that having been a part of all this, they had grown closer to the group, and they felt their power becoming stronger as a voice announced that their bond had become deeper. Hamuko could totally imagine it being like a friend-o-meter, so now they'd be in rank 2. Minato decided he would simply write down the number of times he heard the weird voice and pictured the card associated to the social link in his mind.

The night went on calmly. The next morning, Hamuko got up, followed her usual routine, and waited in the lounge for Minato, who usually finished first. It took her a pair of minutes to remember what they had decided the night before and realise that Minato would have probably left already. For some reason beyond her comprehension, that hurt her a lot. She sighed and got up from the sofa, only to hear Akihiko calling her. At least she wouldn't have to go alone to school.

They didn't talk much in the train, but seeing the school seemed to give them a discussion topic. "Things have been really crazy lately, huh? Are you alright? You must be confused. You have just been transferred here and suddenly facing all the personae and shadows stuff… And then there's also what happened last night…" It was difficult to tell if Akihiko was trying to cheer her up or sink her in misery.

"I'm… I'm alright, really." It was a blatant lie, but Hamuko wouldn't recognise it.

"Ha-ha, of course you are!" she didn't see that coming "If it makes you feel better, I'll eventually get my position as a leader back, so you guys won't have to worry about it anymore. Man, I'm so bored that I feel like I'm dying!" Hamuko didn't give a crap about his words. However, as they walked past the school gates she saw Minato talking to a guy with a… Funny face? Minato turned his head slightly and seemed to notice the girl and their senpai walking together, but he ignored them. She took this as Minato already going for a social link.

"I could totally help you with that, you know?" She did her best to sound like she was really interested "We should hang out some time."

Akihiko blushed a bit. This guy was surprising her more and more every moment. "U-uh yeah, sure. SO, eh… The way you all fought yesterday was pretty impressive!" Hamuko had a feeling socializing with her senpai would be really tiring if he only talked about battles.

There was an assembly planned for the morning. Minato and Hamuko wanted to sit as far from the other as possible, but Yukari and Junpei didn't allow this. They probably didn't drag the group together on purpose, but still.

"Please, welcome the New President, Mitsuru Kirijo from class 3-D!" Mitsuru proceeded to walk to the podium looking very natural while preparing to give her speech.

"So she did get elected… Well, I guess she IS the most popular girl in school." Envy was obvious in Yukari's voice.

"You can say that again! There's like some aura around her…" Junpei was half drooling "Besides, this school is owned by the Kirijo group, right?"

"Yeah, I try not to think about that." Right after Yukari stated that, Mitsuru began her speech. Minato didn't hear it because, without Hamuko blabbering next to him like the last time, he had managed to fall asleep in the incredibly comfortable seats. The red eyed girl had been zoning out the whole time, cogitating about some things. They noticed the speech was over when the students in the auditorium began applauding like crazy.

"Dang… That was freaking amazing!" Junpei seemed to have listened to the whole speech "Hey, did you understand what she was talking about?"

"Huh? Um…" Junpei laughed as he saw neither the blue haired boy nor the red eyed brunette had heard a word of it

"Oh well, for starters, it didn't sound like something a high schooler would say. If it was anyone else, we'd be laughin' our asses off. Man, if she asks for my opinion I don't know what I'll say!" After these words of wisdom, the meeting was called off and everyone went back to their classes.

In the afternoon, they had composition class with Ms. Toriumi. She ditched the text book and began reciting a poem instead. Hamuko stood awake listening to the long poem while Minato fell asleep without anyone noticing. "_This boy has ninja blood in his veins or something."_ Hamuko thought as she noticed him right after Ms. Toriumi shouted at a classmate called Kenji –apparently the boy Minato was talking to this morning- because of having fallen asleep. "_That or she's ignoring him on purpose. Could it be she's…?_" she shuddered at the thought she had just had and shook her head trying to send it away. The woman demanded Kenji an extra assignment and an expensive piece of cake so Hamuko was happy she had decided to keep awake. Furthermore, after this class she felt kind of smarter, so it was all profit.

The classes were over. In a normal situation, Minato and Hamuko would have headed together to the dorm, or look for whatever to do in the way. But the situation wasn't normal anymore. They decided to give each other some space, and begin looking for people who gave them the feeling they could become social links independently. It would be certainly more effective than running around school asking random people to talk to one of them as they shouted to each other about whatever, which was their initial idea –never voiced, though- when they first found out about being in a race to make friends.

As she was about to leave the homeroom, she saw Minato talking to Junpei about Mitsuru, and decided she would talk to students wandering around the floor. All of them were incredibly boring, and they mostly talked about rumours. Well there was this one girl who talked really, really high of Mitsuru. It was… Interesting. Hamuko decided to leave school, not without buying some bread in the small store placed in the school hall first. As she said goodbye to the vendor, Hamuko saw Minato and Junpei walking out of the building. She followed them out calmly while eating her crab bread, and she found them staring at something. It was a group of girls blocking the way. They were squealing and shouting Akihiko's name, much to the boy's annoyance. "_Oh, hey, Akihiko-senpai's fan girls._"

"Have you noticed how popular Akihiko-san is with the ladies? Man, take a look at that... I didn't use to talk to him much, but now I've got a good excuse." Junpei sighed "I know he's the captain of the boxing team, but...Who would thought he'd be such a chick magnet? I mean, come on! You don't even see girls flock like that on TV! I wonder where they're going..."

Akihiko noticed his dorm mates, and walked towards them. "Hey, are you guys free this afternoon?"

"Hell yeah! Whatcha got in mind?" Junpei didn't even ask the others for their opinion. Oh well, not like they really had anything to do.

"I want the three of you to meet me at Paulownia Mall. You know where it is, right? I'll be at the police station. See ya there."

"Th-the police station? You mean, we're not hangin' out with your friends..."

"Who, these girls? I don't even know their names." Akihiko groaned "They talk so much they give me a headache. Anyway, I'm gonna head out... Don't keep me waiting." He then turned towards Hamuko and smiled "See you there." And then he left. The fan girls glared daggers at the confused brunette.

"Is he hanging out with the transfer slut?" One of the fan girls commented as she looked at Hamuko contemptuously. Junpei heard this and held the red eyed girl's arm as he saw her getting ready to empty the contents of the bag full of crab bread on the girls' head. "Why can't he be friendlier?" the girls sighed simultaneously and left Junpei released Hamuko's arm and she began muttering something about those girls not having seen themselves in a mirror. The boy with the baseball cap suggested she should just go back to eating and forget them.

"But man, how can he not know their names?" Junpei exclaimed all of a sudden "I mean, seriously! Just look at them!" he saw Hamuko's glare and got a tad nervous "...Oh well, I guess we gotta go." The three of them walked to Paulownia Mall, which wasn't too far from their school. Minato and Hamuko didn't even look at each other in the way.

Paulownia Mall wasn't very big. It was mostly composed of a big first floor with three decorative fountains and several stores, such as a pharmacy and a jewellery shop. There was also a café, an arcade and a club which seemed interesting. There were several things in the second floor, but the most notable was the karaoke. Once Junpei had finished showing them around, they headed to the police station in the first floor.

"Thank you, sir." The silver haired boy turned around just to see his kohai entering the place "Oh, these are the guys I was talking about earlier." The policeman glanced at them "I was waiting for you guys. This is Officer Kurosawa. He helps keep our squad well-equipped. And this is from Ikutsuki-san..." he gave each teen a banknote.

"Sweet!" Junpei shouted as the 5000 yen bill his senpai had just given him. The others had similar reactions, but quite less enthusiastic.

"You can't fight empty-handed, so find something you like. Officer Kurosawa has connections... But these things still cost money."

"Of course they do. Nothing in life is free." The officer looked at him with a stern face.

"I realize that. Well, I'll see you later. Thanks again." Akihiko left the station.

"I've been informed about you three. My job is to maintain peace in the city, regardless of the circumstances. I'm just an ordinary police officer, but it doesn't take a genius to know something strange is going on here. I'm only doing what I think is right." Minato briefly wondered just how much he was into his job as to willingly sell weapons to teenagers. Kurosawa motioned them to follow him to where they kept the weapons in the police station. "I don't have that much, but you should be able to find what you need."

"So why should we use these oldies in the XXI century?" Hamuko asked as she stared at a bunch of naginatas placed carefully over a shelf.

"I guess that it wouldn't be too pretty if we mistake a gun for our evoker." Hamuko's eyes widened at Minato's reply, and she could only nod slowly thinking about the situation. In the end they didn't buy anything, but they made a mental list of what they could get there and left. Junpei proceeded to complain about only having received 5000 yen, and then he ran away, probably wanting to waste his unused money, not waiting for the others.

Hamuko felt a bit awkward having been left alone with Minato, but she felt even worse when there was someone else around, so she gathered a bit of courage and spoke up. "I don't feel like looking for friends right now, do you?" She knew they had promised they wouldn't act close as long as there were others around, but there was no one near now.

"Not really." The boy made a pause, seeing Hamuko's intentions "I wouldn't mind having some coffee, though." He looked away and whistled like if the situation had nothing to do with him.

"Oh I was just heading to a place called "Café Chagall". Such a coincidence you want some coffee and I'm heading there, don't you think?" Minato shrugged and nodded, and they walked together to the café placed a few meters away. He shot Hamuko a quick glance and she smiled at the boy. It was her way of saying thanks.

They spent the afternoon drinking coffee like idiots as they decided to hold a small competition to make up for the one they were seemingly putting off more and more time. They could feel people staring at them and they thought it was because of the effects of the so called "Pheromone coffee" which supposedly would increase their charm. It had obviously more to do with the fact that between the two teens they had already ordered seventeen cups, but they didn't really care either way. Minato ended up winning for half a cup, so Hamuko had to pay for everything they ordered, saying farewell to the contents of her purse. As it got dark, they walked out of the Café and headed to Port Island Station. The girl couldn't stop walking up and down and talking incredibly fast while the boy acted with the energy of a normal person opposite to his usual sleepy self. He even spoke way more than usual.

They got into the surprisingly empty monorail and their chat focused on the social links as they still felt a bit hyper because of the high doses of caffeine. "Dude, dude, dude! Tomorrow we have to make at least a friend, got it dude? We have to be at more or less the same level to make our "tournament" amusing. So we need them friends, Minato-kun!"

"It's not a game, Hamuko-chan." The boy noticed the "chan" had escaped his lips and he cleared his throat awkwardly. He didn't mean to talk to her in such an informal way.

"Oooh! You just called me "Hamuko-chan"!" her glee soon turned into a pout and she found herself stomping the ground of the wagon, very upset "This is stupid! All of this! Stupid competition, stupid Fools and stupid Igor! I know this isn't a game, but seriously, SCREW E-VE-RY-THING." She said the last word with a surprisingly attractive tune, making Minato think that maybe they had had too much coffee. "Why do we have the urge to fight when people is around? Look at us now! We're just FINE! I don't like fighting with you, you're my pal, dude! And I don't tend to go around trying to strangle friends to get monsters which came out of my mind, you know?"

"What are you going to do?" he sighed "We'll just go with the plan. Keep away from each other for as long as we can, and when we don't have another solution… I guess we'll think of something?" the girl shook her head. She had apparently been thinking about that already.

"Nooooope. I think Igor wants one of us to have ALL the social links, so when the situation comes to that… We'll have to screw each other's lives." Hamuko said these last words a bit too eagerly. Minato preferred not to know what was on her mind while she said them.

"So you mean that then we'll have to go with what we were going to do before having a plan?" she nodded and the boy's eyebrows twitched at the mental image. "I still think that we shouldn't spend time together, people around or not. It will only make it hurt more when we get our first social links and things get serious…"

"So until then" the girl interrupted "We can have some coffee from time to time!" Hamuko smiled sheepishly "I don't see what's wrong with having coffee with your… Rival." She did her best to avoid the word "enemy" which slipped into her mind accidentally.

Minato sighed in defeat. "You're too spunky."

"I know you love it." She smirked and the boy shook his head laughing.

When they arrived to the dorm building, Minato asked Hamuko to go in first. He knew that they could get nervous around the other dorm members and things were tense enough because of the events from the previous night. She didn't object and headed to the sofa where Akihiko was mending his boxing gloves. The Chairman and Mitsuru were in the lounge too. Minutes later the blue haired boy appeared.

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted him "Perfect timing, I'd like to speak to you for a moment. Regarding our exploration of Tartarus... Akihiko is still on the mend, so for now, I'd like you to lead the team, Arisato." She made a short pause "However, we already reached the decision that you and Seikatsu should not be in the same team, just for safety. Hence, we have decided that you will shift roles as the leader in each exploration, as you yourself suggested." Minato didn't seem too content with the idea. "We cannot allow ourselves to keep a Persona-user in the shadow without any training. I hope you will understand." The boy nodded in agreement, so Mitsuru went on with her initial speech. "You never know when a powerful enemy might appear, like the one you faced the other day. It's best to be prepared, or else you may find yourself in a difficult situation. So whenever you'd like to explore Tartarus, just let me know, and I'll gather everyone here. Also, since I'm sure there are other things you will need to take care of, you two may go out at night if you need to. Well, that's it. Keep up the good work."

Hamuko was delighted to hear this. She ran to the sign-in book and then she said she was off to Paulownia Mall, not even giving the rest of people the chance to say goodbye. Minato would have normally gone to bed, disregarding the fact he could go out, but he still was a bit hyper from the eight and a half cups of coffee he had ingested. He sat in the lounge with the others and talked to Akihiko about the Officer Kurosawa and he found out the officer didn't have the potential. Apparently he had helped Akihiko in the past, but his senpai didn't specify. The blue haired boy also chatted with Ikutsuki, who explained that he used to be a researcher for the Kirijo Group and so he was taught how to enter the Dark Hour.

It was getting late and Minato could feel the effects of the caffeine and his will to talk vanish. The boy headed to the sign-in book, traced his signature with horrendous calligraphy, and walked to his room. Once there, he decided that this day would be as good as other to begin preparing for the incoming midterm exams, and so he began studying.

An hour or so later, when Minato was closing the books and getting ready to get into his bed, he heard Hamuko running up the stairs. She was celebrating she got a part time job in the café where they had been earlier. Maybe he would try the next day looking for one.

The night continued without any events…

* * *

><p><strong>One last thing: I don't expect anyone to have understood the reference, but Hamuko's E-VE-RY-THING is a line from Shadow Rise when she appears in the Midnight Channel, because you know, both are voiced by Laura Bailey and... Yeah, it's not funny when I explain the joke.<strong>

**So anyway, R&R is appreciated and very welcome :)**


	5. Die for me

**Author note: you probably noticed this already, but chapters tend to focus on one of the MC's point of view. This one is mostly Hamuko's. **

**The last chapter wasn't too good in my opinion, as I had to stick to many cannon things. But I galactic punted some cannon things into the sky in this one.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>23rd of April. Time was going by surprisingly fast. Like the previous day, Minato headed to school by himself, while Hamuko walked with Junpei.<p>

"Man, why would you ever want a part-time job? Coming to school's a job by itself! Things got so busy, all of a sudden… Well, I do feel a lot more satisfied, though." Junpei seemed happy.

"If you say so…" the boy patted Hamuko's shoulder trying to soothe her. The whole persona stuff wasn't going too good for Minato and her. Once again, Minato was talking to Kenji, the boy with the funny face in the school entrance. They seemed to be speaking about Yukari and Minato and… "Did he just say my name?" Junpei looked at her confused, and then he followed the direction of her eyes.

"Well, hello!" Junpei ran towards the boys dragging Hamuko, much to her dismay "How ya doin', Kenji? Yo Minato! 'Sup?"

Minato and Hamuko interchanged an increasingly uncomfortable gaze "Speaking of the devil…" Minato muttered darkly, earning a glare from the girl.

"We were… You know, talking." Kenji rubbed the back of his head "I'm Kenji Tomochika, nice to meet you." Hamuko greeted back with a smile, but she felt surprisingly indifferent towards the boy. Something told her they weren't mean to be friends. "Or at least I was talking. This guy probably didn't even hear me with the headphones on."

"That's just like Minato." It was now the boy's turn to glare at Hamuko, gesture that didn't go unseen by Junpei. The school bell rang, making the teens break their contest of stares and run to class. They couldn't avoid thinking they had just been saved by the bell.

Nothing too interesting happened during the classes. Once they were over, Minato and Hamuko were assaulted by Kenji and Junpei respectively. Kenji asked the blue haired boy if he wanted to have ramen with him, and Junpei asked the brunette if she wanted to hang out and go eat somewhere. After their invitation, they both heard Igor's words about social links in their minds, so taking this as a signal, they accepted gladly and both accompanied their classmates… To exactly the same place, Hagakure Ramen, a small restaurant in the Iwatodai strip mall which was incredibly crowded. Kenji and Junpei greeted each other with an oh-so-fake exclamation of surprise. Hamuko and Minato tried to sit at opposite sides of the row of chairs in front of the chef, but the others pretty much pushed them to sit together. At least they had their inviters at each side.

"How do four specials sound?" Junpei suggested with a happy smile

"Awesome." Hamuko answered dryly. She was stealthily trying to hop away from Minato as much as possible, but her tune noted that she wasn't accomplishing much.

"I'm sure it'll be better than you expect!" After a few minutes the waiter brought their bowls. The ramen certainly smelt good. "C'mon try it!" Well, okay, it was delicious. So much Hamuko had to voice just how delicious it was. Kenji nodded in agreement.

"I bet they put a special ingredient in it... Something no other ramen shop uses. It's probably some sort of secret spice..." he noticed everyone was staring at him as he voiced his conjectures "Oh, sorry, my bad. I get all geeked up when I eat here."

"I agree. I don't know what it is, but this is certainly delicious." Minato commented silently as he took some noodles to his mouth.

"So you can appreciate the subtle yet distinct flavor of the soup? Wow, you don't look like the type of guy I'd normally hang around with, but I guess looks aren't everything. By the way, man, I hear you and Yukari are close." His voice became a whisper "And you seem all close to Hamuko as well!" Hamuko suddenly choked in her ramen as she suppressed the need to laugh. She did her best to hide it, but Minato noticed "Damn boy, you move fast! I mean, you just transferred here. I can't blame you, though. A man's gotta be aggressive nowadays." At this point Hamuko just couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Minato, aggressive? Pfft! Hahaha, this guy only sleeps and eats and then he sleeps again!" Hamuko was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.

"Says the girl who can't do anything but eat! Akihiko is worried about all the food disappearing, you know?" the brunette stopped laughing and glared at him.

"Wanna repeat that in the street?" Kenji didn't like where this was going, and asked for a bill of his and Minato's bowls.

"Maybe!" Kenji paid the bill and dragged Minato away, talking about hanging out again. Apparently, the boy cared enough to pay for Minato's bowl to avoid conflict, and the blue haired boy appreciated it. As they got out, Minato felt a flash in his head and… There it was. The Magician social link had just been formed, as a blue card showing some kind of flame with two eyes, glasses and hands which seemed to try to reach out of the card confirmed.

Hamuko let out a desperate sigh which she muffled with her hands. She then ran her right hand from her face to her hair, trying to order her thoughts. The girl seemed very worried, and after a few seconds, Junpei dared speak "Are you okay?"

"More or less…" Hamuko gave Junpei a wry smile, which worried the boy with the baseball cap even more.

"What's up with Minato and you?" The girl responded muttering something along the lines of "hell if I know" "You know, Yukari told me about the night you guys awakened to the power. The whole thing about what happened to you personas, and then having to go to the hospital for a week and what not and then there's the thing from two days ago... You keep fighting against each other when there are others near, but you guys seem to be okay when you're alone. I thought that you and Minato simply didn't get on well with us or something and that made you fight, so Kenji and me decided to do this thing to bring everyone together but huh… I'm just worried about you, you know?"

"Thanks…" Hamuko grinned for real this time "The problem doesn't have to do with you guys. It's something way too difficult to explain. However, you're right; we only act like that when there are others around." She couldn't tell him that it was related to a certain thing called social links, because she didn't know how he'd take it. "It's like we have the need to fight. It's bigger than us, really, and that's why we try to be far from each other when we have to hang out all together." Junpei seemed to understand, and promised he wouldn't force them to sit together ever again. They didn't speak for a pair of minutes, but then the girl looked at Junpei mischievously "So that's the only reason you invited me out?"

The boy's cheeks suddenly became flushed. "Huh? Oh um...Well, yeah! Y-you see I had some problems myself when I got transferred here, too! Well, not as big as you guys', but still…"

"I see…" Hamuko looked down at her finished bowl, and then at Junpei with an eyebrow rose. "You sure?" Junpei laughed feeling quite embarrassed, but the girl could tell that after all he truly cared for her. She felt the beginning of a friendship, and the image of a card confirmed it. She experienced exactly the same as Minato: Junpei was her Magician social link.

"Still… Girls and boys livin' in the same dorm… That can't be good." Junpei smirked and Hamuko mimicked him, much to the boy's surprise.

"Yukari was right when she said you were like the poster boy for sexual harassment…"

"Wha-! H-hey I don't drag love into my work!" the boy didn't seem affected by Yukari's quote.

"Aw, that's too bad. I was about to say that you are a nice guy." Hamuko curled a strand of hair that had fallen from the messy bun she always wore.

"…Then again, I can't guarantee I won't fall for somebody, mwahahah!"

"Keep laughing that creepy and I can guarantee you it will never be requited." She sighed and he acted all offended even though he wasn't. They kept chatting until it was dark, and then they headed to the dorm.

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted once again. Hamuko looked for Minato with her sight. Her red haired senpai noticed this and informed her that he had gone to Paulownia Mall, ruining her plans of going there that night as she really didn't feel like seeing him. Fortunately, it was a Thursday meaning that she wouldn't be obliged to go because of her recently acquired part-time job.

"I want to go to Tartarus." Everyone in the lounge looked at her as she voiced her request to Mitsuru. Of all the people present, Yukari looked the most surprised. This reminded Hamuko that she hadn't spoken to a girl since what happened in Tartarus.

"Very well. We'll meet at Tartarus around midnight. Don't be late."

After spending the evening wandering around town, she decided to head to the school, which would become Tartarus in few time. She was the first to arrive and not too long after, the others showed up. Apparently someone had texted Minato, and he got to the place barely seconds before midnight, keeping as far as possible from the one who would be the leader that day. Hamuko decided she wouldn't mind him, and focused her attention on the tower rising once more.

Minato stayed behind with Mitsuru while the others explored Tartarus, allowed to go further up this time. He heard her mention something about approaching a powerful enemy but didn't pay much attention to her words. The boy was bored out of his mind, and his MP3 didn't work during the Dark Hour, so he decided it would be a good moment to take a nap. He was awakened some time later by the noise which suddenly filled the room.

"Quick, some bandages, anything!" his eyes opened slightly as he tried to register whose voice it was. Junpei? "She's bleeding a lot!" When Minato's vision cleared, he was shocked. Hamuko was lying in the center of the first floor, breathing heavily. She had a gash on her side, a few inches to the left of her navel. It wasn't too deep, but it looked horribly painful. Yukari and Junpei were pretty beat too, but they didn't had any injury nearly as critical as Hamuko's.

"What the hell happened?" Minato yelled as he ran downstairs. He kneeled down next to Hamuko, completely horrified.

"We encountered a shadow… It was much bigger than the rest we had found before! We weren't able to defeat it when it attacked her a-a-and…" Yukari seemed ready to cry. For some reason, this made Minato angry. "It hit her with an Assault Dive while we were trying to escape. I was so scared…" Something snapped inside Minato.

"SO? C'mon do something! Heal her!" Yukari looked at him, confused "Look, I don't know why, so don't ask me, but I can feel your persona and its powers. All of yours, okay? I'm pretty sure Hamuko can do it too, so ask her when she gets better, but for know, trust me!" he inhaled some air trying to calm down "I have a feeling that healing is the ability of your persona, so please, do something to help her!"

"B-but…" Apparently, Yukari hadn't summoned her persona in the exploration this time either, and she wasn't willing to cooperate "How the hell am I supposed rely on your intuition? We should just call a med-"

"Yukari, HERE." He shook Yukari's shoulders and made her look at Hamuko. "EVERY doctor is in a coffin and she's losing an awful amount of blood! Don't fuck with me and summon your damn persona already!" Nobody expected these harsh words coming from the blue haired boy. Hamuko let out an audible gasp and Yukari looked at her scared. "You can do it. I believe in you."

Yukari put a hand on the belt on her right thigh, reaching for her evoker. She put the cannon painfully slowly on her forehead, and then, looking at Minato one last time, pressed the trigger. "Io" she muttered subconsciously. A woman chained to a mechanical cow head appeared above the girl. Io casted a dia spell on Hamuko, who winced as she clenched her fists in pain. Next they knew, the wound had closed up and Hamuko got up from the ground by herself, although she still looked like she needed some attention. Everyone ran to her to make sure she was okay except Minato who just looked from the stairs as they left the tower, needing to rush to Port Island Station to take the monorail to the dorm as soon as the Dark Hour ended. Junpei and Hamuko were the only ones to notice that Minato was keeping a safety distance. Neither of them could tell what was on his mind as he followed the group, but, whatever it was, he seemed deeply disturbed.

"It'll be okay." Junpei whispered to Hamuko with a soothing tune. She didn't know if he referred to her wounds or to her issue with Minato. Among the group, the one who seemed more worried was Akihiko. Hamuko was wondering if they'd let her act as the leader again after what happened, even though everyone kept telling her she did a great job. As soon as everything went back to normal, they got in the first train that arrived, hoping not to be seen with Hamuko in such a state and clothing, even though the skin that had become exposed as a result of the lowest part of her shirt and jacket ripping apart because of the shadow's attack had been covered with bandages. When they arrived to the dorm, Yukari took Hamuko to her room while their senpai left saying that they needed to buy some supplies to take better her care of her wounds. This meant only Junpei and Minato were on the lounge. Junpei asked him to sit down for a while before going to bed.

"…I need to talk to you." Minato nodded and Junpei continued. "Hamuko told me about that thing which happens to you two." The blue haired boy looked at him surprised "That need you two have to fight when there are others around. It sounds pretty worrying." Minato did a big effort not to let out a relieved sigh. He had thought for a moment she'd talked to him about the social links "I wanted to say that if you think you'll be fine as long as you're away from each other, I respect your decision, man. But problems can't be solved by runnin' away, ya know?"

"We're not running away. We're doing the best for each other and for the others."

"But man! You totally helped her out back in Tartarus! If it hadn't been for you, we coulda panicked and she might have bled to death or something." Minato's expression darkened considerably. Junpei misunderstood his expression as worry. "See? You guys don't really need to fight all times, you can help each other! It's all in your minds, dude!"

"_That's exactly the problem."_ Minato thought as he winced. Yet, the boy had a point. He hadn't doubted about looking for any means to help her, even though she could have perfectly just left her there, surrounded of incompetents which could have done nothing to save her, which would have guaranteed his obtaining all the social links' power. When he saw her, that's it, but after… Minato snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Junpei. "What do you suggest then?"

"M-me? I… I don't know. Go see a psychologist, maybe?" Minato looked at him with a serious face. "I don't think you'd have to mention personas. Well, maybe? A bit? They are used to dealing with people gone nuts, anyway."

"We aren't nuts, Junpei. It's… Complicated. Look, we DO know the reason because of which that happens to us. I don't know how it avoided it earlier and I don't have a clue if it will happen again. It's late, I want to sleep." Minato took off leaving a very worried Junpei behind.

It wasn't dawn yet when someone knocked on Minato's door. There was only one person who would be knocking at this hour.

"Go to bed, fucker." Disregarding Minato's words, Hamuko came in. "No seriously, go to bed, I'm trying to sleep."

"Sorry, but... But you're not going to make me go all the way back to my room in this state, right?" Hamuko really seemed to have some difficulty walking and the boy guessed that she was still feeling weak. "I can't sleep."

"Me neither." As he said this, Hamuko closed the door behind and sat on the chair in front of Minato's desk "Your energy must be rubbing off me."

"Hey! Stop using my phrases! Duh, anyway. I wanted to thank you for earlier. I saw all that happened, and if you hadn't told Yukari to quit bitching, who knows what would have happened to me. So… Thanks."

"Alright you thanked me; everything's fine and dandy, now go to your bed before someone finds you."

"Why so serious?" the boy rolled away in his bed trying to ignore her. That prompted Hamuko to sit down on his bed, freaking Minato out a bit. "Oh right that issue of what you wanted to do to Yukari and me never was solved, now was it?"

"I talked to Junpei." He used these words to cut her off before she could manage to make him feel awkward. "He told me you told him about our need to fight. Without mentioning social links, of course."

"Oh yeah. He seemed pretty worried so I gave him a little explanation skipping that part. So what did he say?"

"He said that I should go to a psychologist." Minato sank his head in his bed pillow.

"Haha, really?" Hamuko was snickering, but the boy wasn't amused at all. He actually seemed to be afraid.

"I should have let you die." This took Hamuko unprepared and she was out of words for once in her life. "Right after I saved you that was my only thought. I couldn't help but to think all the way back here that I should have let you die. Junpei doesn't know of this, he told me to go to a psychologist to solve the whole need to fight thing. He'd probably have freaked out if I told him that part." Minato looked at the girl "What if next time it comes the other way around? I let you die and then wonder if I should have saved you? What if next time you're the one to do it to me?" He sounded officially paranoid.

"I'd… I'd never do that to you, Minato." She tried to put a hand on Minato's arm in a reassuring way, but the boy shrugged it off.

"Hah. Sure. I never thought I'd be thinking of letting a person die, either." He heard the girl inhale deeply. Either she was choosing her words carefully or she was holding back tears. Minato surprised himself realizing that he didn't care. "If you're going to tell me that what matters is that I helped you in the end, save it to yourself."

"But… But..." Her words died before she could mutter them. Leaving Hamuko speechless and helpless was something incredibly difficult to accomplish, however, Minato had achieved it in barely five minutes.

"Get out of my room. And don't come back. I don't want to talk to you and you surely don't want to talk to me. I need time to think about all this but now, I want to sleep, so get out of my life and have a good night." Hamuko got up and walked slowly to the door. As soon as she was out, she slid down the door and fell to the ground, burying her face in her knees, defeated, wondering what the hell had just happened. Then she came to a conclusion.

"_If that's how it's going to be…_" Hamuko told herself as she got up from the ground _"…Then be it._" As she said this, a voice rang in their heads as the image of the Fool card span around, glowing red. The voice informed them that the Fools Social Link had been reversed.

* * *

><p>The morning arrived and neither Hamuko nor Minato were anywhere to be found. None of them felt like seeing their dorm mates after the encounter from the previous night, although the desire to be alone was rather usual in the boy. The only occurrence in the way to school was finding two girls talking about the Apathy Syndrome and how clubs were open for new members. During the lunch break, the teens did not make any effort to be away from each other as they'd usually do. Instead, they acted like if there was no one next to them, bumping into each other, some times with more strength than others, not bothering to apologize. This, added to the dark circles both had under their eyes and Hamuko's weird mood and her sudden fragility -which was pretty obvious as she often had to stop walking or support herself on a wall while doing so- fueled some very interesting rumors about those two.<p>

"Hey, how you doin'?" Hamuko stopped picking up the things in her table and looked up just to see Junpei smiling at her.

"Fine." She had never been a good liar. Junpei decided to take a different approach to the conversation.

"What were you doing in Minato's room last night?" she glanced at him slightly surprised "Don't look at me that way, you're not a master of stealth, ya know?" she looked away from Junpei "Wait… Don't tell me the rumors are true this time!"

"Yeah, we were totally doing it." Junpei gaped "Of course NOT, idiot!" Hamuko put a hand on her mouth "S-sorry, I didn't mean to call you an idiot."

"It's okay; I get called that a lot. I guess it ain't any of my business anyway. Well I have eeeh… Stuff to do with Kenji." Junpei walked away and Hamuko smacked her forehead as he did so.

"_Junpei doesn't have anything to do with this. I shouldn't get mad at him. It's all Minato's fault_." She felt she got a headache just by thinking about him. Hamuko had just decided that some fresh air would help her think better when somehow she remembered what she had heard about the clubs that morning. First thing she did was to look for the Archery club, but in the way she found Yukari, who apparently didn't have practice that day. The girl told Hamuko that the Archery club wasn't looking for members anymore. She explained that the Fencing team was full as well and Minato had taken the last vacant place in the Racing club, so she suggested checking out the Tennis club. Hamuko thanked her for the information and headed to the tennis field. Instead of just checking it out, she decided to join straight on, not wanting to be left out because of joining late.

"So, you all have a new teammate." A beautiful teacher –whose name was Ms. Kanou, as the red eyed brunette would find out later- was the one in charge to introduce her to the others. "She's Hamuko Seikatsu from class 2-F. Everybody be nice to her, okay?"

"Nice to meet you all!" she got a cheerful "Nice to meet you too" in response.

A black haired girl who seemed rather nice introduced herself as Rio Iwasaki, the leader of the junior group; right after Ms. Kanou left acting like she had no clue of how to do anything. Rio explained the schedule to her: they met every Monday, Wednesday and Friday except a few days before exams. Then they went on with the practice doing some basic exercises. Hamuko seemed really fired up during all of them and Rio encouraged her to do it even better. The brunette could feel the beginning of a friendship, and a card with a picture of two lions pulling a chariot with a warrior in it was there to confirm it. The Chariot Social Link had been formed.

The afternoon had been a bit calmer for Minato. The coach introduced him to the group which seemed as uneager as him. He had only joined because he thought that could help him in Tartarus but he had a feeling that he could get a social link or two in there and his intuition didn't fail. In the very first day he met Yuko Nishiwaki, a girl from class 2-E who insisted that he should just call her "Yuko" and Kazushi, a boy from his class who would become the leader of the Racing team the following year.

"Hey I'm Kazushi Miyamoto. You're that guy who came to school with Yukari Takeba on the first day and goes out with Hamuko Seikatsu, right?" Minato couldn't avoid wincing at the second name "Hey, what's with that face? You're my idol, dude! Well then, from now on, you're mine after school. Just because you joined mid-season, don't think I'll go easy on you!" the boy explained him the meeting days –same as tennis- and Minato felt that he had somehow become closer to Kazushi, forming the Chariot Social Link. Had Minato and Hamuko still talked to each other and shared the information, they would have noticed they had the same social links on different people, and that could have probably brought them some hope. But they didn't and there would be no way for them to know it. The practice ended with Yuko promising she'd have Minato's uniform ready for the next day so he could began training.

Both of them finished practice before it got dark and met accidentally in the school gates. They had to walk the same way to Port Island Station without even looking at each other, and they got on the monorail like if they were strangers. Minato had a feeling of déjà vu when they got out of the train in Iwatodai through different doors. They got to the dorm walking side by side, but acting as if there was nothing but air next to them. This became slightly more difficult as they entered the lounge and Yukari greeted them, to a point they could feel tension building up just by looking at the others, but they didn't care.

"I'm going to Paulownia." Minato and Hamuko said these words simultaneously. They glared at each other.

"I'm going with you!" Junpei shouted in a hurry, trying to prevent the two teens from doing whatever they had in mind. "Yukari, you coming?"

"Huh? Sure, why not?" And before they knew it Junpei was pushing everyone towards Iwatodai, making sure Minato was busy with Yukari.

"What are you doing?" Hamuko asked surprised as they arrived at the station.

"Makin' sure you two don't maul each other or somethin' in the way to the mall" Junpei grinned at her.

"Thanks, mum." The boy couldn't avoid laughing at that. "I'm sorry for this afternoon. I wasn't in the mood to talk. Did you know that tennis cures moodiness?" she sighed and smiled "Wanna go to the arcade? I'll tell you what's new between the blue haired Drowzee and me after playing some Horror House."

Some meters away, in the other side of the wagon, Yukari and Minato were talking about Tartarus. Well, as usual, Minato wasn't talking much. He was drinking a Cyclon Tea he bought at the station while listening to the girl with the pink cardigan.

"You know, I wanted to visit Tartarus today."

"You need to rest. Take it easy." Minato pointed at a bruise on her shin which had been most likely caused by a shadow attack.

"I can stand much worse things, you know? Especially now since thanks to you I know that I'm like a walking medicine dispenser for the rest of the group." She chuckled and Minato mimicked her.

"Nope, not letting you go through that. Maybe tomorrow. We have to be at full capacity to beat that shadow which stopped you the other day." Yukari nodded at his words, and then she fell silent for a second.

"You know, Junpei told me this morning… Um… Is it true that Hamuko was on you room yesterday?"

Minato choked in the Cyclon Tea and began coughing like crazy. "It's NOT what you think."

"Ah, you gonna tell me you guys were discussing about a meeting again?" Yukari cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. Minato's brain was working at full speed looking for an answer. "Like I said, I don't care about what's up between you two." Something in her voice said the opposite. "But if someone like Junpei is capable to notice, Mitsuru will end up knowing." The girl suddenly began giggling "I didn't think I'd live to see a school rumor become true."

"Again, it wasn't like that. You see, Hamuko has the annoying habit of breaking into my room every time she has a question, no matter the time. I think she acquired it the first time I slept in the dorm, the day you two had to wake me up and she broke in just like that; however, the consolidation of the habit is partially my fault as I decided to let her stay in my room during the Dark Hour –which was spent talking- the night we spent at the hospital." Saying his hypothesis about something so trivial in such a detailed way he sounded like a detective. This was another of the reasons why he didn't talk much. Sometimes he began talking really literate out of the blue, and not many people could understand him then. "She won't repeat it ever again, though."

"How so?" Minato looked at Yukari a bit surprised that she had followed him during all the explanation.

"I… Kind of ordered her to stop doing that. I eh… Wasn't feeling like talking because I needed to sleep. And that caused our weird behavior today, which you probably have noticed." Once again, Yukari seemed to believe his lie. "I think Junpei is trying to help us "be friends" again, but we need to sort things out by ourselves." "_Unless I go crazy and try to kill her in the way."_ Yukari promised she wouldn't meddle. This meant he only needed to convince Junpei to quit trying to help. Even if he and Hamuko ended up bashing each other next time they saw a person, it would be better –and more comfortable, even- than having Junpei around putting his nose in everything they did.

Once in Paulownia, Minato was dragged to the karaoke by Yukari, ruining his initial plans which involved having coffee calmly. Hamuko and Junpei played Horror House until their heads hurt. Once they were done, they left the Game Panic arcade and sat on a bench next to the central fountain.

"So Minato and I had a fight in his room yesterday." The boy opened his mouth but Hamuko quickly continued "Ask if that's what they call it now and you're dead." Junpei nodded seriously as he closed his mouth "He was a total and utter jerk to me. Man, I still can't believe what he said!" the boy with the baseball cap looked at her with expectation "Ah… I'm sorry, Junpei-kun, but it's a secret."

"Aw man…" Hamuko shrugged and apologized. "Whatever he said can't be bad enough to act that way. You will eventually mend the situation… With some help of your friend Junpei, that's it!" he high-fived the girl and both laughed "But seriously, you can count on me anytime. We're friends, right?" Hamuko could feel her bond with the boy getting stronger, and her Magician social link grew accordingly. She couldn't avoid thinking a "Take that, Minato."

"You know, it'd be more normal for me to tell Yukari about boys, Minato and those things. Why do you think I tell you these things?"

"'Cuz ya know that I'm not only awesome but modest, I'm manly but sensitive, completely hot… And Yukari is the one Minato talks to."

"True. But you don't care about being the second choice, do you?" she hugged him as she asked, making Junpei stutter some kind of answer as his face turned a nice red color. "I talk to you because I love you, dummy." Junpei smiled in the weirdest way Hamuko had ever seen so she cut the embrace, a bit backfired. "As in, same way as loving a dog." The boy fell from the bench right on his face after hearing this. "Don't lose hope, though!"

Minato and Yukari came out of the karaoke laughing incredibly hard. Laughing out so loudly wasn't too common for either of the teens. Apparently they had had a lot of fun checking out just how bad they were at singing and observing other singers as well. As soon as Minato and Hamuko's eyes met each other, Minato ceased laughing, and both looked away while Junpei, making use of his self proclaimed meddling kid position, suggested going back to Port Island Station before it got late.

In the train, Junpei kept mentioning how Hamuko said he was like a dog for her, much to the girl's dismay.

"Well." Minato broke his silence unexpectedly "She herself told me she could be a total bitch. If she loves you like a dog, maybe that means you do have a chance." Everyone began laughing except Hamuko. She was trying to figure out if he was trying to provoke her or just making a quirky remark to cheer up the atmosphere. This being Minato, she had the intuition it was the first one.

"It's better being a bitch than a jerkass." Hamuko didn't want to retort, she wanted to ignore him like they had been doing all day but the words came out by themselves.

"At least I'm not the school slut." Oh. He had just crossed the line.

"Didn't your mum teach you not to pick on girls? Oh. Wait." Hamuko herself was having trouble believing she had just said those words.

"Guys, keep it down!" Yukari's plea was completely ignored. Screwing the rule of silence, they began pushing each other, saying less than beautiful things about the other one, much to the dismay of Yukari, Junpei and the few passengers in the wagon. The train stopped and they thought that Minato and Hamuko wouldn't dare continue the "discussion" in the middle of a station, buy they were wrong. It just increased as now they didn't have to worry about the small space of the wagon. Right now they were fighting like the time they found Angel, minus the part of rolling in the floor trying to catch the card. Their dorm mates knew that intervening would only mean getting some bruises, not stopping the fight, so they kept a safety distance.

At some point, Minato kneeled the place where Hamuko had been hurt the previous day, and the girl fell to the ground screeching in pain. She looked up to see Minato staring darkly at her.

"Do it. Kill me." She was defying him "I dare you." He looked at her in the eye. Her eyes were betraying her words; he could see she was terribly scared. Then, why was she saying those things? "Kill me!" Why would she ever wish for death?... Why were they trying to get themselves killed?

As Minato kept trying to order his thoughts someone ran towards him. Before he could even move a muscle, he discovered had been tackled to the ground by Junpei. Yukari helped Hamuko up. Yukari could feel her shaking in fear.

"Junpei, get off him." Hamuko was breathing deeply to calm herself. "Get off him now." Junpei did as she said and pulled Minato with him. "He meant no harm..."

"Like hell he di-" the boy with the baseball cap couldn't finish his phrase.

"…No more than I did." She felt more calmed now. She walked to Minato. "This counts as your "next time", doesn't it?"

"And you saw what happened." He looked completely down. Apparently beating each other had gave them back their use of rational speech.

"No. No I didn't. You didn't do it. I'm talking to you because you didn't "let me die" even though I asked you to do it." She shuddered at the memory. Where the hell had her words come from? "And if you're going to tell me you didn't do it because Junpei interrupted you, save it to yourself: I know it's a lie."

"That's not how my phrase went." Hamuko smiled. She felt that things hadn't been completely mended between them, but this was a big step. "Leave the quoting to me."

"Well, now that everyone is happy, we should go back to the dorm before the police comes here to arrest you both for public disorder." Yukari dragged Minato away.

"Maybe we should just fight from time to time, you know?" Junpei looked at Hamuko with wide eyes "I don't mean anything serious. Just some sparring. I mean, I feel so much better right now."

"…You're crazy, you knew that?" Hamuko shrugged at Junpei's words.

After a quick yet awkward explanation to their senpai and a lot of ointment to soothe the bruises which would appear the following day, everyone went to sleep. Everyone except Minato, who kept staring at the ceiling above his bed, cogitating over the questions that appeared in his mind when he was about to give Hamuko a coup de grace. He couldn't avoid looking at the door, hoping said girl would sneak into his room for whatever non-sense, but he had forbidden her from doing so. It would feel lonely without her.

And the night went on…

* * *

><p><strong>If you hadn't noticed yet, I prefer writing times when they act like dicks towards the other than ones when they're fine, although the second comes out more natural to write. Anyway, <strong>**I think the referrence in the title fits this chapter, doesn't it?**

**R & R is very appreciated, as always.**


	6. Legit theft

**Author note: this chapter is awfully short -shortest by far- and I don't like it in general.**

**Oh also, here's an announcement: I may not be able to update the fic next week, as I'll be out of internet some days and I need to check Walkthroughs for some FemaleMC-related stuff. Not having a PSP and the fact that P3P is most likely not sold in my zone because of the lack of a Spanish translation suck BU  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Hey, you heard about that bookstore in Iwatodai Strip Mall? It's their grand reopening today!"<p>

"_A bookstore, huh?"_ Minato had never been too much into books because he couldn't listen to music while reading them. However, he had the distant feeling he knew of someone who loved them and would read for hours and hours. He was sure it wasn't anyone from the dorm. "_Maybe one of my foster parents? Nah, I don't recall anyone like that."_ The bell rang and the boy had to rush to class, leaving his thoughts aside.

It was Saturday, so this meant classes would feel slower than usual. It was like the unwritten rule of the day before Sunday which everyone knew. Once the painfully long classes were over, Minato decided to head to the bookstore he had heard about as he didn't have anything else to do. He took the train to Iwatodai and headed to the strip mall. The bookstore was right besides the famous Wild Duck Burger, so he wouldn't forget its location. He opened the door and…

"_Damn_." He thought as he saw piles of books stacked on the ground, making absolutely no sense "_They didn't bother cleaning up for the "grand reopening", did they?"_

"…Welcome!" An old man was greeting Minato cheerfully "What would you like today? We have fresh mackerel…"

"Dear… Sorry, as you can see, we don't sell fish here." A kind looking old woman apologized.

"Hey, you're a student, aren't you? You must be from Gekkoukan High, right?" Minato realized for the first time that he looked pretty stupid hanging around after class in his uniform. "That means you've probably seen the persimmon tree there..." The boy looked at the old man puzzled. "Do you think I'm making this up? I'm serious! It was planted right beside a walkway in a courtyard at the school."

"I'm sorry. He's rambling like an old man… Just ignore him."

In any other situation, Minato would have left in a hurry without looking back. But something told him that the couple was important and he decided to go take a look around school. As he walked, he came up with an idea: he'd go to the tree –which he had seen the day before when he was heading to the gym- and he'd bring them something like a leaf or a fruit. That way he might be able to win their sympathy. Lost in thoughts, he completely missed the person who was running in his direction and the crash was unavoidable.

"OUCH! Look where you're goin' man!" For some fatidic irony, it had to be Hamuko the one who said that. "Hey Minato. Are you trying to make me get some more bruises?"

"You're the one who ran into me…" Minato sat up rubbing his head. That had certainly been some collision. "Where were you going so fast?" The boy saw her notebooks on the ground. They had apparently flown from her school bag when they crashed.

"Wakatsu Restaurant. I heard their sushi makes you smarter. Not that I need it, buuuut…" the girl noticed the notebooks as well and began picking them up "So where were you going?"

"The station. I want to go to school to take a look at the tree next to the gym. I... Wanted to take a look at its leaves." He knew better than to mention he needed to do so to begin a possible social link.

"Why? Was there any Biology homework about it?" the girl finished putting her notebooks in the schoolbag, and took a book. She overlooked its pages and finally stopped in one. "This is a leaf from that tree. I thought it would make a cool bookmark…" Minato had to question for a second the tastes of the girl… Well she hanged out with Junpei after all. "…But you can have it. There, I'm saving you a journey." The girl took her schoolbag and ran off towards the Strip Mall. This had been a weird encounter, but he wouldn't complain. He strolled back to the bookstore wondering if that leaf was her way of apologizing for the crash or something.

"…Welcome to Bookworms! How many guests? Smoking or non-smoking?" Before Minato had time to say anything, the old man in charge of the store gaped. "Excuse me, but may I see that leaf in your hand?" he gave it to the man "It must have grown quite a bit to produce such splendid leaves…"

"...Wait, so you didn't come here to buy books? Did you come here just to show us this?" the old woman seemed amazed. Minato only smiled as he could feel some affection coming from the couple.

"I knew it! I knew right from the start that you're a kind young man! I've been meaning to go see that tree for a while now, but I'm not sure if these stumpy old legs will make it that far. ...That wasn't supposed to be a pun, you know. "Stumpy", "tree stump"...Catch my drift?" The old woman muttered something like "very clever" but it was too low for Minato to tell if it was a praise or sarcasm. "Allow me to introduce my wife Mitsuko. I'm Bunkichi."

Someone walked into the store. "_Of all the people in Japan, why her?_" Hamuko approached them, much to the boys' dismay, but she didn't try to interrupt the talk. He was doing his best to cover the leaf with his body but he was pretty sure the girl had seen it.

"If you don't mind, would you tell us your name?" Hamuko was eyeing Minato carefully. She seemed to suspect something.

"Minato Arisato, mister." The girl seemed to relax a bit. She had just noticed that his rival's name rhymed and she found it amusing.

"Well then, from now on we'll call you Minato-chan." Hamuko suppressed her need to laugh the best she could. She looked at Minato to see his face upon being called that, but he had zoned out. He suddenly blinked and then made the expected weird face. Hamuko wondered what had just happened.

In Minato's mind the image of a card flashed. It was some kind of arrow pointing upwards, with six branches ending in circles. In the upper corners there were two keys, one pointing up and the other, down. Below them, two human figures with their arms in a receiving pose. The ominous voice announced he had formed the Hierophant social Link. The boy excused himself saying that he had something to do and left the leaf next to the till.

"Excuse me, can we help you?" Hamuko had forgotten completely why she entered. She bought the latest novel of a videogame saga about a detective who fights against demons with the help of other demons. She said goodbye and began looking for Minato all over the place. She found him having some of that weird takoyaki from Octopia on a bench.

"You!"

"Hi." Minato chewed his food calmly. "Do you want some?"

"Yes. I mean- You know why I'm here!" Hamuko seemed pretty annoyed. She really had to be so to reject some food bribing. "You stole that link!"

"No. You gave me the leaf on your own will, so, technically, I didn't steal anything. Also, I'll remind you that no one set rules in the competition: we're improvising on the way. Hence, stealing could be perfectly valid." The girl groaned in defeat and slumped on the bench. "Was the rumor about the sushi true?"

"Well… I don't know if I'm smarter, but I'm sure poorer." The girl took a look at her empty purse. The money she had found in Tartarus –and which she kept without telling anyone- was now gone. "It was pretty tasty though. You should try it some time, Minato-chan." The boy spat the contents of his mouth all over the place and then looked at Hamuko with a horrified face. "I'm going to call you that until I come up with a better revenge.

"A better revenge? Why, you want to end on the ground begging again?" That was definitively not the best phrasing he could have used.

"Of course not, Minato-chan!" the boy grimaced. She seemed serious about calling him that. "Next time you'll be the one down." They were on a roll for weird-out-of-context phrases.

"Oooh…Want to try that right now?" Minato smirked.

"I don't do that kind of things during the day!" It was difficult to tell if they were saying such mistakable things on purpose or not. Either way, the people around were having a fun time gossiping about them. Apparently they had that effect no matter where they went.

"So. We're cool now, right?" Hamuko didn't see this coming from Minato.

"We cool." It wasn't completely true, but it wasn't a lie either.

"Here, have some takoyaki."

"I like takoyaki."

The Fools Social Link was normal again. Both found it a bit unbelievable, but they'd just have to see how long it'd last.

"Hey, I'm going to the Mall with Kenji to buy some music tomorrow. Want to come?" The girl looked at him puzzled but then nodded gladly. Minato wasn't worried about Kenji and her. Hamuko could feel they weren't mean to be more than acquaintances and she was sure Minato could somehow tell that. That made them think that maybe they wouldn't have to worry about fighting with a person like that around.

The afternoon and the evening went by quickly. Minato promised everyone that they would go to Tartarus the following day and not much later he went to bed.

* * *

><p>Sunday arrived and the teens were getting ready to leave. Well, Hamuko was. Minato had finished a while before. "Are you done yet?" he knocked on the door of her room impatiently. It was near noon so it was okay for him to be on the girls' floor. "I don't want to make Kenji wait."<p>

"Just a second!" The door opened almost immediately. "Sorry. I couldn't find my headphones."

"Why do you wear them? I mean, I haven't seen you listen to music since I met you." The girl shrugged and she and Minato began walking downstairs. "By the way, nice scarf. It matches your eye color."

"Why, thank you." She giggled "I like your coat. It kinda makes you look like that pint-size blue haired detective that appeared on TV the other day. How'd they call him? Junior Detective? Soooooo mysterious." Hamuko let out an audible sigh.

"…Are you into shotacon or something?" the brunette shot a deadly glare at him and he raised his hands in defense. "It was just a question."

They said farewell to their senpai, who were the only ones in the lounge, and took off to Paulownia. Once they arrived, they found Kenji standing next to Power Records. He didn't seem very bored, so they guessed he had just arrived as well.

"Hey Minato! Hamuko? Glad to see you around! So. Does this mean you two made up?" Hamuko smiled awkwardly and nodded "Neat! Then let's go!" the male brunette got into the shop closely followed by the other two. They went up and down the store checking out most of the music shelves.

"I didn't know you liked Lotus Juice." Hamuko eyed Minato with curiosity as the boy looked at some CDs.

"Yeah, Lotus Juice's cool. I love their collaborations with Yumi Kawamura."

"Oh man, you like Yumi too? She sings like half of the songs I have!" the girl was amazed "Oh! Oh! You know Shuhei Kita?" Minato shook his head. "Aw, that's too bad. But still, gotta let me see what you have in your MP3 some time!" Minato nodded and smiled.

Kenji soon joined them in their interchange of musical tastes. In the end, Hamuko was the only one who didn't get something new as she was completely out of money. Minato bought himself a CD composed of Lotus Juice's remixes of some of his favorite songs. Kenji couldn't stop pimping out D'z's new single. They got out of the shop at lunchtime.

"Hey!" Kenji seemed to have noticed something "This is the first time I've seen you in normal clothes! Hmmm…" The boy was checking them out. Both of them. Not being subtle about it or anything. "Let's see, Minato…" Kenji began fiddling with Minato's coat and hair. "Yeah, that looks better!" the blue haired boy looked at Hamuko questioningly and she nodded in a reassuring way. He did look better. "You're pretty good looking to begin with, man, so if you work on how you dress, you'll be good to go. Then you can be my wingman! Now,Hamuko…"

"What? Want me to be your wife?" the boy laughed at her words as he began messing with her scarf.

"Nah, I prefer older women. Um… I think that sweater is too big, you know?" They all had a great time while Kenji continued his own version of Extreme Makeover. Minato could feel he had grown closer to Kenji, not yet enough for the Social Link to advance though. He was rather surprised to find out that apparently he had become more attached to Hamuko as well.

Few after this, Kenji went back home. After he was gone, Minato remembered that he promised to go to Tartarus that Sunday. He had some money left, so he decided to buy a better sword for himself and a bag to carry stuff in Tartarus. Taking his new weapon back to the dorm was hilariously difficult. They spent a big while thinking how could they carry a katana out of the police office and Minato came up with the seemingly great idea to hide it under his clothes. …The boy would never forget that day just for the sheer number of innuendos related to having "something tight in his pants" that Hamuko dropped in the way.

Lunchtime at the dorm wasn't much fun until Junpei arrived. The boys decided to look for something to eat but before they could grab anything, all the contents of the fridge were salvaged by Hamuko -she had apparently forgotten to take breakfast. Seeing her eating like a beast whatever she found was quite a show.

"Is there something you won't eat?"

"I dunno… Wanna help me find out?" her voice came out in a more seductive way than planned and Junpei's expression lit up in a disturbing way "I-I didn't mean it like that."

"Sure you didn't." Minato's sarcasm was answered with an order to mind his own business.

They spent the rest of the day watching TV at home. They thought it was kind of lame, but they hadn't a yen left to hang out. By the time the Dark Hour came, everyone was present at the school gate, ready to enter Tartarus. Junpei and Yukari were feeling completely prepared to beat the shadow that stopped them the last time but before that, Hamuko took Minato away from the others to speak with him calmly and give him a few pointers for the battle.

"..And be careful with its lances. You don't want to end up like I did." Minato nodded in response. Hamuko seemed hesitant about something, but she took a moment to calm down and reached into her jacket's pocket. She took a blue card out of it.

"…Is that a-?" The girl shoved the card into his hands and then looked away from it, like if she had just done something incredibly difficult. A little, happy demon with white skin and some kind of slurry blue horns appeared in the card Minato had just been given. A voice informed the boy of its name "Jack Frost, huh?"

"There's no way you can beat the shadow only with Orpheus. No offence." Minato stared at the card for a bit and then put it the bag he bought earlier that day. Hamuko seemed to relax upon losing visual contact with the item. "I found that and two more Personas –Angel and Nekomata- the other day. Switching Personas is easy, you just have to focus on the one you want to summon and it's there. Erm… You don't need to give it back, but bring me something cool as a payback, alright?" Hamuko motioned Minato to go back with the others "Take care!"

Being alone with Mitsuru and Akihiko was boring as a general rule. The red head would only speak of how important her support was and then shut all communication with Hamuko whereas Akihiko just ranted and ranted about how much he wished he could be exploring with everyone else, making the brunette wish exactly the same. Bored as she was, she saw the door to the Velvet Room standing where it always was and had the great idea of spending some time there. She headed to the door, saying that she needed to stretch out her legs and when she opened it her vision went white, just like the last time.

Once in the Velvet Room, Igor gave her a speech about something related to fusing personae to get better personae, but she didn't get half of it. She had been busy staring at Theodore, lost in his almost hypnotic golden eyes. When Igor asked if she understood, she said she understood it perfectly. That was her standard reaction to questions as she neither liked making people repeat their words nor hearing them repeat them. Right after this, Theo helped her with the Persona Fusion stuff. She quickly got the hang of it and learnt about some interesting fusions, but she wasn't apparently ready for them. The ones she was capable of doing weren't very interesting and none of them reached the level of her Jack Frost –making her curse under her breath for having given that card to Minato. In the end, she left the Velvet Room with nothing but new knowledge and annoyance at the fact that not a single second had passed in the real world.

Minato had been doing really fine in battle. Thanks to Jack Frost's help and his new weapon, not to mention Yukari's healing ability, beating the shadow which gave them so much trouble the last time was piece of cake. They kept going up Tartarus and at some point, Minato found a weird golden chest. He opened it and found armor. Or something similar.

"_What IS this?"_ he held a High-Cut Armor in his hands. He thought for a moment about asking Yukari to wear it but he discarded the idea for fear of getting slapped or something. "_I wonder if Hamuko…" _Not having yet reached a decision about what to do with the new armor he heard a sound. It was like that of chains moving around. The sound was really creepy, so Minato decided against staying to check what was causing it.

A pair of floors later they found the next set of stairs was obstructed. There was an access point and everyone left except Minato; something laying on the ground picked his attention. It was a suitcase which seemed contained some old documents. He took them thinking they might be important and left.

Everyone congratulated him and the others for arriving to what Mitsuru called "The first barricade". Their senpai decided that they would look for a way to destroy the obstacle, and that it would be wise to go to Tartarus every so often to –surprise- train. Hamuko and Minato walked ahead of everyone in the way to the station so the boy could thank her for lending him Jack Frost. He mentioned having found a healing persona, Sylph, but its level was too low.

"So, did you find anything cool for me?" Hamuko smiled in a way that told Minato she was demanding something rather than just asking.

"I… Uh…" Minato looked in his bag and his expression became undecipherable. "I guess you can sell this… Or… Something." He handed the High-Cut Armor to her.

"Battle Panties?" The name she gave the clothes only made it sound more awkward. Minato was almost ready to cover himself and run. "Why would I sell this?"

"…Eh?"

"This seems to have a higher defense than my current equipment. I don't see why I shouldn't wear it." The girl took a look at the "armor" to see if it was her size. "Oh, duuuuude, I can't wait to see the boys' faces when I put this on!"

"_Is she for real?_" That was the only thing Minato could think as she talked about her guesses on how the faces the rest of the group would be. Seeing her eagerness to get the guys' attention, Minato began wondering if Hamuko had some meddling in the creation of all the rumors about them. Knowing her, it seemed completely possible that the girl was just playing dumb every time someone told the rumors to their faces and she was doing it just for shits and laughs. The bluenette decided to stop thinking, as his idea of the girl was getting weirder each second.

As soon as they arrived to the dorm everyone headed to bed without even saying goodnight. The next day they had to go to school and everyone was too tired to talk.

* * *

><p><strong>Character development for these guys is pretty difficult to keep visible, not to talk about just how slow it is, that's why it might seem they act different in each chapter. Anyway, here comes the clue: they're teenagers. We youngsters can't keep a fight for two days and we change opinions every three seconds and a half. Most do anyway.<br>**

**Also: Innuendos. Innuendos everywhere. This is why I prefer writing them when they're jerks at each other. Double also: there's a Cold War: Simple Version reference in there.** **I'm sure you can find it 8D**


	7. Believable rumor

**Author note: hey there. I tried to make this chapter comic, as there's nothing much else going on. Also, I'm afraid I have to change the "adventure" category for something which fits better. Any suggestion?**

**Also: Summary of the chapter in a single pic in my dA gallery! (SandraMJ)  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Boring?"<p>

"Try harder."

"Insufferable?"

"Keep going, Junpei."

"…Unbearable?"

"No. NO! NOT EVEN CLOSE." Hamuko covered her face in dismay "This is not just unbearable. It's beyond all bearings. Unbearably unbearable!"

"Can you stop your "unbearable" rant? The speech is tedious enough as it is." Minato was in a bad mood. Not only because of the amount of people around, but also because of the fact that the others wouldn't let him sleep through the speech.

"Don't make a show, guys. On a second thought, do it! Maybe the speech will end if you two begin beatin' up each other!" Both Hamuko and Minato glared at Junpei "Just kiddin', man…"

The principal was the one boring the pupils to death for apparently no reason. Hamuko had heard that he was jealous of Mitsuru's speech and judging by Yukari's words, this speech was really similar to their senpai's. Once it was over, all the students ran to their classes almost thankful for having lessons instead of having to listen to the man.

In the afternoon, they had class with Ms. Miyahara, an Algebra teacher who was a bit… Somewhere out there. During her class full of wild results that defied all logic she asked Hamuko when numbers were invented. With a mix of wild guessing and reading the teacher's face as she talked, she guessed the correct answer. People began whispering about how smart she was and she felt she was somewhat more charismatic. After school, Hamuko and Yukari found themselves chatting about several things, not having had the chance to do so in a while. The sound of a door being pushed open without much delicacy interrupted them.

"Arisato?" Hamuko pointed towards the boy sitting behind Yukari. He seemed to be fast asleep on the table. "Uh…"

"What's the matter, Senpai?" Hamuko eyed Mitsuru with curiosity. The red head seemed certainly annoyed.

"I came here to offer Arisato a position in the Student Council. I thought that he could be useful thanks to his great skills as a leader."

"Who, this slacker? In the Student Council? He can't even keep awake during classes! How is he going to help represent us?" Mitsuru seemed even more troubled.

"Well, it was just a small charge to provide me assistance in case of emergency…"

"I can do that. I have enough time to show up to the meetings." Hamuko actually didn't have any interest in the Student Council but her intuition told her she could meet people in there. And hey, Minato himself said that stealing was legit.

"Seems fine to me. Welcome aboard, I'm glad I can count on you." She glanced at Minato. "I had made an appointment for him with the faculty advisor. You can take it by simply telling your homeroom teacher that you're interested. I'll be waiting for you in the Student Council room." Mitsuru walked out of the room and Hamuko muttered a very unconvinced "yay".

"Hey, why did you do that?" Oh crap, Yukari had been listening to the conversation "Why did you STEAL Minato's charge?"

"I didn't steal it! I um… Saved him from having to do that." Hamuko decided that lying was definitely not her thing. Next time she needed to lie she'd ask Minato to use his poker face and do it for her. "Okay, uh, it's kind of a healthy revenge thing between us."

"How is revenge healthy?" the red eyed girl shrugged at the commentary and then left with a mere "see you later".

"Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuurr." Minato made a senseless noise as he looked up from his table "What's up?"

"Hamuko just stole your chance to enter the Student Council!"

"Oh. I see." And with that the boy fell asleep again. Hamuko might have had a point about the boy's reliability during school hours. Unfortunately for him, before Minato could go back to sleep Kazushi grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and dragged him to practice.

The only thing Hamuko had to do in the faculty office was to sign some stuff and soon she was free to go to the Student Council room, but… Rio intercepted her, asking if she would go to practice. The red eyed girl didn't have the guts to say no to Mitsuru and just to go to tennis, so she explained the situation to the tennis captain. Rio seemed quite disappointed but she let her go.

"Everyone, this is Hamuko Seikatsu." Mitsuru introduced her as soon as Hamuko entered the room "She'll be joining us in Student Council." A boy with a yellow band on his arm looked at her suspiciously.

"Hamuko-kun, huh? I'm Hidetoshi Odagiri. I supervise the Disciplinary Committee." The boy certainly looked strict, so Hamuko thought it fitted him. He gave her the very distinct feeling she got every time she met someone who could become a social link.

"I'm Chihiro Fushimi, the Treasurer. I'm a sophomore, and um… I'm still learning the ropes, so… Please be patient with me, Hamuko-san." This shy girl resulted incredibly indifferent to Hamuko, just like Kenji or that Kazushi guy who was always talking about sport in class.

"Nice to meet you all." Hamuko bowed and Hidetoshi stared at her with a still suspicious face, but he suddenly smiled.

"You must be talented if the President hand-picked you. Nice to meet you." Hidetoshi made a gesture so the others introduced themselves, but time froze before that happened. Once again a social link was formed, the Emperor Social Link, which was represented by the picture of a King with a scepter floating next to his right shoulder and a circle next to the left one. The King also had a red hole at heart's height.

"…Today, we'll just do introductions. It'll be your job to help us, Seikatsu. From now on, you have my permission to enter the Student Council Room whenever you need to. That includes after school too. The Student Council meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We don't meet on days before tests." Mitsuru smiled "Thank you, Seikatsu, for joining us today."

After everyone was dismissed, Hamuko decided to go to the dorm. In the way out of school, she saw Minato -who had obtained Chariot level 2 after becoming Kazushi's rival- talking to Yuko.

"Wanna walk home together?"

"Ah sorry, Minato-kun. I've got some things to do." The tanned girl then walked away, leaving a defeated Minato behind. Hamuko walked into the scene snickering.

"Eavesdropping isn't nice." Hamuko shrugged and both got out of school together "So Yukari told me you got your revenge, huh?"

"Yup. New social link. Oh also, I met someone there who might interest you!"

"Is it by any chance Chihiro?" the girl nodded "Yeah, I know her. I've been greeting her on the corridor during lunch break for a while. The other day I asked her to hang out, she freaked out, and now every time she sees me she runs away."

"I think every girl can see through your intentions, Minato-chan." Hamuko nudged Minato playfully.

"Hamuko-chan, not everyone is like you." Hamuko stopped and looked at him confused "Wait, no, I mean… I don't have the same objectives as you." The girl rose an eyebrow. "I-I'm just going to keep trying to talk to her."

"Whatever. So what objectives did you refer to, exactly?" The conversation in the way back home was more animated than usual.

"S'up?" Junpei welcomed Minato and Hamuko as they entered the dorm. "Yo Minato, I heard Hamu-chan stole your place in the Student Council! Not fast enough, huh?"

"…I wasn't interested, anyway." Minato's bitterness was obvious. The sudden tension between Minato and Hamuko was obvious.

"Uh, Mitsuru-senpai, are you sure you wanna let a girl who's just transferred in?" Junpei was trying to save the day by cheering up the blue haired boy, but judging by the look Hamuko shot him he wasn't doing it very well.

"Excuse me? Minato just got transferred as well! You sayin' I'm not capable of doing this or something?"

"No one doubts your capabilities, Seikatsu." Mitsuru's voice was reassuring yet there was a hint of a reprimand to the brunette for raising her voice "I only needed some assistance, I won't let the responsibilities stack up too high." Her voice suddenly became amused "Could it be you're interested in helping too, Iori?"

"I'll pass, but thanks for the offer." Junpei chuckled awkwardly. After this tense dialogue, Hamuko wrote her signature in the sign-in book –which she hadn't signed in a while- and left saying that she had to attend to her part time job. Minato went after her and they did small talk on the way to the shopping centre. Once in Paulownia, the girl said bye, only to notice that the bluenette had some sort of devious look in his face.

Hamuko got into Café Chagall and headed to the kitchen. They briefly explained what they expected of her as a waitress, gave her some pointers and… A maid outfit, just like the ones the rest of waitresses wore. Not that she minded, though, so she quickly got changed and began working.

She had served a few tables when a familiar voice claimed her attention. She prayed that her ears were deceiving her as she turned around to see a boy with easily recognizable blue emo bangs and a smug smile on his face.

"M-m-m-mi-mm-mi…?"

"I think the word you're looking for is "master"."

"I'm not a real maid, you IDIOT!" Minato's smile turned into a smirk and Hamuko suppressed the urge to hit the guy with the tray where she carried the coffee cups. She took a deep breath to calm down and get in character. "Welcome to Café Chagall! We serve the best coffee in all Port Island!" her grin was so forced that it resulted hilarious "Can I take your order?"

"I'm still thinking." The girl bowed and began walking away "On a second thought." Hamuko approached him again. "A cup of Pheromone Coffee. Bring sugar and milk apart, please."

She bowed again and headed to the kitchen. She continued her job serving people and soon came back to Minato's table with his order, ready to leave, but the boy looked at her expectantly and then tilted his head to point at the kettle with hot milk and the sugar cup. "What, can't you serve yourself?"

"Oh, but I'd love it if you could do it for me. Please?" the red eyed girl let out an annoyed sigh and did as asked. "Nice apron. I didn't know you were the kind of girl to wear ruffles and stuff, but you look cute." Hamuko faltered for a second and almost threw the sugar cup to the ground accidentally. She fought back against the sudden rush of blood to her cheeks and glared at Minato. "That's enough, thank you." She knew he was provoking her, but why, though?

Hamuko tried to go on with her job without minding her dorm mate, but for some cosmic plaything she was always the one designed to serve Minato's table. After about the fifth cup of coffee accompanied by some mocking words, she figured out something.

"You're mad at me for taking your place in the Student Council, aren't you?" the girl asked as she sipped some more coffee into his cup. There was way less people in the café at this hour, so she could take a break and talk to Minato. "I thought we were cool, man."

"We ARE cool." Minato slurped the contents of his cup without milk nor sugar. He just showed he could perfectly stand black coffee and in fact he seemed to be enjoying it more like this. "This is just my counterattack to your counterattack. An eye for an eye…"

"Couldn't you just have, you know, stolen a social link or something? This is ridiculous…" Hamuko took a look at her clothes and blushed "…Not to talk about embarrassing."

"Welcome to the occupational world, the only place where you have to wear as a maid to serve coffee." There was a sudden silence between the teens. "So… You seemed pretty eager to wear the uh… "Battle Panties" yesterday around everyone. What's with going all red because of wearing a maid outfit? I mean, if I were Junpei it'd be understandable, but…"

"The problem is it's you and not him." Minato looked puzzled "How do I explain… I love playing with the other boys. Making advances at them to get their attention is fun –make a comment about it and you're dead- but I feel different around you. I don't have to get your attention, I already have it. Making advances at you is just as fun, though, but… It's not the same."

"So does that mean that even you have standards?" the blue haired boy tried to make clear he was joking, so Hamuko only shrugged and sighed.

"Make of that whatever you want." Hamuko grinned awkwardly as she furrowed her brows "Oh, also… I will stop calling you Minato-chan if you don't tell Junpei that I have to wear a maid outfit when I work here. He'd get creepy even for me." She extended her hand "Deal?"

"Deal." They shook hands and a familiar feeling invaded them. The "other" Fools Social Link had just reached level 2. "Is it just me or we get this stuff every time we make a deal?"

"Dunno, but this has to be most awkward way to level up a Social Link ever." They couldn't agree more on that "Oh hey, look at the time I better get going back to work, see ya!"

Not much after, the café closed. The teens still had some time until it was the hour designated for them to come back, so Hamuko suggested going to the arcade and trying out a game called "Print Club". She took a lot of photos with him with her mobile phone until Minato got bored. Her favorite picture was definitely one in which she appeared behind Minato, hugging him by the neck and smiling coyly at him while Minato looked at her with wide eyes and red cheeks. Right after taking the photo, she began laughing and mentioned something about having a proof for a believable rumor. The boy decided he preferred not to know what she was talking about. All in all, the photo looked really good, so they decided to use it for the Print Club game and keep a printed copied of it. It had way more quality than the one in Hamuko's mobile phone.

The way back to the dorm was calm and soon they were in front of the dorm. Minato seemed to want to tell Hamuko something, but he kept it to himself and wished her a good night.

* * *

><p>The day arrived and Mitsuru insisted in going to school with them both together. Neither Hamuko nor Minato liked the idea, but they couldn't just say no to their senpai. In the way to school, Mitsuru explained to them that they weren't allowed to go to Tartarus when she wasn't around, but she usually was in the lounge every night, so they wouldn't have to worry much. She also seemed interested in knowing how they were doing in Gekkoukan.<p>

The day went by quickly. After class, Minato and Kenji left to Hagakure while Hamuko observed them from the class window, planning her own afternoon. Junpei had invited her to watch a film in the lunch break, but she turned him down, promising to go with him the next day as it was Showa Day and there wouldn't be class; right now, however, she wasn't feeling like movies.

"_Can I allow myself to turn down Junpei and lose a day in the Competition? Lose a day… Did Igor specify an end date_?" she decided not to think about that "_When did I get this down? Is it because I didn't buy lunch today?" _Subconsciously, the girl walked to the door of the classroom. She'd think better having a walk.

"Oh, Hamuko… Heading home?" Hamuko was taken back to reality by Yukari's words. She looked at her and wanted to tell her that she –surprisingly- needed some time alone. Maybe spend sometime in Wakatsu and eat her sudden sadness with some sushi. However, she got the feeling preceding the formation of a social link, and she couldn't refuse the call.

"Wanna go somewhere?"

Hamuko's new definition of "somewhere" was Café Chagall. She had been promised a small commission for every time she brought a friend –since she and Minato tended to drink impossible quantities of coffee, her boss apparently thought it extended to all her friends- that added to the fact that that night she would be working again meant no more skipping lunch if she wanted to waste money in the arcade any other night. Back to Yukari, the girl seemed really nervous and stuttered a lot.

"There's… Something I need to say to you." Yukari drank some of her coffee as she tried to keep a serious expression.

"This is not a love confession, is it?" The brunette in a pink cardigan freaked out badly, making Hamuko tell her she was just kidding. "What is it?"

"You might not remember but… When you woke up in the hospital… You know after what happened that night the dorm was attacked… You know how I said all those things to you right after you woke up? Like "you're the same as me" and "you're alone" and stuff about your parents?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, that was a bit sudden, Yukari-chan." Hamuko said with an awkward smile. She then looked at Yukari intently, trying to encourage her to tell her whatever she had in mind.

"I told a similar thing to Minato. I think that I might've been making assumptions about you. I mean, I lost my father, but you two lost your parents." That's right; Minato was in the same boat as her. She had completely forgotten about that. Yukari went on with her explanation while Hamuko was a bit zoned out. "And even though things may seem the same, people react to them differently…" That was logic. "But I ignored how you might've felt and forced my own opinions onto you."

"Where are you going with this?" Hamuko cut her words, trying to help her get to the point. If the girl sitting in front of her was only trying to explain how she could be a bitch at times, she wasn't saying anything new.

"Look, I've been worrying all this time that I might've said some unfair things to you that day. …And I want to properly apologize for it. I'm sorry." She made a small pause "But… I still do sense something similar between us. You might not like it, since it's the fact that we're missing parents… Still, I've never had anyone who could understand it around me before." _Nice. The loneliness inherent of being in the top of the school social chain? _"It's different for everyone at school. They have both their parents at home… I get jealous when I hear them complain about getting yelled at for coming back home late. I feel lonely. So when I heard about you… You two… I felt you could save me from that."

Hamuko couldn't avoid smiling, yet it was a wry smile. Yukari had a point in that they all had that in common. However, Yukari had much more than her: She had a mother, and she could remember her father and miss him. Every time Hamuko thought about her parents, she found she didn't remember any of their features; none of the moments they spent together and she couldn't even remember neither their names nor hers, nor how the hell she escaped alive from the incident. The doctors decided that the amnesia she was suffering steamed from post-traumatic syndrome and from the first foster parents she had onwards, she was called Hamuko Seikatsu.

"Yikes! Sorry! I'm being selfish again, I know!" Hamuko snapped out of her thoughts. She began thinking that whatever Minato had that made him be always distracted and in his own world had infected her "But the fact you and Minato are part of the group now makes me feel a lot better. I'm glad that you joined us…" she mentioned something about a pity party, but Hamuko didn't hear it. She was busy paying attention to the card in her mind. The Lovers Social Link had been formed. Hamuko felt a bit bad about this—it was apparent to her that Minato had his eye on Yukari… and many other girls probably; however, he seemed to have a special affection towards her. But, the competition was the competition.

"So do I get freebies if I say I'm friends with the most popular girl in school?" Yukari chuckled but then she seemed to get a bit serious.

"Hamuko, now we're friends and I've confided in you, you can confide in me too, right?" Hamuko nodded "What's going on between you and Minato?" Before the red eyed girl could open her mouth, Yukari added "Those times you've gone to his room, being close even though you guys try to hide it, the fights…"

"We're friends." Yukari looked at her unconvinced. "Well, okay. Maybe not friends. Um… We're just two fools who have the need to compete in everything." It was close enough to the truth.

"…So you two aren't together?" Hamuko smiled deviously at the question. Maybe she could make the afternoon interesting.

"Me and Minato?" she looked in her mobile phone and showed her the photo she took yesterday "You think I'd hang out with a guy with that face?" She could have picked up a… Better photo. One that wouldn't have made Yukari look at her with the weirdest face ever. But no, she chose that one specifically; she wanted to sit back and see the results in school –Yukari totally looked like one of those girls who just love to gossip. Hamuko sincerely didn't like gossips and she didn't gossip often, but unlike Minato, she loved being the centre of attention. She surely had her reason for it… She just didn't remember it at that moment.

"…I see. Uh, anyway, it's getting cold outside, let's head back to the dorm."

As they walked through Iwatodai, they saw Minato wandering towards the dorm. He looked pretty annoyed. Even though Hamuko would have loved to glomp him just to see Yukari's face, she knew better than getting near him with someone else around. Yukari had obviously seen him, but she didn't seem to be willing to approach to him. Hamuko couldn't avoid feeling it was her fault, but oh well, side damage happened often when she had fun.

They entered the dorm separately. Mitsuru was the one to welcome them and right after that, she explained that internet was back. Hamuko didn't even notice it was gone in the first place, she had been too busy trying to put some order in her life to see if she had any Facebook messages from her friends in Tokyo.

"Speaking of the Internet… You play online games, dude? You know, those games you play with a buncha people you never met before. I was totally addicted to this one game, but then I got burned out... Here, you can have it." Minato thanked him and took the game. "It's called Innocent Sin Online."

"I want to play it too!" Hamuko pouted.

"Sorry Hamtaro, it's a one-license CD." Minato explained as he took a look at the cover. It seemed an interesting game.

"Oh I see… Wait, what did you just call me?" Minato ran in direction to the street "Come back here Drowzee!" Hamuko didn't have time to check as she opened the door, but she was pretty sure Yukari let out an annoyed sigh as they were leaving. Hamuko chased Minato to Iwatodai, just to remember she had to attend to her part time job. Minato followed her, considering he could use some coffee. They talked about afternoon in the train.

"I swear I'm sick of hearing about that woman! I don't care just how good she looks, why won't he just shut up?" Minato really seemed out of himself. It was weird seeing him that anxious...

"Hey, Kenji's simply glad because he's got his eyes set on a girl, let him be obnoxious." Hamuko patted Minato's back in reassurance and then began telling about her own day "Yukari spent the afternoon talking about her feeeeeeelings, us and how glad she is that we joined."

"…You became friends with Yukari?" the blue haired boy was visibly down.

"I also kind of told her that we're going out." Minato began coughing like crazy "Well, not really, she asked me and I said no but I showed her yesterday's photo and I think she thought it meant we are going out and I didn't really deny it."

Minato needed a moment to compute the confusing information "Why would you EVER do that?"

"…Scientific curiosity?" Hamuko smiled sheepishly and got a glare in response "It's true! I wanted to see her face!" Minato face palmed much to the girl's amusement. He then groaned something intelligible. "Don't be like that, Minato-kun! I'm sure Yukari didn't really believe me!" Hamuko remembered the promise to stop trying to lie and be convincing after Minato's glare intensified. There was a thick awkward silence between them, only broken by the noise of the wagon. "So like… We also talked about our parents, you know? She was going on and on about how she had felt lonely." Minato was pretending not to be paying attention. "Hey, I was just kidding around, you know how I am. I just wanted to see if it was a believable rumor, duh!" He kept ignoring her "Aw don't give me psychological war bullshit! Talk to me! I'll take you and Junpei to the cinema tomorrow! I'll delete the photos! I'll treat you to-"

"Coffee?"

"I'll treat you to all the coffee you want, just stop being mad at me!" Minato smiled and Hamuko noticed what she had got into "Aw, you're a bastard, you knew that? You're not getting any coffee!" Minato had a brilliant idea.

"Am I, **sweetie**?" Minato put an arm around the girl's shoulders making her squirm "What's wrong, angel?"

"Minato-kun this isn't funny." Hamuko's face was beginning to match her eye color.

"I thought you wanted a believable rumor, Hamuricchi! And I once played a game about how rumors, if believed enough, became true." Minato pulled her close "It's not so much fun when you're the one feeling awkward, is it? Well, imagine just how awkward I'm going to feel on Thursday when Yukari tells someone who will tell another person who will tell more people about your stupid rumor."

"I'm sorry, okay? Just tell Yukari it was a lie! She'll believe you!" Hamuko's face was getting redder as Minato approached her even more "I'll treat you to coffee!"

"The expensive brand?"

"YES." Minato freed her from his embrace and the girl began cursing at him, attracting the attention from all the passengers.

"Hey, I was just pretending to be you."

"I don't act that way!" Minato shot her an unbelieving glance and Hamuko pressed her lips together as she narrowed her eyes at him "Alright, maybe I do, but you don't have to be a jerk about it." Right in that moment the train stopped and the red eyed girl stormed off. Her anger seemed to go away after a while.

"You know…" Hamuko had already finished working and she was having a last coffee cup with Minato. She was the one paying it, so the boy had better enjoy it. "Yukari asked me what's up between you and me, and I wonder myself. It's like if I knew you for a really long time. I think that makes us act completely different around each other. Why would that be?"

"It's Igor and the Personas' fault."

"Is it just me or you blame them for everything?"

"Could be." The boy enjoyed the smell of the stupidly expensive coffee before he carried on talking. "I have never spoken this much with anyone else, and I don't believe I would dare embrace any other person just to make them get angry at me in a train either."

"Hmmm. I'd normally be the one doing that, wouldn't I?"

"Yeah, you're the ditz of the group." Hamuko kicked his shin under the table. "Maybe we had too much Pheromone coffee?"

"You can never have enough of that stuff." Hamuko gave him a thumbs up. Well she got a commission for bringing her friends. "But yeah you've been drinking hideous amounts of it lately."

"Pheromone excess?"

"Sounds fine."

"And Personas."

"And Igor?"

"And Igor, yeah." Minato and Hamuko stared at each other for a while before slumping on the table simultaneously, completely defeated. "Maybe it's more like… We can be ourselves around each other."

Hamuko looked up at him. "Be ourselves?" In retrospective, maybe she should have thought up that Freudian excuse for her spunky behavior when she was in the thinking mood. Maybe it was Minato the one who wasn't being himself? "Ugh, my head hurts. Let's just leave the topic for now. Wanna watch a film tomorrow with me and Junpei? You don't need him as a social link, do you?"

"Nope, but sorry, I'm going to stay home. I want to play with Junpei's videogame. Also, I don't think he'd be very glad if I went with you two."

"What do you mean?" Minato rose an eyebrow "Oh. OH. You think we…? Nah, man, he's like my bro. Just like you! PERSONABROS!" she raised her hand in the air ready to do a high-five. She lowered it after half a minute with no answer.

"…You know people don't act that way around their siblings, don't you?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure he can tell I'm just kidding." Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows seeing Minato's awkward expression. "Right? Ugh, why do you have to mess with my head so much?"

"I could ask the same question." For the first time since they began talking, Minato looked down and noticed his cup of coffee. "It's cold."

"No shit, Sherlock. I'm not buying you a new one."

The night continued peacefully. As peacefully as it could be with the teens bickering around, that's it.

* * *

><p><strong>You must have noticed this by now, but Hamuko suffers a bad case of Butt Monkey. It's just derived from her personality, that's it 8D;<strong>


	8. Escapade

**Author note: Eh. I still hate it when they are friends 8D; Writing is so much easier when they're just bickering at each other about whatever/trying to rip each others' guts. Oh well. Enjoy or something.**

* * *

><p><em>Write me an endless song (when you let go)<br>as I'll feel so alive__  
>Kurikaesu Soul phrase (I'm walking on my way) ~<em>

The music stopped as soon as Hamuko reached out for her mobile phone "Hamuko here. Junpei? Junpei what the hell man, we live in the same dorm, you don't have to phone me to remind me of my promise. Yeah, yeah, whatever, I haven't forgotten. Okay, bye." Hamuko sank her face in her pillow as soon as she ended the call. She would forever wonder what was Junpei doing up at 7 a.m. on Sunday.

Some hours later, Hamuko got up and headed to the lounge. In the way, she decided to pay a visit to Minato.

"Knock, knock, can I come in?" Hamuko opened the door.

"You know, breaking in without getting an answer defeats the whole purpose of asking for permission." Minato wasn't even looking at her. He had his eyes fixed on the computer screen. He seemed to have trouble reading something.

"I didn't break in, I'm outside. I know that you aren't going to let me enter the place." The boy looked at her with indifference and then he went back to staring at the screen. "Last call for cinema day!" He shook his head as he typed something. "Oh well. Give me a ring if you change your opinion." She closed the door.

"…_What_." He had just formed the Hermit Social Link with an online player who called herself Maya and had a bad case of "1337" language user. He didn't really see that one coming.

During the train ride, Junpei couldn't stop talking about how awesome the film they were going to watch was. In it, the world ended and the film took place in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo. A boy, half human half demon, is the only one who can bring about the new world.

They took seats in the farthest row as the place was pretty crowded. In the two hours that lasted the film, Hamuko had to fight to get some popcorn, push Junpei away when he tried to approach her during a sad scene, and ask herself about how the demons from the film could be so similar to their personae. All in all, the film was pretty cool, but Junpei didn't seem to be enjoying it. After an intense ending in which the protagonist broke the world reincarnation process and became a true demon with the only aim to destroy the Divine Will, everyone left the room.

"It wasn't what I expected. I didn't think that he'd fight his friends and let the world die. The protagonist was a bastard." Junpei really seemed to dislike the character.

"He only wanted to be with those who would accept him and his deeds, even though they were evil. What would you do if all your friends went batshit crazy and tried to kill you just because you have something they want?"

"I'd... Kick their asses until they decided to listen to reason!" Hamuko chuckled and patted Junpei's shoulder.

"I'd love to be there to see that."

They decided to go have lunch at Wild Duck Burger, in the Iwatodai Strip Mall. Hamuko decided to have one of those mysterious burgers she had heard about and guess what, they were actually tasty. Junpei was looking nervously at the nearby the tables, noticing that there were some students from their school

"Oh crap… The guys at school might say some stuff if they see us together…"

"So?"

"Well, it looks like there are a lot of guys interested in you. Plus, the famous Yuka-tan and Mitsuru-senpai live in the same dorm…There are a lot of guys who envy me for that."

"Let the haters hate."

"Yeah, but… I understand why they'd be jealous. Our dorm is co-ed and the girls there are pretty cute…"

"So I'm not?" Hamuko pouted jokingly.

"That's not what I meant!" the girl laughed at Junpei as he flailed his arms nervously trying to explain himself. They went back to eating silently for a while until Junpei spoke up. "…You don't seem to be all that interested in guys. I mean, you aren't all excited asking me who's saying that. Ah, of course, no girl would be that desperate…"

"That ain't it. I've got you here right now, why would I need more boys?" Hamuko didn't seem to realize what she had just said, but Junpei's mouth fell open. "What?

"Oh man, I'm hungry! Want more fries? I'm sure you do! We'll share!" The boy with the baseball cap ran towards the long order queue. While he was still waiting there, the door to the burger opened, and a blue haired boy wearing headphones took a look around the place. He could easily see a hand waving at him.

"Minato-kun, here!" Junpei turned around just to see Minato walking towards Hamuko, who seemed really glad to see him in the place. "I thought you were going to stay home playing!"

"I was, but I got hungry."

"It's your lucky day, then! Junpei is buying some more fries. Can you get Minato a burger, Junpei-kun?" Junpei answered groaning something undecipherable. "I'll take that as a yes."

Lunch became very lively. Hamuko would keep playing with Minato, stealing his food and stuff, much to Junpei's dismay. He felt terribly ignored, and a bit disappointed at Hamuko. Minato noticed Junpei was glaring badly at him, so Minato deduced he was right when he guessed Junpei would get angry if he went with them.

Once they all were done emptying Junpei's wallet –Minato and Hamuko seemed to have black holes instead of stomachs- they left the burger and Minato said bye.

"Aw no! Stay with us, Minato-kun! Pleeeeeeaseeeee!" Hamuko was clinging to his arm. He noticed it had been ages since she last did that, and as soon as she freed his arm, he realized he missed the feeling.

"I wouldn't like to… Bother you." He was looking at Hamuko, but he was clearly talking to Junpei.

"What? What are you saying, the more the merrier! Am I right, Junpei-kun?" Junpei looked away as he muttered something. He seemed upset. "What's wrong with you?"

"Hey, really, I'll just go back home and play some more. Thanks for the game, Junpei, it's really cool." Minato walked away despite Hamuko tried to keep him from doing so.

"What the hell, man?" Junpei still seemed annoyed "I thought you were the one who wanted us all to be friends!"

"I think I prefer it when you two fight."

"Dude, I can't understand you. Are you mad at him or something?"

"You said you didn't need anyone else…"

"What—OH. Dude, quit being a drama queen. You aren't my only friend!" Junpei looked at her wide eyed.

"F-friend, huh?" He then smiled wryly, excused himself and decided to leave. Hamuko was afraid that the Magician Social Link would reverse, but fortunately it didn't. Once Junpei was out of sight, she ran after Minato. It didn't take her much time to reach him, about to enter the dorm.

"Hey. Where's Jun-"

"WHY are you always right?" she shook his shoulders desperately making the boy go dizzy "Junpei is mad at you! And what's worse, he's mad at ME. Help me!"

"W-well… Can you stop shaking me first?" They sat down on the entrance stairs and Minato tried to help Hamuko calm down. "I told you that you don't act that way around friends. He probably took literally some of your words. Being Junpei, that's pretty likely."

"I see… So it's Junpei's fault." The blue haired boy face palmed and asked Hamuko to try to recall what happened in the burger. "I think he's… Jealous of you?"

"Can't blame him." Minato shook his hair and struck a pose trying to make Hamuko laugh, but he failed. "Hey, it's Junpei we're talking about, he'll get over it, don't worry." The girl still seemed down, but she nodded and then they got up and went into the dorm. Inside, Mitsuru was reading a book in the lounge and she barely looked up to welcome them. They decided to go upstairs not to bother her.

"Hey, can I play with your new videogame? If you don't care about getting the laptop out of your room, that's it."

"Uh, it's pretty dead, you'd get bored." Minato conveniently skipped the part about getting a social link in it and got silent for a moment. "Um, I have been thinking and… You know that stuff about keeping out of my room and… Well, I guess you can forget about it…"

"Huh? You sayin' I can break into your room again?"

"Uh, I'd much rather you asked for permission –and actually waited for an answer- but yes…"

"Why?" Hamuko looked at him suspiciously.

"Well, you'll think this is stupid, but… When you clang to me back in Iwatodai… I realized I… kind of miss you. The "you" from before persona stuff happened." Minato became suddenly interested in his feet.

"Ooooh… Still, a gentleman inviting a lady to his room; should I take it the wrong way?" she smiled mischievously and the boy grimaced.

"Do you ever take things the right way?"

They left the dorm and spent the afternoon hanging out around the city. Before they could even notice, the evening arrived. None of them felt like going home, so they decided to go to Paulownia but upon arriving, they noticed that most of the shops were closed because of the vacation, so Minato suggested going back home; Hamuko already have other plans, though.

"Escapade Club? I don't think they'll even let us enter." Minato looked at the humungous man guarding the entrance and felt a shiver.

"Aw, just stay behind me and everything will be alright." Hamuko walked towards the queue leading to the club. Soon it was their turn to get in, and Hamuko went on nonchalantly, just to be stopped by the doorman. "Hey. Is there any problem?"

"Where do you think you're going, kid? Show me your ID."

"Ah well, you see… I forgot to bring it and…"

"No ID, you don't get in."

Minato looked at Hamuko pout and try to explain herself very amused. He asked her to move aside as he reached into his pocket and took out a bill of 1000 yen. "We're old enough to be here."

"You're old enough to be here." The man took the money and let them go in.

""Stay behind me", huh?" Minato laughed and Hamuko stuck her tongue at him. She tried to find out where he learnt that, but he said she'd rather not know, and Hamuko decided to stop prying. Once in, Hamuko walked to the bar zone while Minato just took a look around the place. There were quite a lot of people, but he wasn't feeling nervous at all, so none of the presents was a potential social link.

"Aren't you too young to be here?" The barman asked after Hamuko questioned him about their cocktails.

"I'm here, am I not?" The barman shrugged and gave Hamuko what she asked for. She looked for Minato and found him zoning out. "For you." She handed him a glass full of a frothy liquid.

"This isn't soda, is it?" The girl grinned at him and drank half of her glass, gasping right after. "That's what I thought." Minato mimicked the girl. Right after, Adventured Act began playing all over the club and Hamuko dragged Minato to the dance floor. As soon as their glasses got empty, she left to get more. She repeated the process several times, coming slightly redder with each refill. Minato wondered just how many times had the girl done that before. At some point, the girl began taking a lot of time to come back, so Minato decided to go look for her. He found Hamuko in the bar zone, talking to a man with afro hair, probably in his mid 20s, whom he had seen drinking alone earlier.

"Well, hello there cutie. Y'come to this club often?" Hamuko giggled like an idiot while the man hit on her with slurry words.

"Nah, it'sh my firsht time here." Hamuko stared at the man with a big dumb smile. Minato had a bad feeling. "Soooo lonely."

"Oh, want me to show you around? I know a pair of interesting places in the city." The man smirked.

"Y'don't mind?" That was it. Minato grabbed Hamuko's wrist and took her away from the drunken man, making the girl shout at him. "What the hell are ya doin', Minato-kun? Ya're ruining da FUN. I want 'nother glassss!"

"I think you've had more than enough." Minato wasn't feeling very good either, but he certainly saw things clearer than Hamuko. "We're leaving."

"Aw, killjoooooooooy." As they were about to cross the door, the music stopped and the lights went off. Red glow precedent from coffins was the only source of illumination. "SEE? You KILLED the fun!" She proceeded to laugh like an idiot at her own horrible pun.

No matter how many times they had lived the Dark Hour, seeing blood come out of what used to be the beautiful fountains of Paulownia Mall was certainly creepy.

"Can I drink the reeeeed water?"

"No."

"But I wannaaaaa… Can we play a game?"

"Uh… What game?"

"Kiiiiing's game."

"N-NO." It was certainly the longest Dark Hour Minato had ever lived. As soon as everything went back to normal, the blue haired boy practically dragged Hamuko to the monorail. Despite the time passed, Hamuko didn't seem to get better. No one seemed to be waiting for them when they arrived to the dorm, so Minato tried to take Hamuko to her room stealthily, but the girl wasn't cooperating.

"Can I go to your roooom? I wanna see your room!"

"You've seen it a thousand times."

"I want to look at it better. C'mon, do it, or I'll tell everyone y'got me drunk!" Fearing Hamuko would throw a fit and wake up everyone in the floor or actually tell that lie, Minato did as she asked. As soon as she entered, she slumped on his bed and yawned. "This bed is soooo comfy."

"I bet it's the same as yours. You've seen my room, now go to yours and sleep, there's school tomorrow." The boy got no answer. "Hamuko-chan?" No response; she was asleep. Minato felt like he could face palm right through his forehead in that very moment. He considered waking her up but the brunette was fast asleep. In the end he decided to steal the bed pillow and sleep on the ground and think about what repayment he'd ask Hamuko for as his consciousness vanished.

* * *

><p>The morning arrived, and with it, the most awkward moment in their whole lives ensued. Because Murphy's Law required so, Mitsuru had decided she would apologize to Minato and offer him a small place in the Student Council before going to school. This being Mitsuru, she didn't even bother knock the door when she got to Minato's room, not expecting the sight of Hamuko sleeping half on the bed half on the ground with Minato on the ground right next to her, and the strong smell of alcohol filling the room.<p>

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE!" Mitsuru's volume control had just exploded, waking up the teens in the process. Hamuko freaked out badly at seeing Minato sleeping in what she thought was her room, but her surprise was replaced with embarrassment and a bad headache as she remembered bits from the previous night. Minato looked up and then covered his head with the pillow bed, not having enough energy to look for an excuse. Once she was done lecturing them, Mitsuru threatened to "execute" them should that ever happen again. Mitsuru didn't tell anyone about what she saw, but Junpei definitely heard everything.

Before leaving the dorm, Minato asked Akihiko about Mitsuru's executions. The silver haired senpai grimaced and told him that it was a worse fate than death. He seemed to have experienced it first-hand. In school, all sorts of gossips reached the teens' ears. They got more and more farfetched every time they overheard them. Hamuko was too busy with her hangover to laugh at them and fake to be insulted; Minato was too busy thinking of how to extort Hamuko as a payback for this for the rest of her life. The classes were spent sleeping.

"Hamuko-chan!" Yukari sounded very amused "Someone told me about how you were busted by Mitsuru-senpai this morning!"

"Who? …Oh well, not that it matters. We had an interesting morning, yup."

"I don't want to say that I told you, buuuut…" Hamuko was most definitely not in the mood to deal with Yukari's bitching. "I totally told you."

"Oh well. At least I had a reaaal fun night with Minato. It was a-ma-zing." Yukari's face was priceless. Hamuko wasn't really telling a lie, so she decided it was the other girl's fault for mistaking her words. "Hey Minato, let's repeat it next weekend."

"…Huh? Oh yeah sure." Hamuko had managed to out-bitch Yukari, who left their classroom saying something about too much information. "W-what was the question?"

"I was saying that- Oh hey! Look at the time! I don't have time to talk, sorry!" The brunette ran away.

"_This girl is gonna drive me crazy_." Minato thought as he got up and left the classroom as well. He couldn't walk around the corridors without someone staring at him anymore. Just for the kicks, he began asking around to find out who began the rumors. Much to his surprise, it hadn't been Yukari as he expected, but Junpei. Maybe Yukari wasn't "one of those girls" after all? Leaving school, he saw Chihiro crash into a wall as she ran away from him. Woops.

Minato wasn't too sure about where to go until he remembered about the old couple. Not having anything better to do, he took the train to Iwatodai and went to Bookworms. He found Bunkichi and Mitsuko behind the bureau where now they displayed some of the best sellers.

"Oh, you came back! Welcome um… What was your name again?" Before the boy could answer, Bunkichi began laughing. "I'm just joking, I know who you are. I'm not that old. My wife and I were just talking about you, Minato-chan." The boy did his best not to cringe at that name. "Minato-chan, do you like melon bread?" Minato nodded and old man took out a bag full of it from the bureau "Someone gave them to be, but I have more than enough. Go ahead and take one. No need to thank me." He bowed and thanked him as he took a piece of bread. "Minato-chan you're so polite. I wish HE had been that way. Do you want one for a friend too?" Before he could politely refuse, Bunkichi shoved some more bread into his hands. Not that he would complain. "Alright, ya go… Um… Uh… Err…"

"Remember, dear? This is Minato-chan. I'm sorry, Minato-chan. He's terribly forgetful lately." Mitsuko patted her husband's shoulder reassuringly.

"…Where did he run off to, dear? He should be here helping customers...I'm sorry, Minato-chan. I'm sure he'd rather be "hanging out" with his friends than taking care of an old man like me. I'm sure he'll be back soon. Right, dear" Mitsuko's expression darkened considerably.

"Must you, dear?"

"Oh, that's right… Our son is deceased. My apologies, Minato-chan. I hope I'm not making you feel uncomfortable." After sharing this experience, Minato felt closer to the couple. The Hierophant Social Link reached the level 2. "Please, come again. We'll e waiting for you, Minato-chan." He decided to go back to the dorm right afterwards.

After leaving his schoolbag and signing the sign-in book, Minato received a phone call from a number he didn't recognize.

"Hello, this is Elisabeth. Please, come to the Velvet Room. There is a matter we need to discuss. You may use the alternate entrance located in Paulownia Mall. All you must do is find the door. …I'll see you soon." And before he could even ask her how the hell she got his number, she ended the call. Oh well, he decided he'd better follow the instructions of anyone who had a certain degree of control over the monsters in his head.

Once in Paulownia, he didn't really need to look for the door—He found Hamuko walking through a corridor which leaded to no store and constructive logic did the rest. He wondered if Elisabeth had called her as well. In the Velvet Room, Igor explained him some things about Persona Fusion, which he hadn't had the chance to do earlier, and then let his assistant speak.

"I am truly sorry to bother you, but… I have a big favor to ask. I have been looking for someone with exceptional strength. It's been quite some time since we've had a visitor worthy of our attention. If you don't mind, will you accept my requests? Some missions will be special and require you to escort me around, but… Of course, there will be a reward upon the completion of the request. Well then, I have the following requests to begin with…"

She told him that she wanted to try something called "Muscle Drink", a Beetle Shell for her collection, Pine Resin from someone in the Archery Club, a Juzumaru –a special katana-, the first old document and what surprised him the most: visiting Paulownia Mall. Once she was done telling him her requests, she informed him that she had already accomplished one: he had found the old document she wanted. Well, that was easy. Now he'd just have to find everything else and take her on a date a few days later.

Before leaving, Minato asked Elisabeth if she had phoned Hamuko, and the woman in blue informed him that she didn't know any person by that name. She explained that the brunette probably used the contiguous Velvet Room, where she received the help of a different assistant; she didn't even try to explain how Igor could assist them both.

Minato spent the evening in the arcade. He later found out that Hamuko apparently stayed in the dorm studying or something similar –most likely sleeping-, so Minato couldn't avoid wondering what she did in the afternoon.

* * *

><p><strong>Hamuko stop being a slut; Minato, stop being boring |V<strong> **Otherwise, EXECUTION.**


	9. Bad presage

**Author Note: Chapters keep getting less and less wordy. It's not bad but, buh, how is that happening? Also aw yeah May. Really /cool/ events are still so far, though... :U**

* * *

><p>"And so, as that person put it… Yikes! We're at school already?" Yukari chuckled a bit. Hamuko had found her in the lounge having breakfast, and she asked her to go to school together. "That reminds me, it's gotten so warm lately. Well, I guess today is the start of May, after all."<p>

"Time flies!" Lies, this had been the longest and weirdest month in her life.

"Good morning." Minato walked towards the girls and Yukari suddenly seemed to get quiet. Hamuko would have thanked Minato for that hadn't them been affected by the tension inherent of being near a could-be social link for them both. The girl with a pink cardigan was apparently thinking of something new to talk about to break the awkward silence.

"Ya know, it doesn't seem like the number of Apathy Syndrome cases has been decreasing lately... We're the only ones who can fight the Shadows, so... I guess if we train more, we'll be ready if anything like THAT comes up again." Everyone's expressions darkened as they remembered that night. "Me especially, I don't wanna be a burden on anyone else." The bell rang. "Let's get going."

"Hey!" The classes had just ended and Hamuko was getting ready to go to the Student Council whereas Minato was going to go to practice. Junpei stopped them both from leaving; he seemed to have important news. "FYI, Akihiko-san's at the hospital getting a checkup. He called me earlier, and asked me to bring him something." He adopted a cocky pose. "Yup, he knows who to count on…" Okay, maybe the news weren't so important.

"He only asked you cuz you don't have anything else to do after school..." Bitch Yukari, go.

"H-hey, I resent that!"

The girl began giggling. "I'm just kidding! What'd he want you to bring?"

"The class roster for 2-E."

"What's he want that for? Well, I don't have practice today, so I'll go with you." She turned to Hamuko "You're coming too, right?"

"Sure!" Student Council? What Student Council?

"W-wait a minute." Junpei didn't seem as comfortable with the idea.

"What? Is there a problem?"

"Well, it was ME he asked…"

Disregarding completely Junpei's words, Yukari turned around to ask Minato if he was going as well; however, the boy was nowhere to be found. Kazushi had dragged him to practice once again- apparently he was serious when he said that Minato belonged to him after class. Yikes.

The group headed to Tatsumi Memorial Hospital- the same place where Minato and Hamuko were hospitalized when they awakened to their Personae. When they arrived to the room where Akihiko should have been, they found a boy sitting on a chair besides the empty bed. He had long grayish brown hair and matching eyes, both half hidden by a black wool hat which didn't cover his stern expression. He wore a red long coat with metallic decorations and long black trousers; all this shouted the word "badass". The menacing-looking guy simply stared at them.

"Umm… Is… Akihiko-senpai…?" Junpei was barely capable to speak, frightened as he was "…In this room? By any chance?"

The so called senpai entered the room in that precise moment. He seemed quite surprised to find the place full of people.

"What are all of you guys doing here?"

"We came to see you! Oh, but you look fine, Senpai!" The girl was totally checking out Akihiko; Junpei noticed that and grimaced. "I'm so glad you are okay!"

"I-I'm just here for a checkup…"

"Is that it, Aki?" The badass guy finally stood up and spoke. Judging by how he talked to Akihiko, they had to be friends.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Tch… I don't have time for this shit." Or maybe not. The guy began walking towards the door, but stopped right in front of Hamuko and fixed her eyes on hers. She decided not to move, and just looked back; if it worked with gorillas, it had to work with Akihiko's acquaintances. "You…" He kept staring at her and she noticed there was a hint of kindness in his eyes. "Never mind…" Hamuko could only look at him questioningly as he left the room without even saying goodbye.

"Wh-who was that?" Junpei asked. The red eyed brunette shook her head muttering a "no idea". "I was talking to senpai." Oh. That made sense.

"A friend from school… Sort of. You know how the number of Apathy Syndrome cases has been increasing? Well, he knows a few people who are suffering from it, so I was asking him about it." That seemed a lie, but nobody pried. "Hey Junpei, did you bring what I asked for?"

"Of course, senpai." The boy brought a sheet out of his jacket.

"Sorry for the trouble. Well then, let's get going!"

"Um, you shouldn't move your arm…"

"It's nothing. I've wasted enough time already... I need to get back to my training."

"Yeah! Gekkoukan's golden boy! He was born to be in the ring!" Junpei seemed really fired up when talking about their senpai.

"…Sometimes, I really don't get you." The girls giggled at the silver haired boy's words, while Junpei almost fell on his face.

"By the way, why boxing?" Akihiko fell silent for a second before answering to Yukari's question.

"You mean, why did I choose that sport? Well... It's not the sport itself I like. I just wanted to learn how to fight. I know what it's like to feel powerless... And I don't want to feel that way again. Besides, I'm curious to see how strong I can get. It's like a game, only I'm competing against myself."

"That's an interesting way of looking at it." That meant Junpei didn't get it at all. "You know, I'm into games too..."

"VIDEO games" The girls high-fived after they said that simultaneously.

"I like fighting games too! And they're good for hand-eye coordination!"

Back at the dorm they found Minato laying on the sofa, complaining loudly about Kazushi. That was an indicator that he didn't get to "grow closer to him" in the afternoon. The blue haired boy was completely beat, but since it was Hamuko's turn as a leader, Mitsuru suggested going to Tartarus. Her kohai accepted because that way she would be able to look for items to complete Theodore's requests.

They met in the usual place to see Tartarus rise. No matter how many times they saw it, the sight never ceased to amaze them. The bluenette and the brunette kept the usual distance from the others.

"What's with that smile?"

"What smile?"

"**That** smile." Hamuko tried to put a serious face. "What's in your mind? …Oh no, don't tell me-" Minato's cheeks became a nice pink color and the girl's grin turned even more devilish.

"…Where can I change clothes in this place?"

Minutes later, everyone was ready to go except Hamuko, who wasn't even present in the first floor. Junpei was about to ask about her whereabouts, when a choked scream took their attention's… And then their eyes got another aim.

"Hello, boys!" Hamuko was wearing the Battle Panties, happy like that.

"WHAT are you doing?" Yukari looked pretty disgusted.

"Seikatsu's armor has quite a high defense stat, but…" Mitsuru's words died as the boys began blabbering.

"A-aren't you cold in that?" Akihiko's face matched his red vest.

"Dude, how can you wear that in public?" Despite saying this, Junpei was staring at her. "I mean you're exposing your… I mean… I…" Everyone had given their opinions, and they certainly weren't as worthy as she expected. Oh well.

"What do you think, Minato-kun?" Said boy was looking away, giving his back to the group. Hamuko made him turn around to see what was up and… His nose was bleeding. Seeing this, Hamuko burst into laughter, making the rest of S.E.E.S look at both with an awkward expression.

"Pffft! Oh God, Minato!" The girl kept laughing like an idiot. "So it was TRUE after all! HAHAHA!" She tried to hold back the tears in her eyes "You should have told me you were so… "Easy to impress." I would have brought a nose-rag or something!"

Once her laughing fit was over and someone handed Minato a handkerchief, everyone went into the tower. Junpei missed enemies that night a lot more than usual as he was busy looking at… Other places. Fortunately for him, all the shadows were quite weak compared to the strength they had now.

"_If I was a Beetle Shell, where would I hide?_" As Hamuko thought this, a humongous beetle-like shadow crawled past them. "_Oh. Yeah._" It didn't last alive much more time.

They explored every floor they were in, and were surprised they were so large. Some had incredibly long corridors that leaded to dead-ends. Maybe they were just so shadows would hunt the idiots who walked in more easily? Or was there another reason? Hamuko decided that the labyrinth itself wasn't the best place to cogitate after almost missing a golden chest.

"Oh yeah, Juzumaru!" The girl took the katana out of the shining chest. How did such a long sword fit in the chest in the first place was a mystery. "So cool!" she tried to make a heroic pose wielding it, but ended up looking rather lame. She considered asking the others to keep going up but they looked pretty beat after so many battles, so she told everyone to look for an access point and head back.

"You got a Juzumaru, huh? I need one too…" Hamuko could only nod as Minato rubbed his nose, thinking. She would have normally bragged about the weapon but she was busy trying to keep a straight face. "I have the First Old Document. Show the Juzumaru to whoever is helping you, and we'll trade stuff." She nodded again and barely suppressed a chuckle. Then they fall into silence as they walked to the station.

"…You know, I'm suddenly worried about having spent the night in your room. You didn't do anything to me, did you?" Saying Minato was glaring daggers at Hamuko would have been an understatement.

"You're suspicious of ME? I should have just let you go with the creepy man the other night!" Hamuko seemed to be a bit lost.

"Oh right! I remember that!" the girl smiled at Minato "It was pretty sweet from you to care for me and-"

"Prevent you from drinking blood? Among other stupidities?"

"Well… Yes maybe." Hamuko tapped her lower lip with her index finger "Are you trying to make me call you Minato-niisan or something?"

"Ugh, no." The boy grimaced at the idea "I'd go insane if I had a sister like you."

"Oh I see." She made a pause. "Then you admit the only thing you want is to get in my pants, huh?"

"…Eh?"

The next morning was… Interesting. "Someone" began talking about Minato's incident in Tartarus –skipping the part about the tower itself- and although there were worse rumors going around, it felt awkward to hear about something which was true.

"Hey, have you heard-"

"Yes Hamuko-chan, I've heard about it enough for today."

"Damn, people talk that much about Tanaka's show?"

"Oh, I thought… Never mind. Who is this Tanaka?"

"It's a guy who owns a shopping program. It airs every Sunday afternoon. I was thinking that we should watch it together tomorrow to see if they have anything useful for Tartarus."

"Hey, good idea. Okay, let's do it."

"Tomorrow in your room, then!" She definitely phrased it that way on purpose. "Don't BLEED late!" Oh god. He prayed no one else had noticed the incredibly stupid pun.

After classes, Hamuko and Minato headed together to Iwatodai. The blue haired boy wanted to talk to the old couple and Hamuko tagged along since she wanted to eat the magical sushi to see if it helped her with the incoming exams –apparently, people took studying seriously in the school.

After Minato entered Bookworms, Hamuko headed to Wakatsu, tripping on something in the way. "_Ow… A wallet?_"

Meanwhile, in the store, Minato found Bunkichi walking around, obviously worried.

"That's strange… I swear I left it around here… But I can't seem to find it…"

"Looking for something?" Bunkichi stopped wandering.

"Minato-chan? How'd you know I was looking for something?" Magic. "Are you psychic? I'm looking for my glasses... No, not my glasses, my wallet. I can't seem to find it."

"I'll help you recover it."

"Wow! Minato-chan, you really can read minds! I was just thinking it'd be nice if someone gave us a hand." They spent quite a while looking for it among book piles without obtaining any results. "Where could it be…? Wait, what were we looking for?"

Before Minato could remind the old man of the objective of their search, someone stepped in… It was Hamuko and a blond boy who was most definitely not Japanese.

"Oh, good afternoon Hamuko-chan." Mitsuko waved at the brunette, who smiled awkwardly at her.

"Do you know her?" Minato's voice sounded a bit upset. The store was too small for both of them.

"Oh yes, she's a usual customer!" Hamuko pressed her lips and looked down as she nodded, making her smile look rather timid. Seeing the red eyed girl act shy was quite an occurrence, in Minato's opinion. "Did you like the last book you bought?"

"Erm, Bunkichi-san… Uh, Bebe…" The blonde who had been staring at some manga volumes walked towards Bunkichi.

"Konnichiwa, eez tis wallet yours?" The old man stared at the item the boy gave him and his eyes lit up.

"Wow! This is it! I've been looking for this wallet everywhere! Well, it's not a golden wallet, but I'm still happy to have it back!" The boy smiled at the old man, and then he looked at Minato, and then at Hamuko.

"Eez he ze "Minato-kun" you told me about?" Hamuko nodded and the boy clapped his hands in happiness. "My name eez Andre Laurent Jean Geraux, but zey call me Bebe! I go to zee same school - Gekkoukan! I came 'ere from France to study abroad. I work in ze Home Economics Room everyday. Hamuko-chan joined the other day, so if you get bored, come say 'ello!" Bebe looked at the brunette, making her nod with an annoyed expression. "I 'ope to see you zere. Sayonara, goodbye!" The blonde left the store and Hamuko followed him.

"Well… He seemed like an interesting young man." That "interesting" seemed to be Mitsuko's way of saying "flamboyant".

"Hmm...I thought I put it in my wallet so I wouldn't lose it... Ah, here it is! I knew it was in here!" Bunkichi took out a key from the wallet.

"Dear? Is that the key for...?"

"Come on dear, you know what it is. It's the key for our son's car. Seeing Minato-chan reminded me of how things used to be. I haven't heard the roar of the engine in a long time. How do I look, dear?"

"Please don't! Why must you get in a car! Do you want me to end up all alone! Um, Minato-chan... I'm sorry for raising my voice. Did I scare you?" Minato was rather clueless in the conversation and Bunkichi noticed.

"Our son… Remember what I told you? How he passed away… On the way home from work, he got into an accident… He was hit by a dump truck driver who was drunk on the job…" Minato could relate to what felt like to lose someone in a car accident. That was the way his parents died ten years prior. "Minato-chan, please punch me... Punch me for being so insensitive. With all my excitement, I forgot to consider how my wife might feel. I'm such a... Such a..."

"No. You're not, it's okay." Minato put a hand on Bunkichi's shoulder reassuringly. "You want to go back to normal… It's okay to miss him, but…" Minato had always been good at soothing people, even when he himself didn't understand what he was saying –it was just like lying, it came out natural. The old man looked at Minato with thankful eyes and the Hierophant Social Link reached level 3. Bunkichi thanked Minato for searching for his wallet with him and gave him a… Bottle of medicine. Well, it was actually more useful for Minato than Bunkichi would have ever thought.

Right after leaving the store, Minato headed to Wakatsu, where Hamuko was devouring some sushi. Minato sat right next to her and ordered some of… Whatever she was having –it didn't look like anything he'd had before.

"What was THAT? When did you become cute?" Minato mocked Hamuko as she was busy eating and couldn't retort. He didn't sincerely expect her to throw some fish at his face as an answer. Hamuko finished eating quickly. "What happened?"

"Well, it's an interesting story… When you left, I found a wallet. I was going to take the money in it and leave it where I found it, but Bebe saw me and chewed me off for trying to do that. We saw an ID in the wallet and you know the rest."

"Willing to steal money from an old man… Yeah, you totally should be ashamed." Hamuko muttered a "shut up" and ordered some more food. "So how do you know Bebe?" Minato could swear he saw Hamuko's eyebrows twitch at the question.

"That's even more… Interesting." She made a pause "On Thursday, after classes… Uh… You don't need to know that..." Hamuko… Blushed? "Thing is, some hours after classes ended, I kind of stumbled into the Home EC Room and helped Bebe with some sewing stuff and bam! Temperance Social Link go."

"I… see?" "_…Just WHAT was she doing?_" Minato decided to forget about it. Maybe it was for the best he didn't know.

After eating an ungodly amount of raw fish they headed back, not feeling very well. In the lounge, they found Yukari applying some pine resin to the bow she used in school practice. Minato asked her for some, saying that he planned to buy a bow for himself at the police station whereas Hamuko got some and a weird look from Yukari out of insistence. The night went on normally until…

"Minato-kun. Mi-na-to-kun." The girl poked Minato's cheek. "Minato, I'm cold, wake up." No answer. "Well, alright then." Minutes later, the boy rolled on his back and crashed against something. He opened his eyes just to find Hamuko dozing off right next to him. The boy screamed something undecipherable and jumped out of his bed quite literally.

"A-A-ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?" he wheezed as he put a hand over his chest. Hamuko stretched her arms and looked at him like the boy was crazy. "What are you doing in MY bed?"

"I was cold and you wouldn't wake up, so I thought I'd just wait here until you did. Not like I haven't slept in this bed before. Welp, you're awake, so…" She sat up and put her hands on her hips with a triumphant pose. "Mission concrete!"

"Don't you mean complete…?" Minato sighed and sat on his bed, making Hamuko fall to the ground. "So why did you come to my room, besides trying to get us "executed"?"

"I couldn't sleep." She sat next to him.

"Aren't you old enough to be alone when that happens?"

"Well DUH, yes, but I get bored." Minato grumbled something in response.

"…What time is it, even?" His mobile phone said 11:59 for some seconds. Then, it died and the world went green. A sudden dizziness affected the teens.

"Hi, how have you been?" The boy in the striped pyjamas –who they hadn't seen in… Almost two weeks? - smiled at them. It was Hamuko's turn to jump off the bed, right into Minato's arms.

"GET. OFF. ME."

"NO." she clang stronger to him as the child began chuckling.

"…It's been a while, are you two well?"

"I would be if a certain girl wasn't trying to asphyxiate me." The boy seemed to be having fun laughing at the Fools.

"Is that why boys and girls aren't allowed in the same room?" He received no answer other than some unintelligible babble, so he decided to say what he was supposed to "…One week from now, there will be a full moon… Be careful, a new ordeal awaits you…" He kept an unnerving smile as he gave them the message.

"Could you be less cryptic, please?" Hamuko seemed too freaked out at the boy's messages to talk, so Minato did the questioning.

"You will encounter one of THEM. You must prepare for the ordeal, but time is of the essence... I'm sure you're aware of that, of course. I'll come see you again when it's over. Goodbye for now." He gave them one of his sheepish smiles and left the room.

"Did the moon child just encourage us to kill shadows?" Saying Minato was confused would have been an understatement.

"C-can I stay here tonight?" Minato pretty much threw her out of his room. "_…Should I ask Junpei-kun?_"

The night continued in the seemingly haunted dorm peacefully… Right after a very flustered Junpei calmed down upon finding out why Hamuko had sneaked into his room.

* * *

><p><strong>What was she doing that afternoon? I call for noodle incident. Have fun coming up with your own theories.<br>**


	10. A tour to remember

**Author note: I don't hate this chapter. That's weird in me. Anyway, reviews are a good way to encourage me to keep working on this fic and update as fast as always aside from being a good confidence boost, so don't be shy and share your thoughts!**

**And remember that those who follow me on deviantart (SandraMJ) get to see scenes of the fic and several related pictures every so often. Just sayin'.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em>Anata no<em>

_Terebi ni_

_Jika-net Tanakaaaaaaa_

_Minna no_

_Yoku no tomo!_

"Yoku no tomo!" Hamuko shouted the last phrase and sat down next to Minato, who was less than amused because the stupid jingle would be stuck in his head forever.

"Wow. You're a great singer."

"Really?"

"No." She slapped Minato's arm and then they went back to watching the TV. A black haired man who, for some reason, seemed a tad sketchy appeared on the screen.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to the home shopping show, "Tanaka's Amazing Commodities"! Granter of your desires! I'm your host, Tanaka, with a live presentation of my Amazing Commodities! We'll show you great items at unbeatable prices! Ooh, you won't be able to touch that dial!"

"Are you sure they could sell something useful? Or was it just an excuse to get in my room?"

"Let's bring out our item of the day! It iiiiis… Yawn-B-Gone! Protects your health! Oh my goodness! I can't believe its wonderfulness!" Tanaka was quite a hammy actor. "But wait, there's more! We'll throw in two Muscle Drinks for only 1980 yen!" Minato and Hamuko gaped.

"Have I ever told you that I love you?" Minato began clicking the numbers in his mobile phone at an incredible speed.

"I know you do." Minato purchased the Yawn-B-Gone, being told that it would arrive in about two days. The shopping program went on, offering another product called "Slash Ward". "What kind of people buys those things?"

"You don't want to know." Hamuko could swear she saw Minato shudder as he said this. The program was coming to an end.

"Next time, we'll bring you a set of two rare cards that your kids will be dying to own! See you next Sunday, same time, same channel!"

_Anata no_

_terebi ni_

_Jika-net Tanakaaaaa_

_Kawu no wa_

_Imasi-ka nait!_

Minato stood up and reached for the off button. "Wait, don't turn off the TV!" Minato looked at Hamuko questioningly. "I… Uh…" Before Hamuko could explain herself, the opening tune of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R began playing.

"Oh I see." He sat down again, surprising the brunette. "You're such a kid sometimes."

"Well, you-!"

"I think it's cute." Hamuko remained silent during the whole episode –save for one or two exclamations along the lines of "GO BLACK CONDOR!" The program ended and Minato turned off the TV. "Well, I'm going to play some Ghost Town… I mean, Innocent Sin Online."

"If it's so dead, why do you play?" The girl eyed Minato suspiciously.

"Because I'm a loner till the end." Hamuko shook her head laughing.

"I don't think you're so aloof." She put an arm around his neck and smirked. "You totally love my company, don't you?" Having a hunch of where that was going, Minato pushed Hamuko out of his room. "Have fun by yourself, LOSER boy!" She kicked his door and walked to the lounge. "_Bonding with Junpei, go!_"

The bluenette sat in front of the laptop. Maya was walking around the Lunarvele Hospital and she hopped gladly as she saw Minato's character appear.

"Wb, tatsuya *^_^* Good to see u again. U remember me rite? =/"

"I wouldn't forget you, Maya."

"U really DO remember!1 n_n" Oh, reading was a pain. "This is exactly liek when maya and tatsuya remember. ^_^-b" There was some silence as they walked out of the hospital. "Hmm...what kinda people r we, playing inside on such a beautiful day? yeah, games r cool, but like...(gawd this sounds pathetic-) there isn't much else that interests me, ya know? ._."

Minato totally agreed with that, but he was there voluntarily. "Well, I'm having fun talking to you."

"Ya lol… we're s'posed to be levelling, but we jus keep on chatting =3 but hey, grinding gets old rite? yar rite its more fun talking to u, tatsuya." And then the Hermit Social Link reached level 2. Maya proceeded to log off, leaving Minato wondering what to do –or more like, where to go, as he didn't want to accidentally run into Hamuko and Junpei again- so maybe he'd just sleep for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile in Paulownia, Hamuko was trying to make up with Junpei the best way she knew: arcade day paid by her. Apparently it worked, because Junpei's mood became considerably better. Maybe he thought he was whacking something other than moles? After that, they went to Café Chagall where they chatted about the places in which they usually hanged out and the greatness of the coffee.

"So you were serious when you said you loved me like a dog?" Hamuko looked up from her coffee cup. That question came out of nowhere. "We're just friends?" She suddenly became interested in her feet. The situation had become incredibly awkward in half a second. She knew that trying to change the topic wouldn't help, and if she lied, he'd notice.

"I…" she was choosing her words carefully, as Minato usually did. "I can't really…" Junpei's furrowed his eyebrows with impatience "I don't know, I can't tell friendship and love apart…"

"What?" The boy was completely lost.

"Um, I have had boyfriends before but… They got jealous. I act the same way with everyone, so they got angry at me thinking that I was cheating on them. They couldn't understand I just wanna have fun with everyone… So I don't want you to be like that." It was pretty much the truth. Hamuko looked sad after confessing this, so Junpei embraced her in a comforting way.

"It's okay, I'm happy bein' your friend. But if you get a guy, you should be less… Y'know those things you do with everyone? Uuuuuuuh…" Junpei had problems defining Hamuko, and she found that funny. "…Hey, I'm here for you, alright? And don't doubt to call me if you want a friend with… Privileges!" Hamuko looked at him with interest, but Junpei swore her was kidding. The atmosphere wasn't awkward anymore.

"So Persona bros?" Hamuko broke the hug and raised her hand in the air, which was quickly met by Junpei's.

"PERSONABROS!" He was lying. It was easy to tell that, but Hamuko didn't notice. The girl believed that Junpei really wanted to spend time with her, even if it had to be stuck forever in the "just friends" zone, and that made her appreciate him even more; the Magician Social Link grew consequently, reaching level 3. "Anyway, you probably deserve someone more like… Akihiko-senpai! Imagine it: a transfer student arrives to Gekkoukan and steals the Boxing Club's captain's heart! Seems a story from a manga."

"Senpai, huh?" Hamuko could picture her senpai hanging out with her, talking about training, training and, if there was some time left, training. "Uh…"

"Huh? Not a sports guy girl? You prefer someone like Kenji?" The brunette smiled awkwardly as she shook her head. "I guess not. Um…" He kept saying a lot of names, most of which Hamuko had never heard. She noticed he mentioned every guy in the class except Minato and she couldn't help but to wonder if he was somehow still mad at the bluenette.

As the afternoon came to an end, Junpei said bye and left Paulownia whereas Hamuko decided to stay a bit more. Alone and with nothing to do, she decided to visit the Velvet Room.

"Theo!" Igor's assistant bowed "I got some of the things you asked me for!" She handed him the few Pine Resin she got from Yukari, the shards of beetle shell –there was no other way of transporting it- and promised him to give him the Juzumaru the following day before taking him on a date.

"You planned taking me to your world tomorrow?"

"Yup. It's Greenery Day, so I don't have classes. Is there any problem?" The man in blue seemed to hesitate a moment before shaking his head. "Awesome! Then I'll come pick you up at-"

"It isn't necessary for you to establish a specific time; remember that time does not go by in the Velvet Room, hence I won't be aware of the time remaining until your arrival and it would only make my wait all the more painful."

"…Oookay?" Hamuko hadn't understood half of Theo's speech. "So like, see you tomorrow at eleven!" And then she left.

Minato was in the café, but that wasn't a surprise for her any longer; the shock of the night was that Minato only ordered a cup of chocolate.

"I've been sleeping all day so drinking coffee would be quite pointless."

"Sleeping? How can you be so boring?"

"…I didn't want to take any chances at running into you and Junpei."

"Oh…" She suddenly felt bad for Minato. "…Do you want to do something together tomorrow? Just me and you." She smiled. "Junpei doesn't need to know." Minato had a weird expression, which Hamuko needed some seconds to understand. "…Oh man, c'mon I didn't mean it like that." He shook his head and carried on drinking his chocolate. "…Unless you want to." Hamuko giggled as the boy choked on his cup.

"Yeah, okay, I guess hanging out would be nice. I have an appointment in the morning, though."

"Ditto." Hamuko grinned mischievously at Minato as she rested her chin on the back of her hands. "Could it be my Minato-kun got a date?" The boy nodded with an awkward smile. "Woo! Do I know her?"

"I'm afraid you don't. She… Isn't from school." He didn't seem keen on talking about that. "So who are you meeting?"

"Se-cret! You probably don't know him, either." Saying that it was Igor's assistant would have been kind of pathetic. "So how's the chocolate?"

"Chocolate-ish? It tends to be better when you don't drop innuendos while I'm enjoying it."

"I'm secretly trying to kill you with advances…"

"I guess you want me to die happy, then." The conversation got more and more derailed as the night went on.

* * *

><p>"What is that over there?"<p>

"This must be "a fountain"!"

Both speakers looked at each other. Both had platinum blond hair, golden eyes and bizarre blue suits. The first one, Theo, seemed horrified to see Elisabeth, the second.

"Theodore!" Elisabeth ran towards the man and hugged him, must to his annoyance. "What is my little Theo doing in the human world?"

"Sister, please…" Theo was mumbling something.

It was then when Minato and Hamuko saw each other. They could only interchange awkward smiles as the siblings attracted everyone's attentions. Once Elisabeth calmed down, everyone continued the tour around Paulownia Mall together.

"So what is an aqueous duct doing in a place like this?" The male assistant fell silent "The dwellers of this world must get thirsty easily." Elisabeth chuckled.

"It's a fountain, Theo! Don't you know what's it for?"

"Eh… O-of course! It's meant to wash one's hands!"

"Wrong! It makes sport of water, well known to all to be the foundation of life… How wicked!" Her tune became amused "You should know these things, Theo!" Theo began coughing awkwardly, trying to hide a blush.

"…It was only my small joke." He seemed defeated. "So is it its only aim?"

"Well… It's rumoured that its enchanting nature grants wishes to those who sacrifice a few coins…" Minato was about to tell her that it was only a superstition, but Hamuko stopped him and suggested just enjoying the show.

"Ah… I did not bring any money…"

"Fortunately, I anticipated this encounter and brought a good supply of coins! 2000 of your 500-yen coins, to be exact." The teens gapped. "I shall make an opening bid to the fountain spirit of 1,000,000 yen." She took out a purse and opened it, emptying its contents in the fountain. A torrent of coins began falling on the water, much to everyone's surprise. "Want to throw some?" she suddenly closed the purse "…Oh wait. I was so caught up in the excitement of tossing coins that I didn't give my wish any thought. This won't do… I shall give it more careful consideration before I return here in the near future…"

Theo and Elisabeth strolled around Paulownia while Minato did his best to drag Hamuko away from the fountain- the girl was willing to jump in to rescue the money.

"Hm?" They stopped in front of the police station "And what, pray tell, is this facility here?"

"There are some stern faced gentlemen inside!"

"These photographs… Most Wanted… Reward? So the concept of subjugation requests is not unknown here…"

"Well yes." Minato just realised it was indeed similar.

"Except that we don't kill them." Hamuko kept looking back at the fountain.

"What do they use as proof that the target has been subjugated?"

"Well, I assume they'd need to bring back a piece of the body." He nodded to himself. "If there are hunters of such talent in this world as well, I may want to make a few requests of my own…" He looked at Hamuko with a flirtatious smile. "…But on second thought, perhaps not. I already have you, our finest guest, for that."

"Excuse me?" Elisabeth seemed a bit insulted "Minato-sama is the finest guest!"

"Hamuko-sama is!"

"A-Anyone wants to check out Escapade?" Minato took the assistants away from the police station, finally letting Hamuko free to go get the money. She came back looking pretty defeated – the fountain had already been salvaged.

"This edifice over here…"

"Could this be the "club" of rumour?"

"Yes!" Elisabeth was euphoric. "Dancers, dictated by the sway of one's inner passions… A subterranean garden of uninhibited spectacle…" Somehow, those words didn't fit very well with the night Minato spend there. Hamuko confirmed gladly Elisabeth's words, though.

"Well then, let us venture in… It's closed? This can't be… It seems, I have no choice but to turn back…"

"Oh well!" Elisabeth began dancing in front of Escapade, prompting the teens to walk away covertly, pretending not to know the woman acting out of place. "Ooh! That was quite satisfying. But I'm overwhelmed… Everything looks so new and inviting. Everywhere I look, something catches the eye. Perhaps you could recommend our next activity?"

"Let's go to the arcade!" Minato seemed to like Hamuko's suggestion.

"Ar… Cade…?" Theo seemed clueless. "…A series of arches?"

"I have heard of it before! I recall it described as a playground where one sports with electric fairies in exchange for tokens… I have also heard that they contain games where one controls a bird to win prizes… I'm eager to see it!"

"A-Alright, let us investigate…" But before they could go, Elisabeth ran off to another fountain and began tossing coins in, and then she headed towards the one next to the arcade.

"It's a trinity of fountain spirits!" Elisabeth ran from one place to another until her money stopped falling from her purse. Hamuko's jaw seemed broken, and Theo misunderstood her expression as awe, so he ran to one of the fountains and stuck his hand in the water.

"It's 8 degrees Celsius." He announced the information proudly, trying to impress his guest.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hamuko's question made the male assistant blush furiously as he had no response.

Things got calmer after spending some time in the arcade –which Minato and Hamuko had to pay. Theo and Elisabeth seemed infatuated with Step Mania whereas the teens were happy playing the new Train Driver Simulator.

"This world has its charms. I… Would relish the chance to visit it again sometime. Thank you very much for today."

"I would like to accompany you too! Oh, let's meet all together another day!" Neither Hamuko nor Minato seemed very pleased with Elisabeth's idea.

Everyone went back together to the Velvet Room. Theodore asked Igor to install a fountain in the Velvet Room whereas Elisabeth asked him to turn it into a club; in both cases, he refused. The assistants gave their respective guests a Small Cheongsam, which would allow them to fuse "Hua Po".

"Well, that was an… Interesting morning."

"Hey, babysitting magical people is awesome! We should do it more often!" They fell in a sudden silence. "So you didn't really get a date! Hah, laaaaaame!"

"Buh? You were meeting Theo, that's just as pathetic!"

"I never said it was a date!" She stuck her tongue at him "Furthermore, I would be able to get one just by snappin' my fingers."

"It's not a date when you get paid…" Minato survived miraculously the walk to Port Island Station. They decided to go check the new films in the cinema.

"Let's see, um…" Hamuko began running a finger over the posters. "Life in the Junkyard… Bizarre Space…" she seemed to find something interesting "The Succubus…?"

The poster for the film was rather… Suggestive. "I'm not watching that."

"Aw… C'mon, Minato-kun! I want to watch it!" She tugged at his sleeve. "I've heard that I speak just like the villain!"

"No."

"Hey, are you scared of the film or something?" She seemed to be asking a serious question. "Don't worry, I'll be there with you!"

"_That's what worries me_." "…What kind of film do you think it is?"

"Junpei said it's gory." Minato face palmed. "What?"

"_With that poster, no wonder Junpei watched it…_" He sighed in defeat. "Alright… You pay for the popcorn."

The film wasn't as bad as Minato expected, but he wasn't too comfortable watching it. And yes, there was a bunch of gore. Hamuko seemed to… Like the film? In fact, she seemed to love every time the antagonist had a sentence.

"Doesn't the main character remind you of someone?"

"Now you say it… I do think I've seen him somewhere."

"And man, the fiancé… She sounds just like Yukari."

"…Yeah. Yes, she does."

Hamuko seemed rather indifferent to the "awkward" scenes, but Minato was obviously affected. She couldn't let that chance to mock him go.

"Do you need a handkerchief, Minato-kun? Nosebleeds can be so treacherous."

"S-Shut up." She planned carefully her next prank.

"Oh man, we totally have to try that."

"EH?"

"I was saying that you totally have to try the popcorn." Minato blubbered something inaudible. The boy didn't really want to be there at that point. Using this to her advantage, Hamuko approached him and whispered to his ear "…I could do so much better than her."

"GOD DAMN IT, HAMUKO." He stormed off.

"_No way I'm watching this film alone._" She ran after him and found him stomping his way to the train platform. "Hey wait for me!"

"I'm not going to the cinema with you ever again."

"Aw, did I make you feel uncomfortable?" Minato glared at her. "You're just so easy to play with."

"So if I was the one acting like a slut you wouldn't behave that way with me?"

"Yeah. Problem is…" Hamuko put her face right in front of Minato's and he stepped back. "…You don't do those things." She clang to him and laughed. "You're such a good boy."

"Well, I did extort you once to get me coffee by imitating you…"

"Well, you were behaving like me, so it doesn't count as being bad." Minato was about to make a rather indiscreet comment but saved it to himself.

"Hey, is being a gentleman a bad thing or something?"

"Nope. I like you like that." She took a hand to her mouth. "W-wait not like, like, "like" I mean "like" like uh…" She muttered something, rather unusual for her normal loudness.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I just remembered Junpei suggested being more careful with what I say…" Minato laughed at her and she pouted.

"Screw that. You wouldn't be able to spend a day without dropping any innuendos."

"HUH? Well, you wouldn't be able to spend a day leaving the stoic façade aside!"

"Do you think so?"

"Maybe!" They fell silent and looked at each other with amusement. "Whoever loses pays dinner WHEREVER the winner decides."

"Deal. We better tell Kenji and Junpei not to make any plans for tomorrow." They shook hands and waited to see if any ominous voices told them their social link had deepened, but no.

The afternoon continued rather calmly, disregarding Junpei and Hamuko's loud chatter about the awesomeness of the film and how awful not watching the ending -thanks to Minato- was. The boy decided to begin plotting a fitting revenge... Maybe someone would accidentally leak information about Hamuko's part time job uniform to Junpei…

* * *

><p><strong>That reference is so easy to tell that it hurts :B<strong>


	11. Roleplaying

**Author note: I can't shake the feeling this chapter could have been much funnier. Oh well. One month complete! Only... LOTS of chapters remaining 8D; And I will keep pimping my Deviant Art account forever.**

**Unrelated but, writing Maya's words is a pain because of the autocorrection.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"…"<p>

"Hi Hamu-chan."

"…What are you doing?"

"Kickin' the vending machine. Because ya know, you seem to like kickin' things. You?"

"Oh, you know, just refusing to speak to anyone and listening to music. You know, your usual stuff."

"That's awesome." He carried on hitting the machine.

"Aren't you going to buy me a drink?"

"Why would I?"

"Ah, well, I am afraid I am always the one who pays everything, Minato-san."

"No, you're usually the one forced into paying things; it's not a personality trait. Universe hates you, Hamu-chan." Minato somehow managed to kick a can of Mad Bull out of the machine. The girl glared at him. "Want this?" He smirked. "…I'm talking about the soda, of course."

"That is such an inappropriate behavior that..." She sighed, annoyed. "Oh God, Minato, do I have to act like this for a whole day?"

"Ah ah ah, no out of character speech. Unless you want to pay my dinner, that's it." He walked towards his room but someone stopped him in the way.

"Minato-kun!" It was Yukari… In that really weird short pink dress with fluffy neck decorations she wore when there wasn't school. The dress seemed to fit her personality to a T. "The postman just brought this." She gave him a packet.

"Oh, sweet. Thanks a lot, Yukari-chan. Hey Hamu-chan! Our order is here!"

"I am aware of that. Thank you, Yukari-san." The brunette in pink looked at them with a freaked out expression.

"…Whatever." She walked away and the teens took out their Muscle Drinks, completely disregarding the Yawn-B-Gone.

"I'll be in the lounge in ten minutes."

"Have fun playing solitaire." Hamuko whistled as she followed Yukari downstairs, hoping Minato hadn't heard that.

"Hi hi! i was waiting for u! =) so ummmmm…. i'm drunk! xD" Minato decided to carry on with the bet thing even though Hamuko wasn't in the room –he wanted to prove himself he could do it.

"O RLY?"

"YA RLY! ^o^" Maya's character sighed "Save me tatsu! i'm sick of my job! no tiem to party T_T 3 beers an countign!11 will u hold my hair bakc? heheh. rawr, i even have to work from homo this weekend… =( home** LOL! nvm -_-;;"

"You okay?"

"Dun worry, i'm on a break u know =P it didn't use to be liek this T_T i never had to work weekends but lately i cant get motivated to get ne work done work. =/"

"You don't like your job?" He briefly wondered just how older Maya was.

"I luv it! its waht i always wanted to do since i was a kid. ^_^ it has been 8 yrs tho..." That counted as quite older than him. "Maybe i'm jus bored? =/ ugh...sometimes i wish everything would slow down a bit...^_^; why do i play this game even tho i hav better things to do? lol i dun talk like this irl i swaer! its jus an online habit =P"

"_I figured._" Minato snorted in real life.

"I suppose I should type correctly like this, but im jus lazy, eheheh. i rly like how you have good spelling and punctuation online. that's so 1337." Hermit Social Link level 3. This Social Link never ceased to surprise him. "Have u ever said "lol" irl on accident? i think i would die! rofl. that type of things could get me fired for reals! o_O dun tell ne one, k? i can't get firediwanna keep myjob! -_-;" Someone knocked on Minato's door, and he said bye to Maya and logged off.

"Hello, I'm acting all proper and knocking the door because I need to speak to you."

"Oh. You need some human contact?" He rested his left forearm over the door frame as he leaned in to face Hamuko "We can have plenty of that here!"

"Tempting as that sounds… Junpei is waiting for us."

"Oh. I better get dressed then, right?" Minato began unbuttoning his pyjamas but Hamuko didn't move from the door threshold. "Hello? …Care to leave?"

"If I were myself, I wouldn't mind changing clothes in front of you." She smiled deviously.

"Well… If I were myself I wouldn't stay watching you get undressed."

"We have a problem, then." Their resolve was that Minato would put on his clothes while Hamuko just looked away, promising not to turn around.

"Alright, I'm ready." He wrapped Hamuko's shoulders with one arm as they walked downstairs. "Hey everyone!"

"…Someone's in a good mood today." Mitsuru seemed amused by her kohai's strange behavior.

"Oh am I? Maybe I spend too much time with Hamuko." His hand moved from her shoulder to her waist, earning a hands-off slap –it was a product of the amount of potential social links in the place, though, so it didn't count as a fail.

"Do not take such liberties with me, Minato-san. You know I am apparently DEAD afraid of romantic intercourse."

"Oh, I could totally help you overcome your fear, Hamu-chan." Mitsuru and Yukari's faces were priceless.

"Ugh, guys, Kenji is waiting for us in Hagakure." He pretty much dragged them out of the dorm. Hamuko tried to walk away from the boys, but Minato kept trying to embrace her and cling to her. Junpei approached Hamuko using a moment in which Minato got shoved away a bit too hard.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"We made a bet. Long story."

"HA-MU-CHAAAAN!" He glomped her to the ground. And frankly, he felt ridiculous, but he thanked whatever deity was watching him for his talent as an actor.

"Could you move away? This position is rather awkward and very easy to misunderstand." What she actually meant was: "_Oh man, I'm so totally getting you back on this!_" As soon as he noticed there were people looking, he rushed from atop of her, trying to hide the color of his face.

"Dude… Seriously, can't you two stop playing for a moment?"

"But, Junpei, fun is just so much… FUN!"

"…Just get in the restaurant." They entered the ramen restaurant and found Kenji inside.

"Hey guys!" Kenji motioned them to sit next to him. Hamuko and Minato didn't feel any potential social links, other than the ones they had, so they guessed it would be alright to sit together. Kenji had already ordered four Hagakure specials, so the food was soon served.

"Food!" Minato grabbed his chopsticks and began eating as fast as he could. "OM NOM NOM FOOD!" Hamuko decided to ignore his imitation and eat slowly, trying to enjoy the food. "I want more!" He repeated the process several times, trying to pair Hamuko's eating habits, however, he found out it was a rather deadly challenge. Hamuko, on the other hand, was still rather hungry after the same number of bowls.

"Oh, Hamu-chan you don't have money for more?" Hamuko looked at Junpei and pressed her lips together.

"…"

"Hamu-chan? Want me to invite you?"

"…"

"Maybe she just doesn't want any more ramen." Hamuko nodded at Kenji.

"Yeah, we all know that she prefers eating other things." She raised an eyebrow as she stared at Minato. "Like chips. With dips. Which rhymes with…"

"THAT'S MORE LIKE YOUR KINDA THING, ISN'T IT?" She covered her mouth with her hands. "I-I mean..."

"Hamu-chan, that kind of retorts is not very like me."

"My apologies. I do not know what got into me."

"Hey Junpei, what's up with those two?"

"They made a bet or something. Dunno."

Once they got out of Hagakure they continued with their game – Hagakure's chef almost kicked them out for bothering everyone, so they promised to behave. Kenji and Junpei only followed them, having lost all hope of even talking to the Fools. After about an hour of wandering around Iwatodai, they stopped and sat on a bench.

"Minato, you are not imitating me well." He gave her a choking hug. "That is not enough."

"Do you want me to invade your personal space in any other way?"

"The problem is, you are not showing off." He looked at her questioningly. "I once told you that I love having all the boys' attention. Well, to have it, you have to attract it."

"Buh, there aren't any girls 'round other than you."

"I said **boys**, Minato-san." She smirked as she pointed at their classmates.

"N-n-n-n-no way I'm doing that with guys."

"Oh. Then I want to eat in…"

He bit his lower lip. Losing to Hamuko would probably mean saying bye to all the money he won in Tartarus and completing Elisabeth's requests. "What do you want me to do?"

"You have to walk and smile like I would. When you have the boys' attention, say hi, wink at them… And then strut that ass back here."

"Hah. Hahaha. No."

"But you must!" He stared at her with a begging expression which was answered with Hamuko's version of Minato's blank face. He threw his arms up in defeat as he got up and walked towards them inhaling deeply as Hamuko stared at him with expectation. He did as she asked, much to her amusement.

"Hey boys."

"What's wrong with your legs?"

"Hamukitis. It will be gone after I have won a dinner." The red eyed girl was observing his moves, so he winked at them; the three boys, including Minato himself, shuddered in disgust.

"Just try not to get seen by any guy from school. Or try to be away from us if that happens, alright?" Minato gave Kenji a thumbs up and headed back to the bench where Hamuko was sitting.

"Impressing, Minato-san. You really can pull off a seductive stroll!" He answered with a rather obscene hand gesture. "Now now, there is no need to get mad."

"Right. Let's make out—I mean, up." He sat down and cuddled with Hamuko.

"Okay, I gotta admit it: you're good at being me." She pushed him to the ground making him fall on his face. "Hey! I'm good at being you too!"

"Ha ha." He got up and slumped on the bench again. "Time over, okay? I need to know… Where do you get all the energy to be you? Because dude, it's tiring."

"Food. Maybe boredom? I've always been a really active person."

"The word I'd use is "hyperactive"." She shrugged.

"So what turned you into a freaking mute robot?"

"People thought I was crazy when I talked about the Dark Hour. And I didn't have much else to talk about."

"I can relate to that. Anything else?"

"Well… That one foster father of mine who belonged to the Yakuza could have contributed." Hamuko gapped. "Nah, he didn't really belong to it. However… He did lack the tip of his pinky." He looked up to the sky. "He was a nice guy, kinda strict though."

"Was?" Minato put a heavy hand on Hamuko's shoulder and smiled in a disturbing way.

"There are certain things in my past which we don't need to talk about." Hamuko began hopping away from him. "Haha, who would have thought? It IS fun to play with people's minds."

"Y-you were kiddin'?"

"No." He got up from the bench. "Alright, we took a rest from our fake selves, let's get back in character."

"No. I want to go back to the dorm. Acting like you in the street is boring."

"Wait. You're giving up?"

"What? No! I am suggesting going back because I do not want people in the street to see me acting like this."

"You think I like this? What do you think people will think of me?"

"That you are fun and perky?"

"Let's go back."

"Junpei-sa-"

"Oh no man! You guys go back by yourselves." Neither Junpei nor Kenji seemed willing to go with them, so they walked back by themselves. The dorm was completely empty save for them.

"So what now?"

"I don't know, you're the one who wanted to go back."

"Because that is something you would have said. And since I am pretending to be you I have to act like you even if I do not want to do so."

"…Shouldn't I be the one doing the mind screw today?" Minato hadn't really understood what Hamuko just said. "Oh wait, if I'm acting like you, I should be trying to go for the normal kind of screw, no?"

"Pshaw. You would not even try. You know that you would have to give a lot of explanations if someone walked in."

"Like you would care about that." He approached her.

"Well, I certainly would not. But it looks a lot less creepy when I am the one trying to harass you, so I do not have to explain myself often. Furthermore, think of what Yukari would do if she enters the dorm. Just picture the situation." Minato stopped his steps. "THEN, there is the fact that you are afraid of me."

"Buh?"

"You know that if you try anything, I will just shove you away like you would. But as soon as the day is over, I will go get you. And you do not want that. …Or do you?" He walked away in a backpedaling form. "Chronic case of good boy, yup. If I was myself, I would not have backed down at your words. Just sayin'."

"Oh. Is that so? Then maybe I shouldn't bother speaking to you."

"Bleh. I would not say that. At this rate, you are going to lose." That word made Minato realize something.

"How were we going to decide the winner?"

"Um… Wasn't that what Junpei and Kenji were coming for?"

"No. I just wanted to drag them around so I wouldn't have to suffer alone." They laughed together and then tried to think of a good way to decide a winner without any result. "Well… Hey, let's say it's a draw." Hamuko didn't seem happy with that. "HOWEVER, I will invite you to takoyaki tomorrow if we both can keep this for the rest of the day."

"Aw, really? So you can be fun after all!" They carried on trying their best to imitate the other even when the others came back -fortunately, Junpei explained the situation and the others found watching their every move amusing, which wasn't as amusing for Hamuko and Minato. As everyone went to bed, Minato promised to make some time the following day to go get takoyaki.

The Dark Hour arrived and Minato was sleeping peacefully when…

"Hey Minato-kun. Minato-kun."

"Huh?" He turned around, only to see Hamuko. She had a smirk on her face.

"The day's over." Fortunately, no one heard Minato shouting like a crazy man, telling Hamuko to get off him. Having faked to be Hamuko for a whole day wasn't enough to learn how to defend himself from Seikatsu-fu.

* * *

><p>Hamuko and a very flustered Minato were walking to school when they heard two students chatting loudly about how much going back to school sucked. They also mentioned something about an elementary school child playing by herself in Naganaki Shrine. Interesting as that sounded, the bell rang, hence they had to hurry to arrive to class on time.<p>

In the morning they had a Chemistry lesson –well, more or less- with Ms. Ounishi. Hamuko and Yukari spent the class giggling because Junpei wouldn't stop staring at their –must admit it, gorgeous- teacher. Minato couldn't sleep as much as he tried so he was forced to pay attention. This allowed him to answer perfectly to a question about the name of water low in calcium and magnesium. Everyone was surprised and began whispering about him in awe.

After classes, Hamuko ran to practice. She had to apologize to Rio for not having showed up in such a long time. Minato on the other hand, didn't even have time to get up –the Kazushi Express picked him puntually as usual.

Rio was quite an energetic leader, so much that, apparently, the only one who could keep up with her was Hamuko.

"C'mon, get those legs moving! You need to get in front of the ball!"

"Rio, can we take a break yet…?" The other team members seemed completely beat.

"Huh? But we're just getting started!"

"But we're all tired! It's not like we're gonna make it to the finals or anything, anyway!"

"…We could if we tried!" The members looked at her, confused. "True, our team might be weak now, but who knows what we can do if we seriously put our minds to it!" Those words reminded Hamuko of the encouraging speeches Mitsuru often gave them in Tartarus. She found them inspiring, but the rest of the team looked upset.

"You're the only one who wants to take it that far…"

"Who said that? You just need determination…" Yup, she would make a great Mitsuru v.2.

"…I don't think we're in the mood to keep going today. Let's just go, guys." The bell hadn't even rung, but everyone left except Hamuko. Rio seemed pretty disappointed.

"Oh, Hamuko-san. Wh-why don't you leave too? Looks like practice is over for today, anyway… I'll be fine on my own…"

"Like I'm gonna leave you alone." She smiled at Rio and the black haired girl mumbled something with teary eyes. Together they carried on practicing tennis.

"Ah, it's almost time… Um… About today…"

"Does this happen often?"

"…Yeah." She smiled wryly. "All I want is to play tennis. Everyone else just spends all practice talking about guys or loafing around…"

"Hey, you can totally play tennis with me. I promise that I'll be paying attention!"

"Shouldn't you promise to come more often, instead?" Hamuko tried to explain herself with poor results, making both girls laugh. Next she knew, the Chariot Social Link reached level 2. Yay. "Let's clean up and go home… I'm so hungry. Why don't we go grab a burger or something when we're done?"

"Rio, I've the impression this is the beginning of a great friendship."

Minutes before, in the racing tracks, Minato was running like crazy, chased by Kazushi.

"I'll reach you, Minato! I'll show you what I'm made of! …Hm?" Kazushi winced. "Dammit, y-you serious…!" He suddenly fell to the ground and the rest of team members ran towards him.

"Kaz!" Everyone helped to take him to the nurse office… Well, Minato used that time to go get a shower and dress up in normal clothes and once he was done he went to see Kazushi. Two upper classmen were asking him for explanations. "Asthma, huh?" Minato could tell he had just made that up, but he didn't say anything. "C'mon… We're counting on you to be the captain next year…"

"The big meeting is next year, but don't push yourself too hard. Minato, can you take him home?"

"Sorry, Senpai. …Wh-what? I'm fine, Minato. Um… My asthma's just acting up…"

"Are you okay?" Kazushi seemed suddenly offended.

"O-of course! It's just my asthma…" Minato stared at him intently. "…Argh! I can't do it! I can't lie to you!" Not like anybody could. "Minato… I… My knee hasn't felt right… Since the day you first came to practice. Even if I put medicine on it, or massage it, the pain won't go away.

"That's the Minato effect. It will heal if you take a day off."

"Buh! I can't afford to stop training, so I'll work through the pain!" He paused and looked at his knee. "…Next year, there's a national competition. There will be participants from all over Japan. The regional meet pales in comparison." That tends to happen with national competitions. "I have to win at that meet! I can't afford to put my training on hold! There are a lot of nosy guys on the team. If they find out, they'll keep bugging me about it… Minato, please keep it a secret, alright?" Minato could feel Kazushi's trust and his version of the Chariot Social Link reached level 3. "If I go easy on it, I can make it home by myself. Don't worry about me, go back to training."

"Uh, practice is over. And I'm fully dressed."

"Go back to training anyway!" Minato ran away while Kazushi shouted at him in anger. He found Hamuko waiting for him on a bench in the school garden.

"What took you so long?"

"Social… Link… Bad…"

"…Aha. Oh well, I'm sure it will get better with some takoyaki!"

They took the train to Iwatodai and Minato bought Hamuko some of that Weird Takoyaki from Octopia.

"Aw yeah, takoyaki'd! This stuff is addictive, man." The red eyed girl enjoyed the food. "Hey, I just remembered… We should go to the shrine to see if there really is a lonely girl."

"Why should we?"

"Because that description shouts "social link"."

"And you want us to go together, because…?"

"Because that way you won't have any chance to steal her!"

The Naganaki Shrine was placed in the Iwatodai district, so they walked there. There was a sad-looking brown haired girl, several years younger than them, playing in the jungle gym of the shrine's park zone. Hamuko was right, she was a potential Social Link –both could feel that.

"Hey there." Hamuko put her hands on her knees and crouched down so she could face the little girl.

"Hi. I'm Maiko. Who are you?"

"I'm Hamuko, and he's Minato." The blue haired boy waved at her.

"Mom and Dad said not to talk to bad people… Are you bad?"

"No, I'm good. You aren't bad, right Minato?"

"Nope. I'm good."

"Reeeeally? You're not lying, are you?" Hamuko shook her head, while Minato did his best to contain a laugh.

"_Even children can see through her, hah!_"

"I can't play right now because I'm hungry. There's something I really want…" Hamuko smiled as she noticed the girl was looking at her takoyaki. She gave it to her –she'd ask Minato for some of his if she got hungry. "Oh! This is my favorite! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She got out of the jungle gym and sat on a bench, right between Minato and Hamuko and began eating the dough with… Whatever it had instead of octopus. "That was so yummy, I ate them all! But now I'm thirsty…"

"Oh, um…" Minato took out his school bag and opened it, bringing a can of Mad Bull out of it. "It's most likely a bit warm, but I hope you like this soda."

"Yay! It's my favorite too! Thank you!" They decided to play with her for a while, trying their best to keep cool and keep words to a minimum. "Wow! I'm having so much fun!" She gave them a really sweet smile. "You're nice. Will you be my friends?" Friends? Both? "Come play with me again, okay?"

"Of course!"

"Don't doubt it."

"Really? Then I'll wait for you here! You better not be lying!" She then ran away, probably heading home; the teens decided to do the same.

"Was she CUTE or was she CUTEEEEEEE?" Hamuko hugged herself to Minato's arm.

"Yes but… I don't know why, but you make that sound creepy."

"Duh, you're just dirty minded."

"Says the girl who barged into my room last night and-"

"LALALALALA I can't hear you!" They had just arrived to the dorm.

"…Oh hey." The conversation –to call it some way- died as they got into the lounge. "Hey Minato-kun, let's go to Tartarus tonight. I'm getting worried since nothing's happened since that one day… Is it just me, or are more people getting Apathy Syndrome lately?"

"Naaaah, the people drooling around are just derpy teenagers, didn't you know?" Hamuko rolled her eyes and Yukari got visibly annoyed.

"I'm being serious, Hamuko! Look, I have a feeling something bad is going to happen. …Or, am I just being paranoid?" If one took in count the creepy child's visits, then there was a slim chance she was right. But they couldn't talk about the boy, so both looked at each other and simply shrugged.

Before leaving to Paulownia to attend to her part time job, Hamuko asked Minato to talk in private.

"Hey, didn't you tell me you wanted to trade request items? I'm only lacking the First Old Document; you can have my Juzumaru and the Beetle Shell. You work out how to take the katana to Paulownia on your own."

"But why did you keep the Beetle Shell- Never mind, I'm glad you did." They did the trade and Hamuko left. This was the perfect moment for Minato to make his revenge real.

"Hey Junpei…"

Having coffee became much more amusing watching Junpei's reactions to Hamuko wandering around in a maid suit. It kind of backfired on Minato, as the girl seemed to be having fun as well.

* * *

><p><strong>Take a wild guess at what was Hamuko trying to do. Better yet, don't.<strong> **Review instead, if you want to :D**


	12. The First Ordeal

**Author note: hey people! This chapter was gonna be boring as hell, so what did I do? Fit in three days instead of two! Enjoy the first moon battle and my poor title namer skills!**

* * *

><p>"Yo!" Junpei ran towards Hamuko. "Kinda feels weird runnin' into ya in the hall like this. You free today? Wanna go somewhere?"<p>

"Um-"

"Just tell me after school if you do!" When he was about to leave, he turned to Minato and high-fived him. "See ya!"

"…And your friendship was saved once again thanks to Hamuko and her part job!" She struck a heroic pose. "Now if only I could get Junpei to stop stalking me…"

"H-hi!" Both teens turned around and found Chihiro staring at them. She seemed very happy. "I was able to say hi to you! I've been telling myself not to be afraid, but the more I think about it, the more scared I get... I hope I can somehow get better at this..." Minato smiled at the girl with glasses.

"I'm sure you will. So did you think about my offer?"

"I-I-I…!" The girl ran away and Minato could only gape.

"There, there." Hamuko put an arm around his shoulders. "You'll get around making friends with other girls some day."

"I have friends who are girls!"

"Mitsuko doesn't count, Minato-kun."

After class, Kenji began questioning Minato about the infamous bet. After a rather brief explanation, the brown haired boy went on with his next gossip.

"Have you ever heard about our school's gourmet king? Well, I heard he knows more about food than anyone... People are always asking him for recommendations on where to eat." Kenji seemed jealous. "Well, I major in noodles, so there's nothing he can tell me about ramen that I don't already know. I mean, he goes to Hagakure and orders rice-based dishes... What a loser! I guess he's into sandwiches now, so he's always hanging around Paulownia Mall. I wonder who he is..."

Minato decided to find that out by himself and headed to Paulownia. It didn't take him very long to find a rather… Stuffed boy eating a sandwich. Yup, a potential social link. He noticed Minato was staring at him.

"Can I…" He kept munching his sandwich. "Help you?"

"Eh… I just wanted to know what the sandwich is made of."

"...What difference does it make what I'm eating? You wouldn't understand the artful construction of this limited edition gourmet sandwich. Besides, after I'm done with this, there's a restaurant I must visit. Ahhh, I'm sooo busy..." Something told Minato that what he needed to start the Social Link was to attract his attention. He briefly considered using the tactics Hamuko taught him, just to realize how awkward and ridiculous that would be. He had the idea of asking the girl to go with him and help him next time, even though that could be dangerous- she could steal the Social Link. With nothing to do in the shopping centre, he decided to go to Iwatodai and visit Bookworms.

"Minato-chan!" Bunkichi waved at him. "Too bad you didn't come earlier… My wife just left for Gekkoukan."

"Well, I will wait for her here with you, then." Bunkichi seemed happy to hear this.

"Are you thirsty? Here, let's share this." He pointed to a tea kettle. "Wait, where are the cups? …I'm afraid I'm completely useless without my wife." Not much later, Mitsuko entered the store. She seemed really stressed –she even looked pale.

"T…T-tree…" That's all she managed to say.

"What happened?" Seeing the old woman like that really worried Minato.

"See, you have Minato-chan worried too. You oughta know better than to walk that far at your age… Here, drink this, dear. And here's one for you, Minato-chan." He gave him a cup of Cyclon Tea. "The persimmon tree by the walkway, at your school… My wife heard a rumor that it was going to get cut down, and she almost fainted. Do you know anything about it, Minato-chan?"

"No, I didn't, but now you have me worried."

"You're so kind, Minato-chan… I'm worried too; I tried to look into the rumor, but… I think I was "barking up the wrong tree"…" Bunkichi looked at him intently and Minato chuckled, trying to make it sound realistic.

"Minato-chan, if it's not too much trouble, can you tell us if you hear anything about the persimmon tree?" He could feel they were counting on him, proof of a relationship becoming stronger. Hierophant Social Link level 4, go! "I hate to trouble you, but… Please, let us know if you hear anything about the persimmon tree."

"Don't worry; I won't rest until I have found out if the rumors are true." And with that, he left. In the way to the dorm, he considered visiting Maiko at the shrine, but seeing how late it had become, she probably wouldn't be there anymore.

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted him as he entered the building.

"Hey, have you noticed how many of those freaks there are in town lately…? Other than that, nothing's been going on... Man, talk about boring... Let's go to Tartarus!"

"Maybe I should come along… I'm dying of boredom too." Akihiko smiled at Mitsuru, but she just gave him a deadly glare.

"…Akihiko, are you trying to make me angry?" The boy didn't dare speak another word. While signing the sign-in book –which apparently was there for decoration, as no one bothered taking it to school- Hamuko suggested off-handedly to Akihiko trying out "Punching Bag" in Game Panic Arcade; the boy loved the idea. Too bad Mitsuru heard the suggestion: she lectured Hamuko and threatened the silver haired boy with an execution, which prompted him to promise he wouldn't try out that game until he was fully recovered. If the name was anything to go by, Mitsuru's "executions" had to be terrible.

That same night, Minato got a call from Kenji to hang out on Sunday. Well, it seemed like a plan.

* * *

><p>"Ah, there you are, Seikatsu-san." Hamuko stopped talking to Junpei and turned around just to find Ms. Toriumi, her homeroom teacher. "I'd like a word with you. You haven't joined any committees yet, have you?"<p>

"Err…"

"I know this is sudden, but there's some positions that just became vacant that I'd like you to take on."

"B-but I'm already in the student council and-"

"Students ARE obligated to join a school committee." Junpei had mysteriously disappeared from Hamuko's side. "I'll let you choose which one you'd like to join. Which of these would you rather join? The school health committee or the library committee?"

"_Both sound horrible_." "Uh, school health committee…"

"All right, thank you. Well, go on over to the Nurse's Office after school today."

"B-but I had practice and a Student Council meeting and… And…" And the teacher left, ignoring her completely.

"So much for bureaucracy." Hamuko could only nod at Minato's words.

In the afternoon, Hamuko did as asked and went to the Nurse Office. The nurse was Mr. Edogawa, a teacher who fitted every stereotype of a nerdy person both in looks and personality, complete with gigantic glasses and obsession with anything related to magic.

"Now, is everyone here? We have a new member joining our little team here at the infirmary. This is Hamuko Seikatsu from class 2-F. Who's on duty today?"

"Oh, that would be me." The one who said that was a girl who looked a few years older than the rest of students present. She had dark grey hair and matching eyes, really pale skin and a beauty mark under her left eye.

"Please, show her the ropes of what you do here. If you need me, I'll be in the back…"

"Understood." Edogawa walked away. "Well then… Could you come over here so I can explain?"

"U-um Saori-san?" It was one of the female seniors. "Excuse me, but we, um…"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice. Please, feel free to go home. I'll take care of the rest for today." At that point, Hamuko noticed that the girl had a bit of an accent. Not as strong as Bebe's, though.

"We're really sorry. See you later..." The rest of members of the committee left.

"Oh, please don't think that the others aren't welcoming you to the club. They're all very busy…"

"Of course." Those words sounded a lot more sarcastic than Hamuko intended them to.

"Um… Let's see, where should I start explaining things to you…? Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't even introduced myself yet. I'm Saori Hasegawa."

"Pleased to meet you!"

"Heh… There's no need to be so formal. I'm a junior, just like you." Really? "You don't have to be so polite to me."

"All right." She decided that it was best not to pry.

"…Thank you. I'm glad to hear that. I'm actually two years older than you. I studied abroad, and took some time off from school. I'm the oldest student in the school right now. That's why the upperclassmen all speak politely to me." Oh, that explained it. "I really wish they'd stop… But I've pretty much given up about it. Still, considering that we've just met, it'd be nice if you didn't feel you had to be like that around me. …Could you just try?"

"Of course!" In fact, Hamuko was glad she didn't have to speak all formal.

"Heh… I'm glad to hear that." Not quite sure of how, Hamuko had formed the Hermit Social Link. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm supposed to explain our duties here. We met on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we do get a couple of days off before exams. We have a number of tasks here on the school health committee, but our main job is to be on duty after school. Of course, we can't tend to people who are actually injured, so we need to go get Mr. Edogawa in those cases. He will always be in the small room off to the side, but we're not allowed to go in there."

"He probably has a voodoo sanctuary in there or something."

"Well, there are some rumors that students have gone in there… And never came back." Hamuko wouldn't look at Edogawa the same way for quite a while.

Before going back to the dorm, Hamuko had to go to her class to pick up her school bag. She was quite surprised to find Minato sleeping on his table. Kazushi hadn't probably been to school or something, so that meant nobody remembered to tell Minato that classes were over. She had never had an actual chance to see him up close sleeping, either because she was in class and she had to be paying attention, because there were other people around, or his room was too dark to see anything every time she broke in- anyhow, she was impressed.

"_Damn, he's cute sleeping…_" Hamuko was a bit hesitant to wake him up, but she decided against letting him sleep; she wanted to go somewhere. "Hey." He answered with some kind of purr, so the brunette tried a different approach to the problem.

"Wake up, you prick!" She slammed Minato's face against the table, making the boy yell in surprise. He yawned and looked at her with an annoyed expression as he rubbed his nose.

"I was sleeping…"

"Not anymore." He got up from the ground, and they left school together. "I want to go to the shrine."

"…Why? Oh, the girl. You think she'll be there?"

"There's only one way to find out." The ride to Iwatodai felt surprisingly long –both Minato and Hamuko had been busy thinking their strategies to get Maiko as a social link instead of talking as usual. As soon as they walked up the stairs of the shrine, they heard a cheerful voice calling them.

"You came!" Maiko was hopping happily. "Let's play!" They decided to play tag around the shrine until Minato begged them to stop, exhausted. "What do you wanna do next? It's up to you, 'kay? Your choice!"

"…Jungle gym?"

"Oh boy! I'm gonna climb way up high, okay?" The little girl seemed delighted with Minato's idea and they played there until it got dark.

"Maiko-chan, it's late." Hamuko was trying to get the girl to climb down the jungle gym.

"But, I don't wanna go home yet. I don't like it there… Can't we stay together for a little longer?" Hamuko helped her climb down, but the girl slid from the metallic structure and fell to the ground.

"Look what you did!" Minato kneeled down to help Maiko get up. She didn't seem hurt.

"WHAT? It was an accident!"

"She could have got hurt!" He was aware it wasn't his fault, but the tension had begun building up when they saw the child and any excuse was good to begin bashing each other. Maiko was getting teary eyes.

"You're the idiot who suggested jungle gym in the first place!"

"STOP!" The teens stopped arguing as soon as Maiko started to cry. They didn't waste a second asking her what was wrong and trying to soothe her. Once she felt a bit better, she stopped crying and started to talk.

"My mom and my dad… They fight a lot." She seemed ready to cry again. "They're going to get a divorce. I tell them I want them to be happy, but they don't listen. They probably hate me, too."

"Of course not! I'm sure they love you!" The little girl didn't answer to Hamuko; she just dried her tears with the back of her sleeve.

"I don't want you to fight as well…"

"We won't. I promise." Minato extended his pinky finger. Maiko's eyes lit up as she extended hers as well; Hamuko somehow managed to create a triple pinky swear.

"Hey, we can play again later, right? I think we're friends now. I have cram school on Sunday, but I'm free the rest of the days." The teens nodded simultaneously. Both could feel the time freeze and the formation of the Hanged Man Social Link, which was represented by a man hanging upside down. It was pretty late, so Maiko said bye and ran to her home.

"…Did you feel that too?"

"Yes." They fell on silence as they walked to the dorm.

"When did she say she was available?"

"Every day except Sunday."

"Oh. I could have sworn she said Monday, Wednesday and Saturday." They were trying to avoid the main "How did this happen?" question.

"Welcome back." Minato closed the door behind him and walked towards the stairs. "...It's odd, really, how quiet it's been."

"You're referring to the shadows, I take it?" Akihiko was interested in anything that involved them.

"It's been a month since the attack, yet I'm certain that won't be the last time they appear outside of Tartarus."

"True... Lately, it seems like the Lost are everywhere. So something must be going on..." Hamuko and Minato interchanged skeptic glances.

"…Is it just me, or people here kind of want to be attacked?"

"As long as they aren't jinxes…"

The day came to an end and as the Dark Hour arrived, everyone could feel an energy rush and an unexplainable urge to battle against shadows; however, since Minato hadn't asked them to go to Tartarus, they had to ignore the call for the battle and spend the energy doing whatever other thing. For example, Minato decided to study; Hamuko decided to salvage the fridge and Akihiko began running up and down the stairs, claiming it was a perfect chance to train.

* * *

><p>"Hey Minato." The boy turned around and saw Akihiko running towards him. "How's it going? Have you been training in Tartarus? It never hurts to train while you have the chance. My wounds will heal in no time, and then I'll be able to join you on the front line. But don't just rely on me." Was that inverse psychology?<p>

"We're quite capable too, Senpai. Don't worry." Akihiko nodded and patted Minato's arm to show his kohai he trusted him.

As the day went on, a terrible feeling invaded both Hamuko and Minato. They kept looking at each other in class, trying to find out if the other felt the same way. As soon as classes ended, they decided to head directly to the dorm, trying to find an explanation in the way.

"Um, maybe everyone made us paranoid?"

"Not likely."

"Oh, oh, maybe it's because of the Dark Hour snack."

"Impossible."

"…Belligerent sexual tension?" They kept walking in silence for some minutes, but Minato stopped abruptly. Hamuko looked at him in wonder, but she got an idea as well. They looked at each other and shouted simultaneously: "THE BOY!" Minato ran a hand through his hair nervously while trying to order his thoughts.

"He said something about an ordeal coming with the full moon!"

"But what kind of ordeal?" She tried to remember that night. "Didn't he say one that "one of them" was coming?"

"What the hell does that mean?" He let out a desperate sigh. As much as they tried, they couldn't come up with any good answer. "Let's just keep going."

They spent the rest of the day locked in Minato's room, trying to come up with theories and help each other cool down, but they only achieved ending up even more paranoid. For once, Minato didn't push Hamuko out of his room as it got late; he was just as frightened as her and he didn't want to be alone; furthermore, he knew that a terrified Hamuko was as dangerous as a teddy bear, so he had nothing to worry about.

A few minutes past the start of the Dark Hour, someone knocked Minato's door; the teens didn't dare move from their spot on Minato's bed. After a few seconds without response, Minato's door opened; the teens screamed in fear until they noticed that there was no monster behind the door- only Yukari and Junpei.

"Sorry for coming in like this, but Aki asked me to take everyone to the command room. So uh…"

"Did we interrupt anything?" Junpei sounded more amused than he should.

"N-NO. We're just a bit jumpy today, sorry…" Everyone rushed upstairs and found Akihiko and Mitsuru in the command room. Loud beeping noises could be heard as several radars worked simultaneously. They seemed to be trying to locate something.

"We're here!"

"Where is it? I'll rip it a new one!" The boy with a baseball cap seemed anxious to get some action, but Minato and Hamuko were completely clueless to what was happening; fortunately, Mitsuru noticed this.

"We've detected a shadow outside of Tartarus. We don't know for sure, but we think it's another big one. We have to defeat any of them we find, as quickly as possible. Most people don't know the Dark Hour exists. But, if half the city is destroyed, there will be panic. That must be avoided at all costs."

"In other words, we need to kick some ass, right? Well, count me in!" Yukari sighed in annoyance at the boy's words.

"Junpei…" He tried to get Hamuko's support, but she was kind of zoning out.

"Akihiko, you stay here and wait for the Chairman."

"Wha-! Are you kidding! I'm going!"

"You still need to recover. You'll just be a hindrance." The silver haired boy seemed offended.

"What!"

"They'll fare better than you, in your current state. Have faith in them, Akihiko... They're ready. You'll get your chance, but for now, wait for the Chairman." He could only swear under his breath.

"Relax! I've got it covered!" Well, at least Junpei had his everlasting overconfidence.

"I guess I've got no choice…" He pointed at Minato. "You're in charge."

"Again…?"

"We're counting on you." Mitsuru fixed her eyes on the boy. He hoped they didn't have actual faith in him, and had only been chosen because of the fact he hadn't used his turn as Tartarus leader. Otherwise…

"Heh, looks like you're stuck playin' leader again… Sucks to be you." Junpei didn't even bother to make his envy subtle.

"You four should hurry and go ahead. Mitsuru, you need to get ready, right?"

"Indeed. Let's rendezvous in front of the station." Everyone ran out of the dorm towards Iwatodai Station. They sat on the stairs near the train platform, the same place where Hamuko and Minato tried to beat each other to death the last time the four teens hanged out together. Not a good omen.

"Where is she?" Yukari was pretty impatient.

"She'll be here soon." Minato and Hamuko were waiting away from the group. Their minds were filled with "what if"s steaming from the last big shadow they faced. Not like any of them remembered much of it anymore, but what they remembered was quite enough to have doubts.

"There's a full moon tonight." Yukari's observation made everyone look up. "But, it looks even creepier during the Dark Hour…" She didn't know half of it.

Motor noises could be heard in the distance. "…Huh? What the!" A large silver motorcycle stopped in front of the group. The driver was no other than Mitsuru.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Yukari looked at the vehicle quite surprised. She was jealous, maybe? "Listen carefully. Tonight, I'll be providing support from here. Everything else is the same. The shadow is currently located inside a monorail, not far from the station. To get there, you'll have to walk on the tracks."

"Are you serious? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Don't worry; no electronic equipment is operable during the Dark Hour, including the monorails." Everyone looked at her bike suspiciously. "It's special. Now, if circumstances change, I'll notify you immediately. Let's get started."

"Wait." That had to be the longest time Hamuko had spent quiet since Minato had met her. "What about me?" Mitsuru seemed a bit hesitant.

"While it's true that you are not allowed to be in the same group as Arisato, this is an exceptional occasion. The only thing I can ask you for is extreme precaution. If you see any of those cards you told me about, ask Iori or Takeba to get rid of them."

"B-but it doesn't work that way… Oh whatever." Staying behind and fretting over "what could happen" would do her no good. "Everyone, let's roll out!"

"I'll be expecting a sterling outcome." No pressure or anything. They left the train platform and had to run on the railways for about half a kilometer until they found the monorail.

"This is it… Right?" Yukari stared at the monorail with expectation.

"_Can you all hear me?_" Mitsuru was using her communication skill.

"Yes, I can hear you clearly. We just got here, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary."

"_The readings are definitely coming from that monorail. Proceed with caution and stay together._"

"Got it." Mitsuru ended the communication.

"Heheh, my Persona's just beggin' to be used!"

"Well then, let's head on in!" Yukari began climbing the foothold that took the train, but stopped midway when she remembered that her mini skirt wasn't magic. "Don't look up." Minato and Junpei turned around and Hamuko couldn't stop laughing despite the tense atmosphere: Minato, the stoic, had the funniest face she had ever seen- if only mobile phones worked during the Dark Hour! Junpei turned around before Yukari had entered the train, and she got quite angry.

"Hey, Hamuko… What do you say we bury Junpei here and leave him behind?"

"Sounds like a plan." She pushed Junpei. "Go in." She pretty much forced him to get in the train before her. Minato was about to follow him, but Hamuko stopped the bluenette.

"Ladies first." She winked at him and the boy grumbled seeing her intentions.

"Can't you take this seriously for once?"

In the train there wasn't much apart from glowing coffins in which passengers were resting.

"This poor stiff must be a passenger." Junpei was rather tactless, as usual. "He's been Transmogged, huh... Creepy. So... Guys like him don't remember a thing, right? It's probably better that way."

"Huh? Wait a minute..." Yukari seemed to have come up with something. "We're not at a station, but the doors are wide..." The door they used to enter proceeded to close itself despite Junpei tried his best to keep it open.

"Jinxes. All of you." Yukari looked at Hamuko with a weird face. "Seriously, don't say anything like that again."

"_What's wrong? What happened?_"

"My finger got all jacked up an-" Yukari hit Junpei so he would shut up.

"It looks like we're trapped inside..."

"_It must be the Shadow... It knows you're there. Be ready for anything! Proceed with extreme caution!_"

"R-roger!"

They didn't have more options than to go on, so that's just what they did. The wagons were surprisingly empty save for the coffins.

"It's so quiet it's creepy…" Suddenly, a shadow appeared out of nowhere.

"WHAT did I say, Yukari?" While they talked, the shadow ran away and Junpei tried to follow it.

"_Wait!_ _Something's not right... The enemy is acting strangely._"

"But if we don't go after it, we're gonna lose it!"

"_Minato, you're in you're in charge over there. What do you think_?"

"We need to be cautious."

"_I agree. It would be foolish to blindly chase after it._"

"…Fine, I'll go by myself!" Junpei ran after the shadow.

"Junpei, wait!" …And Hamuko ran after him. Minato couldn't help but to face palm as two shadows appeared behind them.

"…Stupei."

Fortunately, the battle was short. Minato only needed to slash the shadows a pair of times with his new Juzumaru in order to kill them. Yukari… Did her thing and failed most of the shots.

"This is just what the enemy wanted…"

"_We have no choice. You have to go after him, or you'll be picked off one by one."_

"Dammit, Stupei! What were they thinking?"

"They were NOT thinking." Yukari could only nod at Minato's harsh words.

_"From what I can tell, Seikatsu is only a car ahead; Iori is a tad farther."_

"Okay, we'll catch up to-" Three shadows appeared in front of them, blocking the way to the rest of wagons.

"Yukari-chan, at risk of speaking like Hamuko… Don't say a word more. PLEASE." This battle was a tad more difficult because of being outnumbered, but they managed well and continued their path to the next wagon. The only thing there was was some black substance in the ground, but no shadows or anything. Maybe Hamuko and Junpei had taken them out?

"They're not in this car, either." Yukari sighed. "Junpei should know it's too dangerous to go alone… Don't you think he's acting weird? Did you say anything to upset him?" Minato shrugged. "Well, we can ask him once we've caught up to him!" They went on to the next car and… "There they are!" Yukari could only gasp at the scene: never before had they seen so many shadows together in such a small space. Hamuko had some bad wounds but Junpei was in a critical state. Minato was the one carrying all items and last he heard Hamuko had no healing personae; they pretty much went on a suicide mission.

"Heal Hamuko." And with that he ran into battle. "Junpei!"

"W-what?" Minato threw him a bottle of Bead which he took as fast as he could; he looked quite revitalized, but of course he was still in a bad shape. "I had it under control!" He proceeded to smash a shadow. "Take this, you freak of nature!" After checking Junpei could indeed keep battling, Minato ran towards Hamuko.

"Hey Minato-kun!" Hamuko seemed annoyed. "What took you so long?" They had to jump to avoid a powerful agi.

"You two are the imbeciles who ran ahead, so quit complaining!"

"Hey, don't call me imbecile, you dick!" They ran towards one of the shadows, a Spurious book, and slashed it simultaneously.

"Garu to the cross thing!" The Heat Balance Minato was talking about was thrown away by Yukari's attack, crashing against another shadow in the process, making both explode. Junpei had the pleasure of killing the last creature, a Dancing Hand, with an accurate agi. Everyone celebrated the victory and sat down, needing some serious rest. Junpei looked at his arms, noticing some soon-to-be serious bruises.

"See? That's what happens when you don't listen!" Junpei looked offended as Yukari scolded him. "…So, are you alright?"

"O-Of course I am… I was doin' just fine…" Hamuko glanced at Junpei with a worried expression. Why did he have to be like that? He would have died without her aid, and the girl could have suffered the same fate if the others hadn't showed up; it wasn't something so difficult to admit.

"Excuse me!"

"_Be_ _careful, you four! I don't detect any movement, but stay alert!_" The wagon began shaking and in a few seconds, the train was advancing at top speed.

"_What's wrong with people here?_" Minato couldn't avoid thinking that as he muffled a rage scream with his hands.

"Whoa, what the! …Why are we moving!"

"_It seems the monorail is under the enemy's control._"

"Whaddaya mean, "it seems"?"

"Uh... This doesn't look good..." Junpei, as usual, offered some critical insight into the situation.

"_If we can't stop that thing, it'll crash into another train!_" Mitsuru's words left everyone speechless.

"FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!" Hamuko couldn't have defined the situation in a better way.

"What are we gonna do?" Everyone was panicking badly.

"_Calm down and listen. I sense a strong presence in the front car. That must be the one we're after. You'll have to defeat it to stop the train!_" Right after she finished talking, three shadows appeared out of nowhere. Yay.

"What kind of messed-up ride is this!" The creatures didn't last alive much longer; they were over killed with fire in a matter of seconds.

"_You have approximately seven minutes to stop the Shadow._"

"Avoid the shadows, as much as you can!" As they advanced, the train began moving faster.

"_With_ _the new speed, you have about six minutes left!_"

"Gee, that's great… NOT." They kept their pace steady through the few remaining wagons. Saying they played ninja to avoid the shadows all around the place wouldn't be too farfetched. When they arrived to the last wagon there were barely five minutes left.

"_Your primary target is up ahead… Are you ready?_" Minato and Hamuko interchanged a worried glance as they muttered a "no" and opened the door.

"Oh man." What they found in the last wagon was a shadow shaped like a semi-naked woman with the right part of her body pitch black and the left white as the snow and the letters "B" and "J" –representing Boaz and Jachin, although the teens would never find that out- partially covering her breasts. She wore curly ponytails which defied gravity and from the back of her head came some sort of paper tentacles. The worst was that, despite wearing a long blue skirt, her legs were wide spread, showing more than any of the teens would have wished to see. "That's so gross."

"Minato-kun, stop staring." He quickly denied Hamuko's accusation and proceeded to engage battle against the shadow that just stood there, moving her mouth without saying anything. As he put brought the evoker to his head, Jack Frost was Minato's first thought: the little demon proved why with a strong Sonic Punch to the Shadow's face.

Hamuko's turn followed the bluenette's: she summoned a succubus called Lilim who wore a half opened white short top, really short shorts and posed seductively. It… Kind of fitted Hamuko, in Minato's opinion. The devil casted a zio spell which made everyone rush away from the shadow, as it electrified the metal around the creature, making it rather dangerous to approach it and consequently battling became more difficult.

Yukari hit the shadow with a garu that didn't even make her skirt tremble whereas Junpei casted a Cleave which, despite effective, looked awkward as hell. Once they were done with their stream of attacks, the Priestess –as Mitsuru identified it- whispered something which made two Muttering Tiaras appear out of thin air.

"Ignore the mooks, they're a trap!" Hamuko commanded Lilim to use agi, which wasn't as effective as zio, but certainly safer.

"Hey, I'm the leader here! …But yeah, you heard her!" Minato shot himself and told Jack Frost to use bufu; shards of ice began growing all over the Priestess's body, which, thanks to the extreme temperature change from the previous agi, dealt a lot of damage.

Seeing the poor results of her previous attack, Yukari decided to begin shooting arrows- surprisingly enough; they did seem to hurt the shadow. Junpei told Hermes to use Cleave again, earning yet another squick from the group.

The reinforcements were "a bit" annoying. Their slash attacks were rather pathetic; their Dia spell wasn't. Fortunately, they weren't good enough as to heal all the damage caused in one turn, but it certainly classified as inconvenient seeing that there were only three minutes left.

The Priestess herself wasn't very strong, but she had something they hadn't: Marin. Fucking. Karin. She just whispered the name of the spell, and before he could even blink, Minato was running towards Hamuko wielding his katana and shouting in rage something incomprehensible.

"W-What the hell!" Hamuko backed away just in the precise moment not to be slashed. "M-Minato-kun?" She could see that the boy's gaze was completely unfocused as he struck again. His movements were much slower than usual and they seemed rather awkward… Like a zombie's!

"_He's been charmed!_"

"Err… Guys, keep hitting the shadow! I'll take care of this!" She turned around to face Minato, holding her naginata in attack position. "Don't make me hurt you." Minato answered with a fast and deadly swing of his weapon which resulted in a gash in Hamuko's shoulder. "AAAAH! A-ALRIGHT. You wished for it!" Both teens' weapons began clashing, trying to keep each other at a reasonable distance. "Seriously, you just had to fall for the giant naked woman in the middle of a battle!" She slashed his leg, provoking a rather deep cut- she got a sharp cry in response as he fell to the ground. "I told you not to stare, I TOLD YOU!"

Yukari and Junpei weren't handling the situation very well by themselves, but they managed to make a decent amount of damage –just enough to rival the healing powers of the Muttering Tiaras. Two minutes left.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Minato clutched his leg –he didn't seem able to move it.

"Y-you were charmed and—Hey, I don't have time to explain this. Try to heal yourself, I've to help them!"

"Like hell I'm letting you go alone…" He tried to stand up but his legs faltered and he fell down again; that didn't prevent him from fighting, though, as he proved by getting Jack Frost to Sonic Punch the Priestess even at that distance. The attack spam at the Shadow continued, and although it didn't seem to have much energy left, time was against them… One minute, now."

"We have to do something!" Hamuko encouraged everyone to force themselves even more, but they were getting very tired. Minato, who was fighting the need to faint, had been trying to recall the last "boss" they fought. What did that monster that came out of them do? Eat the shadow and… The mask. It cut the mask. It was then when the Shadow died… Forty-five seconds left.

"THE MASK!" Hamuko looked at Minato in confusion. "SLASH THE MASK!"

"How am I even going to get near?"

"Just DO IT!" Hamuko looked at the shadow and then at Minato… And then she closed her eyes and began running as fast as she could.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" She jumped on the one of the Muttering Tiaras and used it as a trampoline to reach the scarlet butterfly mask the Priestess was wearing. The shadow didn't have any strength left to try and stop Hamuko, so it just vanished as she cut it in two halves. Cool as that movement had been, she couldn't avoid falling on her face as the shadow disappeared. "WOOOO! SEIKATSU POWER!"

"Did we make it in time?" Thirty seconds remained, and the train was still moving. "Hey, we're still moving?"

"We're going too fast! We have to put on the brakes or else...!" Yukari was panicking again.

"_What are you waiting for? There's a train ahead!" _

"Dammit, I don't know how to stop this thing!" Certainly, everyone would have been surprised if Junpei did.

"How realistic do you think the Train Driver Simulator was?" Hamuko stared at Minato intently waiting for a response. Twenty seconds.

"There's… O-Only one way to find out..." It took Hamuko several seconds to help Minato up and take him to the control panel of the train. They remember staring at the hideous amount of levers and buttons and… Nothing else. Next they knew, Yukari was shouting and they could only hear an intense thump which wasn't inherent of a train wreck… It was more like the heart of two frightened teenagers who had just saved the day. After some seconds, Hamuko began laughing. It wasn't a nervous laugh or a frightened one—it was just a happy laugh, which Minato soon joined. Both of them fell to the ground laughing like idiots as they heard Yukari and Junpei wondering how the train had stopped and talking about how scared they were.

"Hey, you okay?"

"You saved me again…" They felt the S.E.E.S Social Link reach level 3… And then someone said something about food and everything went black there. Minato and Hamuko fainted, much to their partners' dismay, who had just noticed the impressive cuts they sported everywhere.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm not good at setting up a tense atmosphere for battles, am I? Regardless, rate and review if you want :)<strong>


	13. Connections

**Author note: I like this chapter, not sure why, but I do. Here comes an announcement: I'm -finally- moving tomorrow to my countryhouse, so I won't have internet for a few days (probably less than a week). And my problem lies in the fact that I can't write Hamuko's parts without checking a playthrough on youtube. Soooo... Yeah.**

**I... Didn't know what to call this chapter 8D;  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Sunday." Minato rolled around in his bed with a happy expression.<p>

"Hadn't you told Kenji that you'd meet today?"

"Glorious Sunday." He wrapped himself in the blankets like if he was trying to form a cocoon.

"Can't you at least get up, freak out and ask me why I'm here or something?"

"No, it's Sunday." He half opened his eyes to look at Hamuko, who was sitting besides him. "And I'm too tired to deal with you."

"I'm tired too, and I'm here." She was thinking of a way to make him get up. "Has Elisabeth called to tell you that the barricade in Tartarus is gone?"

"Yes. My mobile phone was off, but she somehow managed to make it ring until I took it."

"…How do you think they got our numbers?"

"Well, they're magical people who live in a room in the middle of nowhere and help Pinocchio get us monsters. I'm pretty sure they have means to find out how to give us a ring." He covered his head with the bed pillow as he rolled on his back. "You aren't going to let me sleep alone, are you?"

"Are you asking me to sleep with you?" Hamuko's seductive voice made Minato curl in his bed, trying to get away from her. "Buh, Minato, I don't bite..." She leaned closer to him and removed the pillow. "…Not much." The girl smiled proudly to herself as she saw the boy run out of his room as fast as his recently acquired limping allowed him.

In the lounge, everyone congratulated them for the great actuation of the night before. Yukari kept thanking them for saving her life and the same went for Junpei, whose previous jealousy towards Minato seemed completely gone. Mitsuru apologized for not being able to help them better, and Akihiko just went with one of his "I want to fight" rants, which prompted the teens to leave the dorm.

"Where have you met with Kenji?"

"Hagakure."

"Man, that boy is obsessed with ramen. …Can't blame him, though." Hamuko stared at Minato with puppy eyes.

"…You can't come." The boy walked away and Hamuko followed him.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you angry or something? Is it because I hurt your leg?" He looked away. "You did it to me first, man!"

"What? I didn't do anything!" She took out her scarf and asked him to hold it. Next, she extended the collar of her jumper until her shoulder fitted through it; there was a rather nasty wound in there. "D-Did I do that?"

"Yup. Mitsuru said you were "charmed": you didn't know what you were doing. If I hadn't stopped you, you would have begun attacking all of us and the train would have crashed."

"I… I see." The bluenette tried to replay that part of the battle in his mind, but he couldn't remember any of it. Were charm-inducing movements so terrible?

"So… Can I go to Hagakure now?" Minato just realized that Hamuko was trying to blackmail him. Regardless, the guilt trip worked, so he nodded at her. "Yay! Ramen time!"

"Hey there!" Kenji greeted the teens as they entered Hagakure. Minato sat right next to him, and Hamuko sat next to Minato. "Dude, you two come in a pack or something? You don't have to take your girlfriend everywhere, you know?"

"She invites herself. And she's not my girlfriend; she's public property." Hamuko slapped the back of Minato's head, earning a frightening glare from the chef. Kenji asked Minato to meet with him so they could talk about Ms. Kanou, but had to quickly come up with another topic, as Hamuko was there.'

"So your dorm is co-ed, huh? So can you like, go into each other's room and stuff?" Minato answered Kenji with a nod. "And what does Yukari think of that?"

"Think of what?"

"Of you going into Hamuko's room and the other way around."

"How would I know?"

"Whaddaya mean? There really isn't anything between you two?" Minato shook his head. "Can I get her, then? …Just kidding, you know I don't like women her age."

"You're into older women?" Minato had told Hamuko something about that, but she hadn't paid much attention. He gave a vague affirmation, not willingly going to tell the girl about his plan.

"So what kind of women do you like, Minato?" Kenji didn't have bad intentions, but the last time Minato had been asked that question, he got into a really awkward situation.

"I like them all." As the boy said that, Hamuko snorted. Apparently she remembered as well.

"Hah, you don't discriminate anyone, huh? That's awesome. Good for you, man." They decided to focus on eating for a while. "You know, Hamuko-chan, I've got my eye on someone. I told Minato about my secret plan to ask her out… But he refuses to be there when I ask her out. Maybe if you ask him nicely…" Minato widened his eyes. Kenji hadn't asked her that. Impossible.

"Hmmm, no problem. I can be very… Convincing."

"J-just tell me a date and I'll be there supporting you." The boy really had no intention to find out what was on Hamuko's mind.

"Sweet! Thanks Hamuko!" They high-fived over Minato's head. "Well, we'll meet some time this week, all right?" Minato didn't quite understand how, but the Magician Social Link had reached level 3. "Oh wait, my favorite program is on TV!" It was probably some new anime about a silver haired boy and his Scooby-Doo-like investigation team. "I can't miss it! Later, guys!"

"…He left without paying. Hamuko-chan?"

"I don't have a yen right now."

"I think I lost my wallet during yesterday's battle."

"…"

They spent the afternoon washing dishes as they mentally cursed Kenji. The Fools were completely beat when they were dismissed in the evening, so they headed to their dorm straight ahead.

"Welcome back." That seemed to be Mitsuru's default salutation. "Sorry to bother you, but could you go to the command room and check the computer? Something seems to be wrong with it, and you two seem rather keen on technology." They didn't dare tell Mitsuru that they were too tired to do that, so they began walking upstairs.

"What she meant is "Can you go check that thing out? I'm too lazy to do it myself."."

"Well, she's the boss here, what are you going to do?"

Once in the command room, they began messing with the bank of consoles. Not having a clue of what to do, they pressed random buttons until something happened- a record began playing.

"This is from the surveillance camera… Should we be watching this?"

"Sit down!"

"05/10/2009 01:23:02. Beginning playback." After those words disappeared from the screen, an image of Ikutsuki working on the same bank of consoles appeared.

"_Hm… A Shadow in the middle of town… It managed to take over public transportation… I should investigate whether this means it's finally begun…_" Both teens looked at each other in wonder. What could he mean? "_Monorail…_" They looked expectantly at the screen. "_Listen to the monorail in monaural…_" Minato groaned at the lame pun, if it could even be called that, whereas Ikutsuki in the recording began giggling. "_Oooh, I must make a note of that one…_" He became silent as he wrote it down on a notebook. "_Luck played an uncomfortably large part in the victory…_"

"He's right…" Minato looked pretty upset; he was disappointed with himself. Hamuko gave him a thumbs up which was completely ignored.

"_Especially towards the end…_" The record went on. "_If they hadn't guessed the right controls, things could have been very bad._" Maybe some day they'd tell everyone how a videogame saved their lives. "_For Shadows to work in a group to overrun large machines is unprecedented… The engine…_" He seemed to be about to say something important… "_That was an engine-ous move!_" The blue haired boy smacked his forehead so hard he left it red. He felt like doing it again after seeing Hamuko chuckle at the lame pun.

"What? That was a good one!"

"_Hee hee hee…! What's with me today! I'm on a roll! Oh yeah, better write that one down too… One should always wear bright clothing at night… Otherwise, the Shadows could make it dangerous to walk near traffic!_" The female Fool burst out laughing and began rolling on the sofa.

"_Hey! I should write all of these down and show them off the next time everyone gets together! …"Don't care for seafood? They also serve GROUND beef!_"

"Hahaha oh God, my sides! HAHA ouch HAH!"

"Hamuko, you're dead to me."

"_Hee heeee! This has nothing to do with the status report anymore, but I'm having a blast! Let's see, what else…_" Fortunately, the surveillance camera turned itself off at that point so the recording ended there. They decided to keep what they had just seen to themselves and go get some sleep.

* * *

><p>Junpei and Hamuko went to school together but they found Minato in the way—he had left much earlier than them, but he was still limping due to the gash in his thigh. Maybe he should have gone to the hospital or something.<p>

"Today we're on 11th May, right?" Minato seemed more thoughtful than usual.

"Yeah. Wazzup? Today is just an ordinary day, right?" He blinked in surprise and then nodded, apparently having forgotten whatever he was thinking about. "That was crazy, though. They day before yesterday, I mean. I've never had that kinda thrill in my whole life. Don't you think it's getting more exciting lately?"

"Totally!" In retrospective, Hamuko loved that feeling; the one she got after defeating the Shadow and before fainting. She couldn't quite describe it.

"We won the battle and saved the city! How sweet is that?"

"I know, right? We really are heroes!"

"Nobody told me that being a hero would hurt so much." Minato was trying to catch up with the other two, who were unintentionally leaving him behind.

"Oh, man! That's heroic sacrifice; it comes with the hero job! But if you want to avoid it… Just, stop staring next time."

"For the last time, I WASN'T STARING. And how the hell is that supposed to help, anyway?"

"Buh, I won't have to cut you if you don't begin drooling for the next shadow." The bell rang and they had to run. Minato could only begin cursing Junpei and Hamuko for forgetting him.

Mr. Ekoda, the literature teacher, was going on one of his deadly boring lectures. "I'm sure you all remember that Midterms start next Monday." Oh crap. Minato just remembered that that was why the date worried him. "If you paid attention during class and studied diligently at home, you should have no problems. Of course, the best way to prepare for a difficult exam is to sleep through class, like Junpei here." The boy was dozing off peacefully, not having heard a word. "Hmph. If you choose to neglect your duty as a student and waste your life in idleness, then be my guest…" The teacher kept talking, but Minato didn't hear any more. He had joined Junpei in dreamland.

"Time for lunch!" Hamuko placed a bento box on Minato's head, wondering if Mr. Ekoda's lecture had killed him off for real. "Let's see, what's here, um… Rice balls. Pshaw, that's so simple."

"…If you don't like my food, don't steal it." Minato yawned, making the package fall back on the table.

"I wouldn't steal it if I didn't like it." She took one of the pieces. "I'm just statin' the obvious. I'm a great chef, believe it or not, so it's legit for me to criticize you." Minato blubbered something along the lines of "I would love to see that." "Are you going to do anything after class?"

"Uh, I WAS going to go to practice but… It'd be kind of impossible with my leg as it is. Why?"

"I was thinking that maybe you could come watch us play tennis. My team leader, Rio, is feeling pretty down because everyone ignores her; if you come watch us play, she'll think that people actually have faith in us."

"…So what do I win with that?"

"Well, you get to see me playing tennis in a mini skirt." He didn't seem interested. "Uh, do you want anything in specific?"

"Will you come help me start a social link with a guy called Gourmet King tomorrow?"

"**Gourmet** King? Count me in!"

After class, Minato and Hamuko headed to the tennis field, which was almost empty. Hamuko introduced Minato to Rio as a fan of tennis who wanted to see what they were capable of, and the girl was delighted. The practice started and there were only three members of the club, besides Hamuko and Rio, present.

"Is this it today? Where's everyone else?" All the members looked away.

"No clue." Rio didn't seem very convinced with that answer.

"Excuse me! Could I borrow some of you guys' tape?" Hey, Minato knew that voice…

"Oh, Yuko…"

"Sorry, we ran out and—Minato-kun?" Yuko seemed kind of annoyed. "What are you doing here? Kazushi has been looking for you everywhere!"

"Uh, I hurt my leg pretty bad and I can't run. Sorry."

"Oh, I see…" Yuko took a look around the tennis field. "Doesn't look like you have too many people here today, Rio. I wonder where they heard about that group date… Seriously, I don't know if I should be appalled or jealous…"

"W-Wha-? A group date?" Hamuko hadn't heard anything about a group date.

"…Group date?" Rio didn't seem to have a clue about it either.

"Oh… Ohhhhh… You didn't know… Sorry, I heard the girls in the tennis club talking about it in the shoe lockers."

"Why didn't anybody tell meeee? I love group dates!" No one was paying attention to Hamuko's whining.

"So everyone went to that?"

"That's stupid… Why'd they hide it from me? All this running around behind my back is so irritating!" Rio was officially annoyed.

"You'd get angry if we told you."

"Of course I'd get angry!"

"W-well, calm down…" Yuko was trying their best to make Rio lower her voice.

"What a pain…" The same member who had been talking until now seemed to have become angry as well. "They're just taking a breather. What's wrong with that!"

"You call a group date "taking a breather"?" The black haired leader was back to shouting at the members.

"Yeah" She snickered. "You do e-ve-ry-thing but rest in those." Everyone looked at Hamuko with a weird face. "…W-We're not talkin' about the same kind of group dates, are we? …I didn't say anything."

"…Anyway… I don't expect someone who's never been in a relationship to understand it. And what's with that attitude of yours all the time? Who do you think you are?"

"What…!" Rio seemed offended. "I'm your leader! You're the ones who nominated me! Or did you all forget about that!"

"If we knew you'd turn out like this, we never would've nominated you!"

"What? Well, it's too late now!"

"Screw this! This isn't worth my time… I'm done with this stupid club. You're a pain in the ass, and I don't care about keeping up with you. I bet everyone else is gonna quit, too." The bitchy member left, and the others followed her.

"Hey! I'm not done-"

"I'm sorry about that." Yuko apologized as Rio's words died.

"It's not your fault, Yuko."

"Hey, I know I'm butting into another club's business here, but… You… Really should make peace with them. I'll try and help, too…"

"They're the ones that are wrong." Well, Rio was sure "modest".

"Uh… That's true, but… Oh!" Yuko ran towards Hamuko, who had been watching the whole interchange sitting next to Minato. Hamuko felt that the girl wasn't mean to be a social link for her. "Hamuko-san, right? Um, can you keep an eye on Rio? She doesn't know how to interact with people sometimes… To be honest, I'm kind of worried about her… I try to lend a hand when I see things aren't going great, but I don't know much about your club… Oh, by the way, I'm Yuko Nishiwaki. I'm the manager for the guy's team."

"Yeah, I know you: Minato-kun talks a lot about you. Good things, I mean." The tanned manager looked at Minato with interest. "Look… I'll do what you said if you give him a chance to walk you home."

"Hmmm… Okay. See you after practice in the shoe lockers, Minato-kun!" Yuko walked away and Hamuko smiled at the bluenette, who was gaping.

"I have to go take a friendship to the next level." He kept staring at her with his mouth open so she just winked at him. "You're welcome."

"Hamuko-san… You're not gonna leave? …Sorry, but I want to be left alone right now."

"Err… Let met think… No."

"Haha, you really are strange…" Rio seemed about to cry… And the Chariot Social Link, level 3! They finished practice together, while Minato watched them.

"Why did you do that?" The Fools were walking towards the entrance of the school building.

"Do what? …Oh. Well, you wouldn't have done it by yourself, would you? And fun as watchin' you fail is…" Minato gave her a skeptic look. "Uh okay… I-I did it because I wanted to, arrite? …Don't look too much into it." When they reached the shoe lockers, Yuko waved her hand at them. "Go get her, tiger."

"…Thanks." They grinned to each other before he walked away with Yuko. After seeing them march away, Hamuko decided to go to the dorm; she needed to think some things over.

"Wanna stop somewhere before going home?" Minato nodded and they headed to Paulownia Mall. Chagall Café; the best place to make Social Links... Or was it Hagakure? Actually, any place was good to develop social links as long as they served food. Once there, they began talking about several things related to school.

"It's tough being a team manager… You don't get any respect. The guys on the team all act like little kids. "Where's my towel?" "Can you wash this for me?" …I'm not their mother." Yuko looked a bit down. "Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about gaining weight, since I'm always running around taking care of them." She noticed that Minato wasn't a talkative boy and decided to stop speaking about herself. "How about you, Minato-kun? Are you enjoying the racing team?"

"Yeah, it's really cool. If only Kazushi stopped trying to kill me with his running exercises…" They both chuckled.

"I thought it might be boring for you, since you're so much better than everyone else… You've got your own style… You don't waste much energy." He smiled at her praises. "Hey, if you have any questions, just ask Kaz… Um, you know… Kazushi. You guys are in the same class, so I'm sure he'd be willing to help you. You can ask me, too, if you want, since I'm the team manager." Minato noticed that Yuko was concerned about him, and that made him feel closer to her. The Strength Social Link had just been formed, and it was represented by the silouettes of a lion and a woman walking side by side. Despite the boy could tell that Yuko thought of him as a friend, he knew that they weren't anything more than just casual acquaintances at that point. Maybe with time… Wait, what was he thinking? "Hey I've gotta run. There's a show I want to catch…" She grinned. "See you at school." As she left, a familiar voice called him.

"Hey Minato!" It was Junpei. The boy sat next to him, in the chair that had been previously occupied by Yuko. "Whatcha doin' here all alone?"

"Having coffee. You?"

"Erm…" Before he could say anything, Hamuko came out of a door carrying a tray with coffee cups with her maid uniform.

"Oh right. I forgot about that." As the girl walked past them, Minato gave her a thumbs up which Hamuko answered with a wink.

"Wow, have I missed somethin'?"

* * *

><p><strong>And now for parting words, a random fact: Hamuko's behavior was born from a joke between a friend and me related to she being secretly a succubus or something. I thought it was hilarious and went ahead with it |D<strong>


	14. One step ahead, two steps backwards

**Author Note: Hey people! I'm not back yet, but I managed to get internet a few hours a day. That means I can take the needed notes for Hamuko's social links. Woo.**

**And now, in another row of things... Check out the awesome fic Coffee or Tea? by Tickle Me Rainbow! It's like an awesome continuation of chapter 11 of this fic, which you all have to check 8D **

**Sorry if this chapter's grammar/spelling/whatever is specially off. Grammar revision decided to die while I was working on it.**

**As always, remember that reviewing is a good way to encourage me to go on with this now that I have to travel 5 miles if I want to use internet 8D;**

* * *

><p>"Mornin' Hamuko."<p>

"Hey Yukari." The red eyed girl yawned as she took a look around the dorm. "…Have you seen Minato-kun?"

"He left with Mitsuru-senpai a while ago. She wanted to make sure he arrived on time and… Oh right! She told me to tell you that she'll give us something nice if we do well in the exams; I bet her standards are so high that she won't give us anything unless we're in top ten of our grade…" Both teens sighed. "So you heard the news? There have been fewer new cases of Apathy Syndrome the last few days. Senpai said it's probably because we beat that Shadow. Wouldn't that be great if it was true?"

"Of course it's true! That's the reward for our awesomeness!" Hamuko hopped in happiness. "We're going to save the city, right?"

"Right! If only Midterms didn't start next week…" Way to ruin the mood for the rest of the morning...

"Hey Hamu-chan wanna go somewhere after school?"

"I'll think about it, Junpei-kun…"

"Oh Hamuko, that class was so boring... Hey, are you free after school?"

"I'm not sure, Yukari…"

"Hamuko, are you coming to the Health Committee today?"

"Err…?" After Saori left, Hamuko ran a hand down her face stretching her cheeks down in exhasperation.

"Seems you're highly sought after." Minato smiled as he walked towards Hamuko.

"Oh right, I had promised you I'd help you…" He shook his head.

"Nah, it's okay; you helped me yesterday. We'll hang out another day."

"You sure? Thanks, dude!" Hamuko raised her hand in the air and, surprisingly, Minato answered doing a high-five. "Someone is in a good mood today… Does it have anything to do with Yuko?" She smirked. "Should I be jealous?"

"Wha- NO!" He paused. "Wait, why would you be?"

"I was just kiddin'..." Hamuko rolled her eyes.

"Minatoooo!" That was Kenji's voice.

"OH hey, look at the time! Lunch break's almost over!" Hamuko ran towards their classroom.

"Damn it, Hamuko-chan!"

"Good luck with Kenji's girlfriend!"

After an afternoon spent ignoring teachers, trying to choose who to hang out with, Hamuko decided to accept Yukari's invitation; it had been quite a while since she last went out with her dorm mate. They headed to Port Island Station's cinema and watched a romantic comedy –which Hamuko found endlessly boring because Yukari wouldn't give any conversation during the film- and after they went to the florist placed nearby.

"Don't you feel happy when you go to a flower shop? There's so many colors, and they're all so pretty." Yukari really seemed to love the place. "I dream of having a room just full of flowers one day." Okay, that might be a bit too much. "Hey, what's your favorite flower?"

"Hmmm…" She tried to recall previous times when she had been given flowers. "Sunflowers are pretty awesome… But my favorite are gerberas."

"Really? I like them too! It's like they're cute, but full of energy too. I like how they come in so many different colors." The brunette in pink walked around the place with a sad expression. "…Back in the day, my house used to be filled with flowers. My mom really liked flowers, so she always bought a lot of them. She'd decorate with the ones I'd pick, too. That's probably why I like them so much…" She sighed. "But for a while, there was a time that I didn't like seeing flowers. They would bring back memories… And they reminded me that what is beautiful can quickly wither away." After a short pause, her smile came back. "But, I don't feel that way lately. I even feel like getting some flowers for my own room. I wonder why… I don't really understand this myself." Hamuko couldn't avoid feeling closer to Yukari after she told her that; she was sure few people knew it. The Lovers Social Link reached level 2.

"Oh, l'amour…" Yukari's eyes widened as Hamuko smirked. "C'mon Yukari. You don't have to be very smart to notice how you look at Minato." "_Or how you glare at me when I'm with him._"

"N-No! It's nothing like that! You're imagining things, Hamuko!"

"Oh. Well then, I guess you won't mind if I buy something for him, right?"

"Of course not…" Hamuko bought a small bunch of pink gerberas. "Oh! Pink gerberas! …You think he'll like them?"

"He'd better. How can flowers be so expensive…?" They headed to the dorm after that and Akihiko greeted them as they got in. "Hey Minato-kun!" The boy looked away from the TV just to see Hamuko smiling sheepishly at him. "Ta-dah!"

"Oh, a bouquet. …For me?" She nodded. "Why, thank you." Hamuko wasn't sure if he actually liked them, but he accepted them nonetheless. "What's the catch?"

"Catch? There's no catch; it's just my thanks for being my best asset to make fun of Yukari."

"Do people give flowers for that now?"

"If they don't, they ain't as cool as me." Minato seemed kind of bemused.

"Are you sure you don't have any second intentions?" He was beginning to annoy her.

"…You want me to?" Tired of Minato's mistrust, she sat on his lap and embraced him, trying to make him feel as awkward as possible for doubting her. Even though that's what she achieved at first, some seconds later Minato's expression turned into a frightened one; Hamuko's became similar after she noticed he was pointing at something behind her. She stood up slowly as she turned around. "O-oh heeeeeey, Mitsuru-senpai." She tapped Minato's knees trying to get his help. "So er… Minato-kun, are you going to the café today?"

"Can't… S-studying… With… Yukari." The red haired senpai eventually lost interest in looking for execution preys and walked away. "Damn it, Hamuko! Can't you keep it down near her?"

"I should be the one asking that!" She laughed at Minato's offended face. "So you gonna give Yukari some "private lessons"?

"Yes? No? I don't even know what that means after this afternoon…" The memory of Kenji ranting about how Ms. Kanou was going to give him private lessons -and his derailments about the topic- wasn't very nice. "She's gonna help me with some Chemistry problems we missed in the week we spent at the hospital; you're free to join us if you want."

"Buh. I don't feel like studying tonight. You gotta enjoy the day, man; "carp at dinner"!"

"…Carpe diem?"

"Yeah, that too. Jun-kun, you coming to the café?"

"Yessss!" The two teens left happily, leaving a dumbstruck Minato behind.

"…" Yukari rushed downstairs. "Hey Yukari! Ready to study?"

"Sorry Minato-kun, I just remembered that I told a friend I'd lend her some notes. Maybe tomorrow, okay?" The girl ran out of the dorm.

"…I guess you'll be my studying partner tonight, bouquet." Minato sighed as he headed to his room.

* * *

><p>"Mum, are we there yet?" The car advanced at high speed, but the journey felt painfully long for the child.<p>

"We'll arrive to Port Island soon, honey."

"…I'm bored. Why couldn't we bring sis? She'd love the place!"

"You know that she's too little to come with us. Grampa Johei will care for her until we come back."

"But I'm bored, mum… Hey, what's that?" There was something standing on the road: a child wearing a prisoner pyjamas. There was a flash, and next they knew, the car was spinning around and it only stopped when it crashed against a pillar. Flames began forming around the front of the car. "MUM?" No answer from the blue haired female. "DAD?" A drip of blood came down the man's forehead. As their child cried, something approached the car; it was the child with the stripped pyjamas. He had a truly sinister smile.

"They're dead." His image faltered for a second, enough for it to be substituted by a ghostly figure, composed by some kind of torn up cloak attached to a sewn up metal jaw. It looked down at the crying little creature and then raised its bony hand in the air, producing a sword out of nowhere. "AND SO ARE YOU." As the sword descended to cut its victim, the dream ended.

* * *

><p>"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Minato clutched his head as he shouted out of his lungs. He could feel his heart beating at a worrying rhythm as he put away the blanket choking him and rolled to the ground. After a few seconds in which he made sure there wasn't any trace of a monster out to get him, his scream died, replaced by pants and sudden hyperventilation. "…It… Was a… Nightmare…" He swept back a fringe of hair, which was stuck to his sweaty forehead, and stumped his way around the room, blue irises scanning the dark room in search of his alarm clock. He found it and waited until his eyes adapted to the darkness. Soft green LEDs read 06.16, 0513/2009 earning a groan from the boy. Despite being so early, he didn't feel like going back to sleep; he left his room, being careful not to wake anyone up. The dorm was dead silent and in complete darkness, save for a slight glow coming from the kitchen.

"Hamuko-chan…?" The blue haired boy narrowed his eyes, trying to adapt to the light coming from the fridge.

"AH! Minato-kun, you scared me! …I thought you were Senpai…"

"What are you doing here so early?"

"Um… What are YOU doing here so early?"

"I had a bad dream." Hamuko's eyes widened. "You too? …What was it about?"

"Sorry, I don't wanna talk about it…" Minato nodded and gave her a comprehensive smile. "And uh… I was bored and I thought that since I got up so early I could cook my lunch, for a change."

"What? Did I hear that right?" He did a sound similar to an "aw" but it sounded endlessly sarcastic. "Could it be my Hamuko-chan is turning into an honorable citizen?"

"Hey! I'm not YOUR Hamuko-chan! YOU're MY Minato-kun!" She snuck his tongue out at him. "And no, this' one of those things that only happen once in life; I'll go back to stealing your food tomorrow." Minato sighed and then he offered to help her with that. "…Hey. You remind me of someone with your hair like that… Hmmm… Theo? Nah uh… HIDETOSHI!"

"Shush, don't talk so loud… Who? Oh! You mean Odagiri-senpai?"

"I just remembered I haven't showed up in a Student Council meeting since… Since I joined! Oh crap, Mitsuru-senpai must be raging."

"Ah, don't worry about that; I'm pretty sure Mitsuru-senpai isn't upset. I mean, I'm sure she's been regretting letting you in in my place for quite a long time!"

"…Quit being an egocentric bastard and cut those carrots." They fell silent for a while. "About that dream… Did the creepy child appear?"

"Maybe…? I don't remember much of it anymore."

Minato and Hamuko survived miraculously the way to school, lacking sleep as they were. The girl was pretty sure she heard someone speaking about some teacher having a car accident or the like and something related to school being haunted, but she really couldn't put her finger on it. The morning went by quickly…

"Minato-kun… Don't make me slam your head against the table again…" He looked up with sleepy eyes. "Say "aaaah"."

"Aa-? Hmph!" Hamuko shoved a spoon into Minato's mouth. For a moment, the boy feared it would be so me kind of poison; however, he soon discovered that it was edible –and actually tasty- food. "…Curry?"

"Yup!" The girl filled the spoon again with the dense sauce and tried to feed Minato, only to get a frown from the boy… Before he opened his mouth and took it anyway. "How does it taste?"

"It's certainly delicious. Spicy, but not to spicy, bittersweet… And um… Chicken curry? Is this what I helped you with this morning?" She nodded and gave him a happy grin. "Wow. I must admit, you ARE a good cook."

"It's one of my hidden talents." The smile on her face acquired a dangerous aspect. "Wanna know what else I'm good at?"

"Acting terribly out of place?" Hamuko's eyes flickered with amusement as Minato glanced away.

"Is that a question?" One of her fingers began entwining itself around the loose ribbon he wore around his neck whereas the rest of her hand played with the collar of his shirt. The boy tried to hop away from her, only to lose balance on his chair and fall on his back.

"You're **definitely** great at that." They laughed heartedly as Hamuko helped him up.

"Hey Hamuko-san!" Rio walked into their classroom. "Are you coming to practice today? …Even if it's going to be only the two of us…"

"Of course! I ain't gonna let you down!"

"Haha, good! Are you coming too, Minato-san?"

"Sure, why not? I don't think I'm ready to go back to practice yet." Rio left to her class, as the break was almost over.

Hamuko spent the entire afternoon staring at Mr. Takenokuza, their Physics teacher, which earned her more than one condescending glare from Yukari. The red eyed girl only came back to Earth when she heard him ask Minato something about the speed Earth turned around itself at the Ecuador. The boy, who had been sleeping as usual, answered something related to wanting more curry, earning a laugh from everyone in the class.

"Why do you insist on studying and getting paranoid about the exams when you can't even keep awake at class?"

"Because doing that I don't have to be awake at class?"

"…Hey, that makes sense! But still, studying sucks man." They arrived at the tennis field which, as Rio predicted, was completely empty. The girls began practice ignoring the fact they were alone.

"That's it, always keep your knees in mind. Alright, I'll serve next, so... Oh..." Rio turned around as she heard something.

"Heeeey, Rio!" That was Kenji running towards them.

"Yo Kenji-kun!"

"Hi, Kenji."

"Oh hey guys! I didn't know you liked tennis, Minato." The blue haired boy shrugged.

"You know each other?" Rio seemed kind of surprised. "Err... What do you want, Kenji?"

"Well, I don't understand some of the lessons for the Literature exam. Could you gimme a hand?"

"You were sleeping through class, weren't you?" Both Fools nodded at Rio's question, even though it wasn't directed at them. "What do I get in return?"

"_Wow Minato-kun, she talks like you_." Minato decided to ignore Hamuko's whispers.

"Ooh, so you're up for it? Lucky me!" Kenji tried to pose coolly. "I'll give you my love in return. Love, baby!" Rio glared badly at the brunette boy.

"Nobody needs that!"

"_Oh God Minato-kun, she IS you_."

"How about you buy me a special at Hagakure?" Kenji gaped at Rio's request.

"_I think I can tell why you two are friends, Hamuko-chan_."

"Yikes, that's steep... Okay! I'll be waitin' around until you're done."

"What about us, Kenji-kun?" Hamuko stomped the ground as she yelled at the boy. "You abandoned us last time!"

"How are you going to pay us for that?" Kenji ran away, not wanting to face either of his classmates' rage.

"Okay, enough loafing around." Rio motioned Hamuko to go back to the field.

"Huh, you really must get along with him to having forgotten about practice…"

"I guess... We're childhood friends. I've known him since preschool..." Hamuko rose an eyebrow at the girl. "He's like a younger brother to me. That's all! He's been coming here a lot lately, and he's starting to be a pest..." Rio seemed to sadden, prompting Hamuko and Minato to interchange meaningful glances; it was obvious the raven haired girl somehow liked Kenji.

"Uuuh… Weren't you the one who wanted to practise? Let's do it!"

"Huh? O-okay. It... Isn't much of a practice with just the two of us, though... Sorry..." She began mumbling

"Hey, stop sulking! They'll eventually crawl back begging you to let them in!" No matter how many Social Links Hamuko developed, she would forever be a lame liar.

"If you say so..." She quieted down for a while. "It's like... I don't want to pretend nothing happened, and I'm not going to say this is my fault. ...I know that I need to be more mature about this, but... All that stuff about having never been in a relationship and stuff... That's none of their business." Hamuko wanted to tell her that they might have had a small, diminute point when they said that, but she kept it to herself.

"Um, don't let it get to you! Screw that noise..." Minato had to wonder if Hamuko was trying to make some sort of sick pun.

"Yeah... Hamuko-san... Do you have... Someone you like?" Where the hell did that question come from? Regardless, it piqued the boy's interest; he wouldn't let them know that, though.

"...Maybe?" She didn't really have a clue about what to answer..

"If you ask because of all the rumours about us being together... They're not only a lie, but Hamuko's fault entirely." Minato didn't seem amused at all. "I share the opinion that love is overrated, don't worry."

"I-is that so...?" She seemed relieved to hear that. Hamuko thanked the fact that she wasn't in her classroom, otherwise she wouldn't have believed those words, but she couldn't help but to be slightly concerned about Minato's words. "I don't get romance. It seems like so much trouble, and there's no big reward for doing it."

"_Listen to your team leader go all emo about love. Get Chariot level 4._" Hamuko smirked to herself and then sighed in contempt. "…Whether the reward is big or not depends on the boy you choose, Rio-san." Okay, Minato was now sure that Hamuko had dropped that innuendo on purpose; however, Rio seemed thankfully oblivious to her double entendres.

"...Let's get back to practice. I'll serve, Hamuko-san, so you... Uuh... Is it okay if I just call you Hamuko? I feel like it fits you better..." Practice ended and Rio ran away to find Kenji. The other two decided to leave as well.

"Seriously, liking Kenji is like… Uuuuh…"

"It can't feel too different from liking Junpei."

"What? Don't you dare compare them, ya hear me?"

"Why, what are you gonna do? Start more rumours?" The boy raised his arms in the air in annoyance. "Or maybe you will stop harassing me and directly try to rape me?"

"What? No! Seduction is much more entertaining than that." Instead of receiving the expected glare, Minato plain ignored her. "Hey, why so conscious about rumours all of a sudden?"

"Do you think there's a single person on school who doesn't think we two are together?" Hamuko bit her lower lip as she shook her head. "Look, you might find amusing being the topic of every talk and don't care about being called… What you really are." The girl gaped in anger at him. "I don't want that image related to me."

"You prefer being "that one emo guy from class 2-F" nobody gives a fuck about?" He nodded dryly. "Ah. Well. Fine for me. I still have Junpei if I want to have fun. Who do you have? Let me think, err… Yukari? Oh, no, she's MINE… Chihiro? Aw, she doesn't even dare talk to you… Yuko… That's right, you wouldn't even have her Social Link if it wasn't for me. Ah, maybe I should let you hang out with Bebe! I'm sure that'd start rumours more akin to the truth."

"Go fuck Junpei or something." Minato turned around and headed to Port Island instead of Paulownia Mall as the initial plan was.

"Well, have fun with the Gourmet King; I hope you choke or something!"

Minato got away, a dark expression decorating his face as the card representing the Fool arcana got reversed without previous warning in his mind. "This Social Link is so fucked up."

* * *

><p>"...And that's what happened; I think I'd have preferred beating each other up to that… Seriously, what the hell is wrong with him?" Hamuko was trying her best to hide her need to cry with anger.<p>

"Don't worry Hamu-chan. Minato's just a jerk like that…" Junpei hadn't doubted a second to leave the books and follow Hamuko to the café when she entered the dorm with teary eyes. Now, he got to hold Hamuko -still in her maid outfit as her shift wasn't over- in his arms, not the way he wished he could, but comforting her was also a good thing.

"I'm… Am I that bad?"

"'Course you aren't… It's all his fault…" Somehow, Junpei's tactic of blaming the boy was only achieving to get the girl all the more teary. "I'll give him a piece of my mind when we get to the dorm…"

"N-No." She cleaned her eyes with the back of her ruffled sleeves. "Don't meddle in this, Junpei-kun... There isn't much you can do about it, anyway."

"Seikatsu-chan." Another waitress, a few years older than her, tapped her shoulder softly. "You have to go back to work."

"Ah, yes, sorry Senpai." Hamuko followed her co-worker after she said bye to Junpei with a hand gesture. Once her job was done, they got back to the dorm in complete silence. Yukari and Minato were studying in the lounge, as the books splattered all over the table proved. The brunette in a pink cardigan greeted them cheerfully, but Minato didn't even get his eyes out of the book to see who got in the building.

"Did something happen?" Yukari looked concerned at the boy as the other two dorm mates left the lounge.

"I wish there was a day it didn't."

* * *

><p><strong>Admit it, I fooled you. You all thought they were going to reach Level 3 didn't you *3* Hey Tickle, I liked the idea of Hamuko being friends with the co-workers. Hope you don't mind 8D; <strong>

**Before saying bye, is it just me, or every time Minato snaps their Social Link goes reversed? :u**


	15. Ambush

**Author note: And I still don't have Internet, but -hopefully- my parents won't take much longer to contract internet services. Oh well.**

**Have I ever mentioned how awkward it feels to write detailed fights? I mean, seriously, I get all paranoid and begin seeing double entendres everywhere 8D;**

**Alas, I hope you like this chapter; I had already got used to their getting along, and I don't enjoy it very much. Review to tell me your opinions :o **

* * *

><p>"Hey, isn't that Minato-san that guy 'round there? The one with the chubby guy?"<p>

"Oh yeah, I wonder why someone like him would talk to... That thing."

"I know, right? But hey, he's into freaks; he also hangs out with that Kenji guy..."

"Totally! I mean, just look at his girlfriend. I don't know why they're even together: when he's around she's all over him, but when he isn't, she begins acting all flirty around every boy, even that creep... Junpei!"

"Minato-san must be blind or something! I heard that she..." The gossiper students kept badmouthing Hamuko, ignoring that she was only a few steps away, buying some equipment with Junpei, whom she had found him after checking the new requests in the Velvet Room.

"Aren't you going to tell them something, Hamu-chan?" The red eyed girl shook her head.

"If I had to get in a fight with everyone who called me things... I would have a lot of bruises and not enough time to hang out with you." She picked up a suitcase containing a Camo Shirt, giving Kurosawa the earnings she had achieved during the week. "Anyway, they aren't lying, are they?" As they walked out of the police station, the girls ceased chatting and waved her hands at Hamuko and Junpei in a friendly manner.

"At least you're not an hypocrite like them..." Hamuko would have loved to tell Junpei about the Social Links just so he knew how wrong he was, however, she knew better than doing so.

"You see?" The "chubby guy" the girls had referred to earlier, was now shouting at Minato. "Just as I said! They think you're cool and I'm a thing!" The blue haired boy seemed completely unaffected by his outburst. "I'm the Gourmet King, I deserve some respect-"

"Yeah, I thought your voice sounded familiar..." A middle aged man approached them. "You know what I'm here for. Hand it over."

"Wh-whoa... It-it's you..." The Gourmet King seemed completely frightened. "H-h-help! Uh, emergency!" None of the people present in the floor moved a finger.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Hamuko only stared at Minato. He was as calm and collected as ever, acting so detached and aloof that it irritated her.

"...Yeah." Her eyes lit up; she seemed to have an idea. "Yes, let's do something about it." Whatever her resolve was, it seemed to be ill-intentioned.

Hiding her confident smile from curious eyes with the unfolded neck of her uniform undershirt, she walked into the scene, pushing Minato aside. "Do you have a problem with this boy, mister?" Minato gaped as the Gourmet King got up from his bench and ran to hide behind the girl, who was standing menacingly against a man a pair of heads taller than her.

"What the- Pipe down, kid, I don't want anyone getting suspicious..." He took a step backwards. "Look, I have to go take care of some business, but you're... Nozomi Suemitsu, aren't you? Yeah, thought so..." The man glared daggers at said boy. "You're going to have to reconsider. I really can't let this one slide." He looked at Hamuko in a condescending way before leaving them alone.

"Well that was something..." The Gourmet sighed in relief. "Normally I would stand up to guys like him, but I'm trying to be passive nowadays. Thank you very much for your help..."

"Seikatsu. Hamuko Seikatsu." She flashed Minato a short, malicious smile as she bowed to the chubby student next to her. "I'd do anything to help the Gourmet King."

"O-oh, my fame precedes me... By the way, I'm Nozomi Suemitsu... U-um wanna eat together some time...?"

"I'd love to... But not today, I'm in a hurry." Minato's shock had disappeared, and now it was replaced with fury –only Hamuko could tell this, though, as his expression remained unreadable as usual. "Well, see you around!" She ran to Junpei and began pushing him discreetly. "C'mon man, we gotta go!"

Minato was grinding his teeth covertly, trying not to get heard by anyone. "Oh, you're still there? Thanks for nothing, uuh... Whoever you are." Nozomi walked away ignoring the bluenette, who was doing his best to prevent himself from running after Hamuko and begin something which could end badly. He would get back at her in another moment.

Hamuko laughed happily all the way to Port Island Station, boasting about what she had just done.

"What did you do, Hamu-chan? I mean, I totally saw how Minato was glaring at you when you faced that guy."

"I'm sorry Junpei-kun, but I can't tell you. You wouldn't understand..." Her laughter died a bit, only to be replaced by boasts yet again. "Seriously, his face was SO priceless."

"Do you think it's wise to anger him more?"

"Junpei, dude, I REALLY don't get you. When we fight you want us to be okay, when we're okay you want us to fight, and when I'm having fun you ask me "if it's wise to anger him more". Seriously dude, make up your mind." She let out an upset sigh.

"I'm just sayin' that things could get crazy and..." His words came to a halt when Hamuko's hand intertwined with his, tugging at him to stop his steps.

"If things get too crazy you'll be there to... How was it...? Kick our asses until we listen to reason, right?" He nodded his head at an incredibly high speed. "Then I don't have anything to worry about!" An affectionate smile appeared on Hamuko's face.

"Y-Yeah! You can count on the great Junpei anytime, Hamu-chan!"

"That's my Jun-kun!" She released his hand and embraced him; he needed a few seconds to calm down and return the hug. Hamuko felt that he would really back her up anytime, and so she felt closer to him, but not enough to reach a new level. "Junpei-kun."

"Yeah?"

"That hand is a bit too **low** for a friendly hug."

"...I hadda try!" Hamuko broke the hug, giving Junpei a doubtful glance.

"So like, can we go to the shrine before going back to the dorm? There's someone I wanna see..." The train ride to Iwatodai felt slower without Minato complaining about everything Hamuko did and their usual battles of mistakable phrases, but the girl wouldn't recognise that. Once in the shrine, Hamuko ran towards the jungle gym, where Maiko was playing, alone as usual.

"Hi hi!" Hamuko walked towards the girl and Junpei followed suit. "How have you been, Maiko-chan?"

"Oh, hi Hamuko! ...Who's he?"

"This is my friend Junpei!" She turned to the boy. "Junpei, Maiko; Maiko, Junpei."

"He looks creepy." Junpei gaped.

"I don't!"

"...Where's Minato?"

"Err... W-why do you ask about him? We have Junpei-kun here to play with us! And he's MUCH funnier than Minato-kun!" The little girl frowned deeply at her.

"No! I won't play with you if Minato isn't with you!" She ran away, leaving two shocked teens behind. Hamuko let out a desperate sigh.

"...Let's go back, okay?"

"H-Hey wait, I don't look creepy, rite?"

"Yeah, you don't look creepy, you ARE creepy." Hamuko paused. "I think I spend too much time with Yukari." Junpei nodded with a blank face and then they headed to the dorm.

As soon as they arrived, Junpei sat down on the sofa and took something out of his pocket; it was a new model of the COMPstation Portable. That earned him a rather snarky question by Mitsuru, regarding his grades.

"_Theo said that I could complete one of the requests today..._" Hamuko sat down next to Junpei. "Oh hey, Jun-kun... A friend of mine wanted to use a handheld game system, err... He doesn't have enough money to ever have bought one, so like... I need someone to lend me a COMPP." She smiled charmingly. "Do you know anyone who could lend me one?"

"Well... This one's new, so I can't give it to you, but... I still have my old one! Wait here, okay?" He left the COMPP on the sofa. He was playing a videogame about what would happen IF a human was thrown in the demon world. Apparently demons were a recurring theme in every media in this city... "Here! There's no point in having them both, so you can keep it."

"Awesome! Thanks a lot, Jun-kun!" In order not to look suspicious, Hamuko decided to give thethe handheld to Theo later, and headed straight for her room.

When she opened her door, nothing could have surprised her more than what she found waiting for her.

"How did you get in he—OOF!" Before she could even close the door behind her, Minato got up from his spot on her desk chair, shoved her against the wall and began shouting at her.

"What the hell got into you? Why did you have to butt in and steal MY Social Link, goddamn it?" Seeing the boy so furious was quite an occurrence.

"Nah, I didn't steal it; he can't be a Social Link of mine. I crashed your chance just 'cause." She smiled confidently. "You mad?" Seeing his intentions to make her crash against the wall again, Hamuko did the only thing she could come up with: kick a boy's weakest point. Minato fell on his knees and she pushed him to the ground. "I told you that the next time you'd be the one on the ground."

"W-wrong." He reached out for one of her legs and pulled it, making her lose balance and fall next to him. They just glared at each other until Minato took the opportunity to slap her. That was answered with a punch to the nose –making it bleed- which received a sucker punch as a counterattack and soon, they were only focused on causing the other as much pain as possible, forgetting everything around them. After some minutes of mindless violence, Minato had the apparently great idea to attack somewhere vital and decided to go for the neck; lacking anything sharper than his teeth, he decided to bite it Dracula style. It turns out that the idea wasn't as good of an idea as he imagined. Instead of a cry of pain he had expected, he got a very different response. It left him bemused enough time to be kicked away, allowing the brunette to get up. The boy mimicked her as fast as he could.

"A hickey? Really, Minato? Really?" He avoided a slow punch to the gut.

"That was not my intention." Angry as they were, either attacks were neither precise nor strong.

"You're a covert pervert, admit it." They began to lose interest in their battle –if it could even be called that at that point- when they noticed that it had attracted the attention of their dorm mates. "_Damn that open door…_" "T-this is not what it looks like."

"So you two weren't engaged in a fight?" Mitsuru's inquisitive glare was almost painful.

"…Yeah, it totally is what it looks like." Hamuko coughed awkwardly as she covertly hid the Indian burn on her neck while Minato cleaned the blood coming out of his nose with the back of his hand. After a short interrogatory of sorts, Minato walked out of her room under the vigilance of Akihiko. Not wanting to give any more explanations or get lectured, the brunette slammed the door shut and locked it, ignoring any voices coming from the outside. She walked towards the mirror to check the damages.

"_Aw man. That one's SO gonna hurt tomorrow; I should look for some ointment for that one, and..._" She frowned at a certain red mark.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Hamu-chan, why are you wearing your scarf?"<p>

"Why do you wear a cap? Why does Yukari wear a cardigan?" She poked his chest in an accusing way. "What's with Mitsuru's blouse? And what about Akihiko's vest? Do you ask them about their clothes too?"

"It's a hickey, isn't it?" Junpei's question made Hamuko flinch, and the boy began laughing. "So who got lucky yesterday?"

"Take a wild guess."

"Oooh man, you got it on with Senpai?" She shook her head. "Then who?"

"...You weren't paying much attention to the things going on in the dorm yesterday, were you?"

"Yeah, sorry, I was playing with my videogames. So… Was it Yukari or Mitsuru? Just kidding, dude, I got it. But aren't you and Minato mad or something? How did that happen?"

"…It's a LONG story."

As they walked past the school gates, they saw Mitsuru talking to Minato. It was something related to the upcoming Midterms and the Shadows and what not. She had either taken a liking to going to school with him or she wanted to make sure he was kept away from the brunette.

Much to Hamuko's dismay, the classroom got incredibly hot in the afternoon- they were halfway through May, after all- so she eventually had to give up and take out her scarf, prompting a hideous amount of comments; not like she cared about them, but Minato began glaring daggers at anyone who mentioned his name and Hamuko's in the same phrase. Unlike the previous time their Social Link got reversed, letting their fists speak hadn't solved the problem, ergo, it wasn't Tournament-related tension; Minato was actually mad at her, but Hamuko refused to accept it was her fault this time.

"_No one wants to hang out because exams are near… Junpei and Kenji are going to try and study or something today… Maiko won't play with me if Minato isn't around…And I still don't feel like hitting the books. Crap, I need to get more Social Links..._" After some minutes cogitating, Hamuko decided to head to Bookworms; it had been quite a while since she last bought a novel.

"Welcome, Hamuko-chan!." Minato turned around as the old man greeted the brunette. Both teens glanced briefly at each other before they mentally began cursing whatever force had made them coincide in the book store.

"_Has she dared follow me? She wants to screw up my Social Links again..._"

"Good afternoon, Bunkichi-san…" Hamuko wandered around the store, trying to avoid further eye contact with the boy.

"So Minato-chan, I'm sorry for troubling you about the persimmon tree."

"It's no problem at all really." In fact, he had forgotten to ask about it. "I'll err... **Root** out to the truth!" He could hear Hamuko coughing softly a few steps away, trying to hide giggles which got mixed with her humming of a pop song which could make a good battle theme. _"...Whatever_."

"Good one, Minato-chan! It's really nice having you around... I can make stupid puns whenever I feel like it!" His chuckle turned into sorrow. "...That persimmon tree is a reminder of our son... Before his death, he was a teacher at Gekkoukan High School... He planted that tree on graduation day with the students in his first class."

"That tree is about to bear fruit..." Mitsuko looked really hurt. "Why now...? Why do they want to cut it down now?"

"Don't worry, I won't let them do that." A smile appeared in the old woman's face.

"...Thank you, Minato-chan. ...That makes me feel a lot better. It's very comforting talking to you."

"Wow, Minato-chan, you've really captured her heart! You must be popular with the ladies! My wife's no sucker, after all." He turned to Hamuko. "Am I right, Hamuko-chan?"

"Yeah, he's a real ladykiller; hide your wife, Bunkichi-san!" Despite the old shop attendants and Hamuko shared laughs, Minato frowned deeply –he got the underlying message in her words.

"Then it's like looking at myself when I was in my prime!" Between laughs, Minato felt the Hierophant Social Link reach level 5, and wondered why Hamuko hadn't done anything.

"_She must have felt pity for the couple. Or maybe she has indeed tried to do something and I haven't noticed it?_" The boy's paranoia seemed to increase as Hamuko walked towards the display, eyes focused on the couple and the book she was carrying.

"True Valhalla Gladiator 2: Arm-Gadget'd Hawk." Bunkichi seemed very amused. "Hamuko-chan, you pick the books with the weirdest names!"

"Nah, I usually pick the one with longest titles! The shorter the name, the pricier the book!" It was getting dark out, so Hamuko excused herself after paying the book and left.

"Oh, Minato-chan, before you leave... Don't worry too much about the tree. Just stop by when you get the chance. Oh, and take this. It's left over, but it's still good." He gave the boy some crab bread. "Share some with Hamuko-chan, okay? She seems to love that stuff! Take care!"

"_Share it?_" The boy said bye with a hand gesture as he walked out of the store. "_Hahaha no._" Minato found Hamuko overlooking the pages of her new book on the stairs leading to the Sweet Shop placed above Wild Duck Burger. "So I'm a ladykiller now?"

"I'm a lady; you tried to kill me." The brunette did her best to ignore the bag of crab bread that Minato was holding.

"You're a lady since when?" Hamuko closed her novel and hid her annoyance with a content smile.

"Oh, that's right, I'm not a reputable woman you'd like to be paired up with." She bowed down ceremonially as she spoke sarcastically. "My apologies, Minato-**sama**."

"Well, excuse me for not being an attention whore like you."

"Oh, you aren't one? You know that waiting in my room to do whatever you were planning to do-"

"I was just going to make a threat."

"I'm sure you were." Hamuko gave him an unbelieving look. "Anyhow, that kind of attention could have got you expelled, you know?"

"You've been barging into my room for a month and a half and you're still in the dorm; that's highly unlikely." He leaned towards the sitting Hamuko and smiled deviously. "I guess you should just remember to lock your room next time you plan to bother my social life."

"Why? You wouldn't stand being beaten up another time?" She tilted her head up and shortened the distance between their faces as her lips formed a smile akin to Minato's. "Or maybe you plan to give me another surprise hickey?" The boy stepped back and grunted something.

"...Take care." He walked away, stomping his way to the dorm. Hamuko could only furrow her eyebrows in concern as he disappeared in the distance.

* * *

><p><strong>And they still don't get on well. DUNDUNDUUUUUUN. Minato, even you can be a creep some times... Who's left sane in my fic? Yukari and their senpai? Must mend that :u<strong>


	16. Making Up

**Author note:**** Hey people! Still no internet BU If you ever get bored of this fic and you're a usual TV Tropes reader, I have a great solution: TV Tropes Drinking Game! Re-read the fic and take a shot for every invoked trope you read. I can't guarantee you'll reach this chapter without needing to get your stomach pumped.**

**And if you survive, remember that ****those who are subscribed to my Deviant Art account, SandraMJ, get to see fic-related pictures and extracts of the next chapter before it comes out.**

**Screw titles *3***

* * *

><p>Saturday, 16th of May; last day of school before Midterms. Everything was going great in the morning: Akihiko and Hamuko had ran together to school to celebrate that the former had been finally allowed by Mitsuru to fight again and would join everyone after the exams; Maths class with Ms. Miyahara was fun as usual, and the sun outside announced a warm weekend. The only downer of such a perfect day was the fact that Minato and Hamuko hadn't even looked at each other since the incident from the day before. For the first time since they arrived to the dorm, Hamuko actually bothered following Minato's "advice" and locking the door; Minato, just as afraid of getting some sort of revenge, did exactly the same. After class, the red eyed girl pretty much ran out of class while the bluenet just dozed off on his table.<p>

"_Maybe I should go play with Maiko… Oh wait, Junpei commented that she won't play if Hamuko and I aren't together. She's probably looking for a substitute for her parents in us…_" Minato could relate to that, but he wasn't going to be the one to ask Hamuko to go with him to accompany the poor girl, no matter how much it hurt him. "_Maybe I should try and find out about that tree today… But I'm so tired right now…_"

"Hello?" Someone was shaking his hand in front of Minato's eyes. "Man, stop zonin' out; don't you remember you promised me you'd help me study?"

"O-Oh yeah, sorry Junpei, of course—Wait, what? When did I promise such a thing?"

"Ya just did!" The boy with a baseball cap smirked while the other groaned in defeat. They headed straight to the dorm and upon arriving, Junpei left his bag away and sat down on the armchair, no trace of the books.

"Weren't we going to study?"

"Nope. Sit down." Minato did as he asked, even though he really didn't think he had enough time to chat because of the incoming exams. "What happened this time between Hamuko and you? And don't give me the "we know but I ain't gonna tell ya, hurr, durr" BS."

"…I got bored of Hamuko bothering me and making everyone talk about me."

"Is that enough for you two to bash each other? Seriously?" When Junpei put it like that, it did sound ridiculous; however, there was more to it. "Hey, you two are my best friends. Hell, you're like my bro and she's like my sister!" Junpei rubbed his goatee as if it was a long beard. "Have you got any siblings, Minato?"

"I… I've got a sister. Or I had one… I'm not sure; I don't remember much from before the accident which killed my parents..." Minato grimaced and Junpei regretted having asked that. "…Where are you going with this?"

"Uuh… I forgot…" Junpei wasn't a therapist, alright? "A-Anyway, I want to make sure you two make up… Even if I act like a dick when you aren't fighting…" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Like any hero would say, "I just want my beloved to be happy". So please, dude, tell me what's really up." Minato crossed his fingers and stared intently at Junpei. After some seconds of silence, he finally spoke.

"A guy from another dimension makes us want to kill each other every time our friends are around. The urges to kill accumulate more and more and after a few weeks, just being near Hamuko feels like a punch to the gut. A good way of making this more bearable is killing shadows, but that isn't something we can do when exams are near. Ergo, not having hit things in Tartarus caused us to end up hitting each other two days ago. And then there's also the fact I'm mad at her for spreading rumours." Minato gasped as he ended his stream of words.

"…Man, if you don't wanna tell me the truth just say it, you don't hafta be a dick about it." Minato decided not to insist; he knew that Junpei wasn't going to believe it. "But seriously, are you going to let what a bunch of retards say dictate your life? Rumours are just rumours, man. You can choose to ignore them, yanno? If you're gonna lose a friend just 'cause of them… Well… It ain't something neither a hero nor a man'd do." Junpei lowered the brim of his cap and headed upstairs, leaving the bluenet alone to mull some things over; mostly were about rumours, but there was something else worrying him.

"_My sister…?_" Blurry images of a faceless blue haired toddler were the only thing Minato could get, and he obtained them at the cost of a heavy headache; it had been many years since he last thought about her, and now he was too tired to think more. "_Time to study…_" He was getting up from the sofa when someone opened the door of the dorm; it was Hamuko, and for the first time since he had met her, she was wearing her headphones on her head instead of around her neck. "_Is she feeling lonely?_"

Hamuko had had a rather weird afternoon; no one wanted to hang out, she didn't have enough money to go to the arcade, and spending such a beautiful day reading in the dorm didn't seem a good option. Bored as she was, she decided to explore Port Island Station. She had heard about how dangerous the outskirts of the station were, but she found out the punks there were rather sociable and talkative; however, she didn't dare to go near the bars as they pretty much screamed "get in, get killed". She felt someone staring at her all the time, and tried to drown that feeling with music, yet it didn't disappear. When she looked around, she only found a hobo with a wool hat sleeping in a corner; he was a familiar looking guy, but Hamuko was pretty scared, and decided against entailing friendly conversation with him. She decided to leave the place immediately.

Back in Iwatodai, she found herself staring at the TVs in the display of a technology store in the way to the dorm. After a short commercial starred by a new pop idol -probably not older than thirteen or fourteen years old- with long piggy tails, there was a news report about that blue haired Junior Detective. The little guy went on and on about how sociality was overrated and his love for solitude as it was the only way to focus and be two steps ahead of everyone, leaving subjective vision aside. It was like seeing a little Minato on TV, so the sleuth's words gave her a lot to consider as she headed to the dorm.

When Hamuko entered the room, she and Minato interchanged glances for the first time in the whole day. The girl's initial glare turned into a curious look upon noticing that the boy's gaze didn't seem angry anymore; it was rather troubled now. Hamuko parted her lips lightly, seemingly wanting to say something, maybe even apologise, but eventually she pressed them together and looked away, prompting Minato to leave the lounge. As she saw him walk upstairs, the song "Way of life" began playing in her MP3; she turned it off barely a second later.

* * *

><p>"What time is it…? Wha—Noon?" Minato had already got used to Hamuko waking him up early for the stupidest reasons during the weekends, so it had been quite a while since he last slept so much. "…I'd better get up…" His laptop beeped as the Innocent Sin Online game client flashed the message "User Maya logged on". However, he decided to ignore it.'<p>

As he walked through the boys' floor, he heard Junpei's desperate pleas to whoever was listening to give him a hand with studying. Soon, the noise coming from Junpei's room got mixed up with the voices coming from downstairs.

"Ouch man, that slap had to hurt!" He could hear someone shouting at the TV as he walked down. "Come on Yellow Swan, I'm sure you can forgive him!" That was doubtlessly Hamuko watching Phoenix Ranger Featherman R in the lounge. "End the drama alreadyyy- noooooo! Don't you dare give me a cliff-hanger!"

"_In the next episode-_" Hamuko switched off the TV with the remote control as she sank her face on the sofa.

"Are you mad at the TV?" The girl sat up startled, only to let out a relieved sigh as she saw Minato standing in the threshold of the kitchen. He had a similar expression to the one he had the previous night.

"Are you mad at me for being mad at a thing? Do you think it'll make people talk about me being nuts or something?" Minato casted his eyes down, shrugging, and they fell into an awkward silence. "So aren't you going to study today like everyone else?"

"I'm bored of studying, so I was looking for people to hang out with today. Do you plan to study today?"

"Uh… I was going to get some of that magic sushi from Wakatsu…" She got up from the sofa, glancing around awkwardly. "You can come… If you don't mind the rumours about it helping you be smarter, that's it." They weren't going to voice it nor make it any clearer, but they were begging each other for a chance to mend things.

"…Sure, why not?"

The teens walked towards Iwatodai Strip Mall side by side, but a few meters away from each other. He couldn't quite appreciate it in an everyday walk, but now they were distanced…

"_I miss her. I miss her warmth, her clinginess, her… Spunkiness? Is that even a word? …I don't understand why this happens. Why would I miss such annoying traits in a person? …It's just the same as the last time we got angry; I missed her as well..." _The boy didn't like where those thoughts were going._ "That time I was also the one to snap and started the fight…_" The thought bewildered him. "_I'm the calm one, yet I always begin arguments?-Even though she's the one who brings about the causes of our fights… There has to be some sort of underlying reason. Maybe I'll get to understand my strange behaviour by developing my Social Links further… But that could take a lot of time; I can't let strange forces take control of me until then…" _He came to a realization. _"And much less stupid things such as rumours! Wow, who would have thought? Junpei IS a good psychologist!_"

"Hey." Hamuko snapped her fingers in front of Minato's face and the boy blinked a pair of times. "Hey, are you alright? You haven't touched your food..."

"S-sorry, I was thinking…" The boy picked up his chopsticks, briefly wondering when they even got in the restaurant. "Hey, why do you have three salmon rolls when I only have one?" Hamuko blanched as she tried to look for an excuse, even though she knew that Minato would see through any lie she said.

"I didn't say **I** hadn't touched your food..." The brunette expected a glare, a frown, or an annoying answer, but she could have never seen his warm smile coming, so she cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. "…What were you exactly thinking about?"

"Screwing things." He waited for Hamuko's reaction. "Mainly rumours."

"Is that so?" Her red eyes were fixed on his for a while, but her gaze eventually turned to the ground. "…I'm sorry for starting them; I know that they annoy you a lot." She gave him a coy smile. "I promise that I won't err…"Bother" you again if you dislike that so much…"

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk about it… So… You can bother me all you want…"

"…You want me to?"

"…It's been only three days since we got angry and I'm already missing you. I-I think you know the answer." Red tinted his cheeks as he spoke, and Hamuko found that endlessly amusing.

"…Are you flirting with me, Minato-kun?" She rested her chin on the back of her hands and fluttered her eyelashes.

"N-no…" His stutters turned into confident speech. "Unless you want me to."

"Back to quoting me!" The Fools Social Link was back to normal, and in fact, they felt a bit closer than before, as if they didn't mind any of the things which happened in the few past days; in fact, they didn't seem to remember any of the threats they told each other less than two days ago.. "So Minato-kun, what made you change your opinion about rumours?"

"A little talk with Junpei." Minato's smile seemed to have a hint of sorrow. "You're lucky to have such a caring friend."

"I know, right? I'm thinking of calling him Bropei!"

"What about Pei Pal?" No answer. "Y-You know, like Pay Pal…" Still no answer. "It's a funny pun… C'mon, you laugh at the bad ones!"

The conversation died as they remembered about their food. However, tranquillity didn't last much: soon they started a chopsticks battle to get each other's sushi. When all the raw fish was gone from their dishes, they realized that they hadn't eaten most of it, having decided to throw it at each other instead, so they had to buy more sushi… That suffered a similar fate. Once again, they forgot they didn't have enough money to pay all the food they ordered, but that wasn't a problem which –yet another- afternoon spent washing dishes couldn't mend.

"Next Saturday, as soon as exams are over, we're gonna go to Tartarus, get loads of money, and then party all Sunday night in Escapade."

"Will I have to keep you away from drunken creeps and blood again?"

"You're never gonna let go of that one, are you?"

"Stop teasing me about that nosebleed I got seeing you in… That suit… And I'll forget about it."

"AHA! So you admit you got it by looking at me!"

"STOP CHATTING YOU TWO AND GET BACK TO WORK!" Either all the chefs in Iwatodai were just as terrifying as the one in Hagakure or he was related to the chef at Wakatsu. Nonetheless, the teens disregarded his warnings and screams completely, focused only on their barter.

* * *

><p>"Please, don't tell me everyone's still studying..." Hamuko closed the door leading to the street behind her and slumped on one of the sofas.<p>

"Surprised? It's what people usually do before exams."

"Well, I'm not gonna study."

"How do you plan to pass then?" Minato sat beside Hamuko. "…Are you going to cheat?"

"Do you think I'd cheat in an exam?" The boy opened his mouth to say something but she stopped him. "Doooon't answer that. I wouldn't. I have had a secret plan for a long time."

"Last time I heard about a secret plan, I spent two weeks avoiding the guy who told me."

"Then I won't tell you mine so you have to stay with me." Hamuko cuddled against him jokingly and the boy cringed. "What, didn't you say you missed me?" Instead of replying, Minato decided to lay down occupying the entire sofa, consequently making his dorm mate fall to the ground.

"Did YOU miss me?" As the bluenet turned around to look at the girl with a smug smile plastered all over his face, the sudden weight plopping down on his stomach gave him some insight about why resting on his back had been a **horrible** idea.

"Of course I did." Hamuko's smirk would replace the ghost in Minato's dreams from that moment onwards. "…So, remember about **that** hickey...?"

Minato didn't spend a single second without what he called his "lucky scarf" for as long as Midterms lasted. He didn't say a word to Hamuko during that time, either; he felt that he wouldn't miss her for a long time.

* * *

><p><strong>Way to put off level 3, Hamuko 8D;<strong>** This is when I go all "Hey, guess what? They still only think of each other as friends!" and you guys look at me weird.**


	17. At kissing distance

**Author Note: Aw yeaaaaaah. I finally have internet connection in my countryhouse. Woo!**

**I just love how the name of the documment changes from the moment I begin writing until I submit; for example, this chapter was called "And then Aki joined" |D**

**By the way, have you seen the latest Persona 4 anime trailer? I'm in love with the song Sky's the Limit 8D  
><strong>

* * *

><p>As the last class on Saturday –and with it the last exam of the Midterms- came to an end, Minato left the classroom; he had ended early and taken a nap until the bell rang. Halfway through the corridor leading to the main hall, someone approached him from behind and covered his eyes.<p>

"Guess who!" The bluenet just moved away his assaulter's hands; unsurprisingly, it was Hamuko. "Are you still mad at me?" No answer. "Aw, c'mon, cheer up! The mark is almost gone… Today exams will be over! Err... Aki wants me to hang out with him... And um... Tonight we're gonna beat the crap out of everything in Tartarus! What else would you ask for?"

"…A blue scarf would have been pretty convenient."

"Huh? What's wrong with red?"

"It's so obviously yours…"

"Hey, you should be thanking me for having lent you my favorite scarf!" Minato furrowed his eyebrows and the girl shrugged. "So like, how did you do in your exams?"

"Ugh… There was an awful amount of questions which didn't appear in the books…"

"You would have known the answers if you had paid attention in class, like I did!"

"…Was that part of your secret plan by any chance?" Hamuko nodded happily. "There's a slight chance it would have worked if you had bothered studying the other things."

"Bleh, we'll see when the results are posted…" They walked together around the corridor; Minato seemed distressed. "Do you have any plans?"

"I'm meeting Yuko in five minutes."

"Ooh, where are you taking her, Romeo?"

"We're going to go to Wild Duck Burger." Hamuko face palmed.

"…You're SO romantic."

"It's not a date or anything, okay? We're just friends."

"It will never be a date if you keep that attitude."

"And who says I want to be anything more than friends?"

"You're a guy, of course you want that!" Minato raised an eyebrow.

"You're worse than guys."

"At what?"

"All you think about is getting laid." Hamuko seemed offended.

"That's not true!"

"Right. You also think of eating." The brunette slapped the back of Minato's head and he began chuckling, so after a few seconds of pretending to be angry, she joined him. Hamuko saw Yuko walking towards them and decided to leave.

"I'd better go check on Junpei. Later!"

"Hey Minato-kun!" The team manager gave Minato a curious look. "Is that a new scarf?"

"…I'd rather not talk about it." They headed to the burger and talked about several things while trying out those mysterious hamburgers that had made Wild Duck Burger famous –Hamuko had told him they were edible, but he had his doubts.

"You know, Minato-kun, I'm mentally exhausted."

"Does it have to do with the exams?"

"Yeah. I was feeling so down about them that I barely studied…" Yuko sighed. "Mr. Ekoda asked to speak with me. He wanted to know why I turned in a blank exam. He asked me "Don't you have any motivation?" I answered honestly; I said "Not really."." Her sorrow turned into exasperation. "Then he got pissed off! He even yelled at me about the length of my skirt!"

"What? What the hell does that have to do with exams?"

"Hell if I know! Mr. Ekoda's just mad because nobody cares about Classic Literature! I didn't do anything wrong! Right, Minato-kun?" Minato decided not to make a comment about how writing nothing in Literature's exam had been quite a bad idea, and agreed with her instead.

"Of course you didn't do anything wrong, Yuko. That guy's going senile; just ignore him. Now's the time to enjoy life!" And now he had to speak like Hamuko…

"Exactly! Doesn't he realize we're only teenagers? Who cares about stories by a bunch of dead guys!"

"He does." Both chuckled and then Yuko's tune became thoughtful.

"Maybe I should be a science major. Then, I wouldn't have to take Classic Literature… Wait! Then I'd have to take Physics… I guess I'll have to write down something on the Finals. I don't want him to reprimand me again…"

"That's a good call. I mean, you gotta graduate and what not."

"Yeah! I can't wait to graduate with all the team… And with you, Minato-kun." Strength Social Link level 2, aw yeah.

"_She thinks of me as one of the team, that's it, nothing more… Well, I guess it's kind of an improvement_."

Fortunately for him, Yuko decided to pay the food, which wasn't few, as the girl had quite an appetite –not enough to rival the Fools', though – and then they parted ways.

"Hey!" Minato looked up to the voice calling him. It was Junpei, with Hamuko waving her hands next to him as they walked out of Hagakure.

"How did it go, Minato-kun?"

"…How went what?" Junpei and Hamuko picked on the bluenet for being so boring all the way back to the dorm. The red eyed girl also commented something about how much personality depth Junpei had and how glad she was to have the Magician Social Link level 4, but Minato had decided to ignore them, and consequently missing half of the conversation consequently.

"Ah, you're back!" Akihiko looked at them with a big grin in his face. "Guess what? I'm fully healed!"

"That's great, Senpai!" Yukari seemed delighted to have their upperclassman back to the fight.

"Congrats, man!" Junpei wanted to do a high-five with him, but Aki ignored him completely.

"I need to catch up on my training. I've slacked for a whole month."

"Shouldn't you take it easy-?"

"NONSENSE!" Hamuko cut Yukari's words. "Senpai, we must celebrate this by going to Tartarus! I have a… Hunch that something happened to the barricade."

"That's the spirit!" Akihiko punched the air. "But before, I have some more news. We found another Persona-user."

"Really? Sweet! Is it a girl?" Everyone gave Junpei a weird look.

"…Actually, it is. She's a junior who goes to our school." He briefly hesitated to give them her name. "Fuuka Yamagishi… Do you guys know her?" Minato and Hamuko looked at each other.

"…_Is he talking about Motha Fuuka from 2-E?_" Hamuko glared at him.

"_Don't call her that!_"

"She gets sick a lot, from what I heard… I don't see her at school very often." Yukari's words confirmed the Fools' suspicions.

"She was at the same hospital as me. That's how we found out about her. But, maybe she's not cut out for battle. I had an Evoker made for her, too…"

"What? We're giving up on her already? I was gonna offer her some private lessons." Minato smacked his own forehead and dragged his hands down, trying to hide the disgusted face he did at Junpei.

"Ooh, can I have some of those too?" And he face palmed yet again. Junpei looked at Hamuko with a euphoric expression. "J-just kidding, man. …You're such a creep."

"_If only you stopped giving him hopes…_" The brunette decided to ignore Minato's whispers.

"Aw, c'mon… I'm a guy. Whaddya expect?" It was the guys' turn to glare at the boy with a baseball cap. Soon, everyone fell into an awkward silence.

"…So! Are you going to be the leader from now on, Senpai?"

"Actually, you two have been doing such a great job as leaders that Mitsuru and I decided to name you officially leaders. With you two leading, I can build up my strength without worrying about having to command others!"

"Alright then! Leave it to me! …And him, I guess." Hamuko struck a heroic pose while Minato only shook his head disapprovingly. "So, whose turn is it to lead?"

"Seeing your magnificent actuation in the last mission, we have decided to erase the prohibition we imposed on your first day; you will be allowed to go together from now on." Mitsuru grimaced. "However, we must ask you to be extremely cautious and keep what I'd call… A safety distance. Is this okay with you?"

"Of course! _We're gonna battle together, Minato-kun_!"

"_Yay_." That sounded so sarcastic that Minato had trouble believing he had said it out loud. THe needed to be  
>nicer as there were so many other people nearby... However, this allowed him to appreciate that they seemed to be handling this kind of situations better: at the beginning of April they would begin fighting just because of having a potential Social Link near. Now, they just felt uncomfortable –and snarkier than usual. That was, undoubtedly, quite an improvement. …If only tension wasn't accumulative…<p>

They spent the evening preparing the equipment and designing strategies, so that they could fight together without trying to attack each other.

Tartarus was as magnificent as ever. They doubted any other S.E.E.S. member felt anything beyond awe when seeing the tower reach for the green skies, but the Fools had an odd attraction for it, like bugs had for zap traps. The tower induced in them some kind of… Nostalgia? No, it couldn't be that. Regardless, it was a different feeling from the one they got from personae and Social Links, something that lured them in and made them want to keep climbing, even when everyone was tired… Of course, there were a lot more… Distracting… Things than the spell the tower caused at ground level… Like the choice of clothing of a certain red eyed girl, who decided to wear the same thing she did in the last exploration. Going up the Tower of Demise was easy, until they reached the 25th floor and the boss waiting in it.

"Why? Whyyyyyyy?" The desperate cry of the blue haired teen was muffled by the sound of a… Hockey stick slashing a shadow vertically, doing positively nothing. That meant that he wouldn't have to bother making any of the table-shaped shadow taste his Juzumaru's iron.

"Minato-kun, CARE TO HELP ME WITH THIS ONE?" He turned around. And then he wished he hadn't as blood decided to take a few detours in its usual path around his body. Damn High Cut Armor, Battle Panties, or whatever she wanted to call it.

"G-g-g-g-get by yourself!" He put his evoker on his temple and ordered Sylph to heal Hamuko without even looking at her. Normally, this would have been Yukari's job, but she laid unconscious –or dead, but they preferred to think it was the former-, alongside Junpei and Akihiko, all of them all of them knocked out by the boss' "Mighty Swing".

Mitsuru had told them that the shadows were called "Crying Tables", and that's when she stopped being useful. The three shadows knocked out everyone except the Fools in a pair of minutes and now they were doing their best to survive with the last breath they had.

"Have you used all your Personas already?" Hamuko jumped towards Minato, making the boy tremble as he quickly turned in the opposite direction.

"…N-no, I haven't used Jack Frost because he's weak to fire." Minato had to run away to avoid an Agilao spell, but Hamuko just endured it; her Pyro Jack blocked the fire.

"Well, we have to try out everything!" Hamuko just ran around trying to get their attention so Minato could catch his breath. "Maybe they're weak to ice!"

"Maybe they'll kill me before I can attack!"

"Maybe I'll protect you!"

"Maybe?"

"Maybe!" A powerful maragi hit both of them, sending Minato to the ground as his knees wavered. "Minato-kun!" Hamuko ran to his side, crouching down to look at him better. A thread of blood was coming out of his mouth. "_You know your combat partner isn't feeling good when he begins coughing blood._"

"Don't… Stand so close…"

"Huh? Why?" The tables' shadows covered their bodies as the Tartarus guardians stood menacingly; if she hadn't known it was impossible, Hamuko would have sworn she saw their masks smile. One of the tables stretched its legs and inclined its body; that meant a Mighty Swing was coming.

"THAT'S WHY!" They didn't have enough time to move. The table just fell on them with all its strength, making both teens cry in agony. The world was turning black for them and the desperate pleas of Mitsuru began sounding very, very distant.

Suddenly, a big number of voices began filling their minds… Were their Personae were trying to keep them alive?

"_You can't let me die_!"

"_I said we'd stand this together_!"

"_Row row! Fight the table!_"

"_Hee ho, seems like you two could use a hand!_" This last voice caught Minato's attention.

"H… Ha…?" He couldn't even pronounce Hamuko's name anymore, but she seemed to be sharing thoughts.

"_Hee ho, let's help them, brother!_"

"_Hee ho, we can't! They have to free us first_!"

At first sight, Hamuko and Minato were completely out of combat; and even the shadows seemed to believe this; however, upon closer inspection, one would have seen them move their Evokers slowly towards their foreheads… But no, this time they weren't committing mock-suicide; they were pointing at each other. Their hands trembled more than the first time they summoned their Personae as they looked at each other intently.

"_Shoot!_" Listen to the voices in your head or not. Minato's last thought before pulling the trigger –and getting shot by Hamuko- was about how that had to be how schizophrenics felt every day.

Once the shards of crystal-like material stopped flying out of their heads, the two little demons that had been trying to get them to shoot each other appeared together on a platform, both holding a microphone. The Fools had to wonder if they were hallucinating.

The teens would never know what the little monsters said in their bizarre operetta, but, whatever it was, it had to be so bad as to make the tables literally fell on their faces. That gave Hamuko enough time to use a bead chain which made them feel much more alive.

"We can't do an All-Out attack without everyone!" Minato punched the ground as he got up.

"You have to try using Jack Frost!" The tables were beginning to get up. "I'll protect you!"

"But-"

"Minato, have some **goddamn** faith in me!" He had told Yukari similar words a month prior, when trying to save the girl who was now shouting at him. He didn't need more than a pair of seconds to put the gun to his head and ask Jack Frost for help.

"Bufu!" As the cute little demon casted the attack, one of the tables casted Agilao; Minato feared the worst, but Hamuko intercepted it, leaving Jack Frost enough time to complete the spell and freeze the Crying Table, which fell down with a loud thump. Minato looked at Hamuko, flabbergasted.

"You'd better thank me properly later!" She winked at him and went back to her guarding position.

"_You exploited the enemy's weakness!_" That was Mitsuru back in their mind.

"_No shit, Sherlock._"

They just had to repeat the strategy a few times and avoid a pair of Mighty Swings, and soon the Shadows were no more. After the battle, they only had enough energy left to celebrate doing a bro-fist.

"_Is everything alright?_"

"Mitsuru-Senpai? Hamuko here; we'll be retreating right now. Everyone except Minato and me needs urgent help; well… We could use some as well, but it's less urgent." Minato gave her a thumbs-up from beside Akihiko after having checked his heartbeat. "Seems they're all alive, but just barely."

"_Roger that. Please, take them back one by one and make sure one of you stays by whoever's left's side._" Once they were done taking everyone to the first floor through the access point, the teens fell to the ground, exhausted.

"Man, Senpai didn't do as well as I expected; he seemed distracted. I wonder why…" Minato turned his head to Hamuko, eyes half closed, and put a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"I hate you soooooooo much right now." She rolled on her back to look at him, and despite his words, he was giving her a glance full of affection.

"I love you too." A smile crept onto Hamuko's face as the bluenet embraced her. She returned the hug happily. "Thanks for believing in me… Eventually"

"Thanks for saving me… In the end." The Fools Social Link reached level 3, but they were too busy cuddling to notice.

"If you have energy left to frolic on the ground…" That was Mitsuru glaring at them just now. "… I'm sure you can help me to take everyone to the dorm."

Hiding three unconscious teenagers from all the people who filled the wagons of the monorail on a Saturday night was quite a hard experience for Minato, Hamuko –who was wearing the boy's jacket to hide her armor- and their red haired Senpai. Fortunately for everyone, if anyone asked they could say that they just drank too much or something similar and pray so they didn't see the bruises.

Upon arriving to the dorm, Minato and Hamuko decided to keep silent about what they decided to call Fusion Spell, just to avoid the interrogation they'd have to suffer if they told anyone.'

* * *

><p>"Good morning! Wake up, you marmot!" Minato opened his eyes and smiled at the girl who was shouting at him. "B-Buh? No freakin' out? No complaining?" Hamuko ran away from beside his bed and sat on the chair in front of his desk, seemingly searching for something among the books.<p>

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for my Minato-kun." She looked under the desk. "You can't be him." He laughed sarcastically and began pushing the girl out of his room.

"Go check on the others; I have to change my clothes."

"Buuuuuuut…" He closed the door once the girl was out and headed to his desk as he discarded his pyjamas.

"_Hello there, Maya…_" Minato logged in on Innocent Sin Online and Maya and he kept a talk related to being married and stuff. She also mentioned something about an old dude who spoke like a woman picking on her after passing out in the station –she sure was a fun adult- which made the bluenet's Social Linking senses tingle in alert. Anyhow, in a pair of minutes he had achieved Hermit Social Link level 4. That had to be a speed record.

"Aha!" The door opened the door all of a sudden and Hamuko appeared from behind it.

"W-what the hell?" Minato jumped out of his chair, trying to hide behind his desk.

"I knew you weren't getting dressed!" She pointed to the laptop which was still receiving messages. "You have a Social Link in that game, don't you?" Minato turned considerably pale. "Busted!"

"In the hypothetical case I actually had a Social Link in there… Don't you realize that I'm naked!"

"You have your underwear on; your argument is invalid!" The boy let out an annoyed sigh.

"So did you want anything specific? Other than seeing me without my pants on?"

"Just proving you're a treacherous guy, that's it." She walked out of the room happily. "By the way, nice boxers." Minato shouted something undecipherable as he slammed the door shut.

Their dorm mates had already woken up and undergone a healing session, but they were completely exhausted after the previous night, so they were resting in their rooms. Mitsuru was reading something in the lounge, so Hamuko had to go back to Minato begging him to let her watch Phoenix Ranger Featherman R with him –watching it alone in her room wasn't half as much fun.

Their day was pretty boring, as they decided to stay in the dorm. When they were questioned by Mitsuru about their reasons to be there during such a beautiful day, they had to look for a credible lie; there was no way they were telling her they were saving their money to spend it in Escapade that night.

Dusk arrived to the city. It was the expected signal to take the train to Port Island Station, and go all the way to Paulownia from there. Bribing Escapade's doorman cost 2000 yen from Minato's wallet this time, but the teens had much more money than that, so they didn't really care.

This time, Minato kept an eye on Hamuko all the time, trying to make sure the girl didn't drink too much. Or at least not more than him. He decided to keep her from getting any more drinks after she commented offhandedly how handsome the bluenet looked. She complained about that until Minato asked her to dance –which was something pretty out of character for him, even if he did it just so she would forget about the lack of suspiciously frothy water.

"Minato-kun… You move like a duck." Hamuko giggled as he gave her a confused look. "H-here, lemme teach ya." She pulled his hands out of his pockets and clasped them. "First off, you're too far from me." The boy put no objection to her pulling him closer, happy as he was. "See? Right… Second off, you have to put your hands on my waist." She placed them by herself. "Like this."

"B-But t-this isn't slow music…" He vaguely tried to move his hands away, but the tipsy brunette glared at him and placed them a bit lower than their previous position.

"Third off…" She wrapped her arms around Minato's neck. They stared at each other with wide eyes as both could feel blood rushing to their cheeks.

"D-Do people seriously dance like this?"

"Eh? Dancin'? What does this have to do with dancing?" She freed his neck and held his shoulders instead. "I'm teachin' ya how to flirt with a lady." In any normal situation, the bluenet would have walked away at that point, but he was feeling oddly amused. He kept staring at the girl in his arms, sudden confidence guiding his acts.

"So which was the third step?" Hamuko smiled as she held the boy again by the neck and stood on her tiptoes.

"The third step was…" Their faces were getting dangerously close, but he didn't seem to mind. The girl halted right before touching his lips and headed towards his ear instead. "…I forgot." She put a finger over her mouth and giggled innocently. Minato's stoicism didn't falter a tiny bit as the girl left to get more cocktails, completely ignoring his prohibition, but, somewhere deep down, he was a tad disappointed.

By the time the Dark Hour arrived, neither teen could stand straight. If they thought that getting to the dorm was difficult the previous night, they couldn't imagine what they were going to face that night. The more obvious problems were doubtlessly getting the wrong train, ending up in the wrong dorm a few times and passing out on the stairs leading to their rooms. They'd regret it in the morning, but, for now, they were happy sleeping on the comfy carpet covering the wood steps.

* * *

><p><strong>I love making my readers suffer *3*<strong>


	18. On a cold note

**Author note: I didn't want to call this chapter "Execution" even if it's like the most interesting thing happening :u**

**Oh also, I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts on my humour. Is it too ridiculous? Do you have any idea of how it could be improved? Etcetera.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"E-exam results will be p-posted today."<p>

"Y-yes." A cold breeze blew by, and both teens shivered.

"C-can I…?"

"N-no."

Minato and Hamuko ran side by side to school, marching as close as possible as they could, even though what they really wanted was to jump at each other's arms. Both of them needed a hug, BADLY, but they knew it would hurt just to try and reach out for the other. The reason?

The morning started on a **cold** note: as usual, Mitsuru was the first one to get up and head to the lounge to have breakfast before leaving to go to school. Walking downstairs, still a bit asleep, she felt she had stepped on something other than the carpet. She looked down to see her heels sinking on Minato's face. She carefully stepped back to get a better look at the situation. Her blue haired kohai laid right next to her feet, occupying a whole step as if it was a bed while at the beginning of the stairs, Hamuko slept peacefully, having seemingly rolled down from the same altitude as Minato, as the red wool scarf held by Minato by one end and wrapping her neck with the other proved.

"Execution." That was all she said. It wasn't even loud enough to wake the pair up… Have you ever opened your eyes to find you have been frozen alive? Not a nice feeling… Overall when you know who did it, why she did it and the fact that she's not going to unfroze you in quite a while; just enough so you don't arrive late at school. To add insult to injury, everyone in the dorm saw them in that situation: laying on the stairs, turned into living ice cubes. Yukari and Junpei took it as a joke and laughed at them, but Akihiko gave them his condolences. He had definitely gone through that before.

"H-how can defrosting hurt so m-much, I mean, seriously." Moving was really annoying and painful, as they had frostbite all over their body. "I-I feel bad for the frozen seafood."

"N-no, prawns are lucky; they're dead." The bell rang. They had to hurry up and endure the pain… Just to find out that being quiet hurt as much as running. How they survived classes that day was something they'd never quite find out.

Their plan for lunchtime was to keep sit down, not making a single move. However, a classmate announced that the results were posted, so that meant having to go check them out at the Faculty Office corridor.

"Jun-kuuuun… Do me a favor and tell me my score, pleaseeee."

"Sorry Hamu-chan, I think I've enough checking mine." Hamuko slammed her head against the desk as Junpei walked out of the classroom.

"They just had to post results away from classes, two floors lower, no elevator to be found."

"Schools weren't made for executed people…" They eventually arrived to their destination. "…Arisato… Woo! Look at my score!" It was above average, but not exceedingly high Hamuko gave him a thumbs up and began looking for hers.

"Hey! Look at mine!" Minato was ready to mock her for failing, but his mouth fell open. She had scored a 1% higher than him.

"WHAT? NO. THAT'S A MISTAKE." He shook his arms desperately –regretting deeply having done so as they began stinging because of the frostbite- while yelling out of his lungs. "You CAN'T have scored higher than me! All you did was stay awake and eat sushi!"

"I also played videogames."

"ALL YOU DID WAS STAY AWAKE, EAT SUSHI AND FREAKING PLAY VIDEOGAMES." He kept shouting with an undecipherable drawl at Hamuko.

"Get over it, man …" The brunette backslapped him. "Guess you'll have to pay attention more often." She decided to ignore Minato's senseless rant and look for Junpei's name. "Ouch, dude…" Her self proclaimed brother was pretty far from the mark needed to pass. She wanted to search for more people's results, but the lunch break was almost over and they had to rush to class.

"Um, why is Minato-kun glaring at you?" Yukari was both seriously concerned about the fact that the bluenet wasn't sleeping and in need of something to distract her from Ms. Toriumi's rant about the exams.

"He can't accept the truth. He's-"

"Seikatsu-san!" Ms. Toriumi had caught her talking. "If what you were telling to Yukari is important enough as to say it during my lesson, you should share it with everyone."

"Ah well." She stood up and turned towards the class. "Minato Arisato is a **sore loser**. There!" Hamuko was obviously kicked out of the classroom, but she considered it was totally worth it just because of his face.

Lessons ended and as she was about to go back into her classroom to pick her schoolbag, Rio saw her and greeted her, then asked if she was going to practice. Despite the fact that moving hurt, Hamuko promised her captain down she wouldn't let her down, and agreed to go. Barely a minute later, Yuko walked into 2-F and began pushing Minato towards practice, complaining that it was enough that Kazushi hadn't showed up. Today really wasn't his day.

"Let's take a break, alright?" After half an hour playing tennis and mentally calling Mitsuru all but pretty, those felt like the most beautiful words Hamuko had heard in her life. "Are you okay?"

"Just a bit cold… Oh hey, look! It's Kenji!" Rio glared in the direction Hamuko was pointing.

"You again? What do you want now?"

"Um… Are you the only guys here?" Rio sighed at the brunet's question.

"If there's anybody else here, they must be ghosts."

"Would it kill you to stop being so sarcastic all the time? It really isn't cute at all."

"Lies!" Hamuko intervened all of a sudden. "Everyone loves a smart mouthed-"

"Bluenet?" She raised an eyebrow at Kenji, having no retort ready for that comment.

"So who are you looking for?" Of course, Kenji couldn't just have strolled into the tennis field to see two friends playing tennis.

"Ms. Kanou. She's this club's advisor, right?"

"Yeah, but she's never here. She doesn't care… She doesn't even know the rules of the game."

"Well, a sophisticated woman like her wouldn't care much for children's games in any case."

"_Sophisticated woman—oh. Ooooh man._" Hamuko had just realized something.

"Children's games…?" Rio clenched her fists in rage and stomped towards Kenji.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Ack! Don't waste that pretty face of yours by getting all red like that!" The captain's face remained red, but her rage had turned into embarrassment.

"Y-You shouldn't say stuff if you don't mean it."

"So, Kenji-kun, why are you looking for Ms. Kanou?" Hamuko wanted to believe that she was making wrong assumptions.

"I got the tickets that she wanted…"

"…You like Ms. Kanou, don't you?" The brunet blushed furiously.

"Wha—Did Minato tell you?"

"You just did." He cursed loudly at his revealed secret. Rio seemed pretty troubled about the conversation.

"…Why do you like her?"

"…Huh? You're such a kid, Rio-san. Listen up, okay? It's got nothing to do with logic or reason… Love is something that just happens, whether you want it or not!"

"It just happens…?" Rio had just voiced Hamuko's thoughts.

"But seriously, don't tell anybody about this, got it? I don't even want you two talking about me!"

"Don't worry; we have better things to talk about." The brunette rolled her red eyes at her classmate as he walked away, carrying on with his search for the teacher. The only other tennis player present seemed to have zoned out.

"Love… It just happens to you?"

"I… I guess?" Hamuko shrugged. She knew as much about how love worked as she knew about nuclear physics –and that came to be nothing at all. The way media described love sounded just like her concept of friendship, so, apparently, she loved everyone she met –with a bigger or smaller degree of Platonism, of course.

"He doesn't make any sense at all." Well, that was something they agreed on. "It'll never "just happen" to me…" There she went again with the Minato mode, except that she failed at stoicism; it was really obvious she had a crush on her friend the cake eater. Oh well, Chariot Social Link level 5 and all that stuff. "…Let's get back to practice."

"But-"

"C'mon, we can't let someone like him get to us! I'll round up the balls."

"_Kenji-kuuuuuun, come back…_" Once practice was done, she walked out of school. Minato was saying bye to a guy in a tracksuit; he seemed Kazushi. The sport-obsessed guy was limping his way away from the gates. "Bonding with your teammate?"

"Bearing my teammate would be more fitting." He sighed, upset.

"Ah, getting bored of hearing others' problems? I have to deal with Rio, who is like a gender flip of yours."

"Is she a sore loser too?"

"Eh—C'mon man, I was just kidding." He crossed his arm and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, okay? I don't think you're a loser… But I bet you're still pretty sore after this morning!" Minato did a noise similar to a pained groan at her pun –or at the memory, who knows.

"Stop. Really, just… Stop. I've got enough with the Chairman. His puns are so bad they must be some kind of divine punishment…"

"**Pun**ishment?" He glared at the brunette. "Aw, Minato-kun, are you so **pun**y you can't stand a few puns?"

"Is there any way I can make you shut up without violence?"

"Yes, but I'll **pun**ch you if you try it here." She paused. "Actually, yes, I'll stop if you do something for me."

"Will I regret asking what is it?"

"That's not what you said last night…" Minato preferred to think that she was just doing one of her out-of-place comments and didn't actually remember how she played with him the previous evening. "Can we go see Maiko? We haven't visited her in a while."

"No way I'm doing tha—Oh wait, seeing Maiko?" He sighed in relief. "Of course we can go play with her!" They fell into a thick silence as they walked towards Port Island Station.

"…What did you think I was going to ask for?"

"Err… I thought you'd ask me to buy a lot of takoyaki for you." Hamuko gave him a doubtful look, but he looked as impassive as ever.

"…Right."

Minutes later, they arrived to the shrine and found the little girl in her usual spot.

"Ready to hate me?" Hamuko raised her hand, wanting to do a high-five.

"You're a month late." They took a deep breath and walked towards the young brunette.

"Minato, Hamuko!" Maiko hopped happily. "I thought you'd never come!"

"Yeah, sorry, we have been busy with exams. You can forgive us, right?"

"Hmmm… Yes… If you take me to Wild Duck Burger!" Everyone loved the idea, so they went straight there.

"Hey, a new promotion: "Buy our peta-wac set! If you're capable to eat it all, it's free!"" Minato glanced around until he found one of the poor dreamers who accepted the challenge, lamenting having ordered the pile of hamburgers after having consumed only six of them. He turned his head to Hamuko and both smiled with confidence. "We're having dinner for free."

Maiko had fun watching her two friends compete like children, trying to eat more hamburgers than the other, while she enjoyed the cheeseburger they got for her. In the end they stopped counting hamburgers and just ate so they wouldn't have to pay.

"I love going out with you! It's like with mum and dad; they never argue when we go out to eat." Maiko pouted. "They never used to argue! You have to believe me…"

"I'm sure your parents had a lot of fun going out with you."

"…Then, why would they get a divorce?" Minato and Hamuko looked at each other. They didn't know her parents, so they didn't have a freaking clue.

"Um… Have you asked them about the reason?"

"Yes." She had teary eyes. "I asked 'em already and they said it's a matter for adults only."

"Maybe they aren't in love anymore…" Hamuko stomped Minato's foot for being so insensitive. Maiko began shouting.

"I don't want them to get a divorce!" Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Do they hate me so much? Divorce is dumb! I hate it!" She began wailing. Hamuko decided to give her a hug while Minato tried to calm her down telling her some soothing words. "I'm sorry; I know it's embarrassing when I cry… I'll try not to cry anymore." Maiko showed them a forced smile, and they could feel that she cared enough for them to try and be strong.

They couldn't avoid feeling incredibly bad as the usual boding voice from beyond their minds informed them that the Hanged Man Social Link had reached level 2, since it reminded them that they were hanging out with the poor girl just to strength themselves.

"Um, I guess I should go. Thanks for the spending time with me…" Maiko walked out of the burger with them and then left to go to her home.

"I don't want to see another hamburger in my whole life."

"Me neither." The Peta-wac set's promotion had to be the only meal in existence which had the pride of being **almost** Fool proof.

Instead of heading to the dorm, they decided to go to Paulownia and enjoy some coffee. As they entered the shopping mall, Minato noticed a familiar-looking old man staring at them and muttering something to himself, using girlish terminations. Hamuko seemed to ignore this event completely and walked directly to the café to begin her job, but Minato decided to make a mental note of where to find his new potential Social Link.

Later that night, when heading to their respective rooms, they saw little shards of ice all over the stairs. Even though no physical pain remained, they would have nightmares for quite a while…

Junpei spent all the morning complaining about his grades… So much that Hamuko decided to hang out with Yukari, instead of him. She didn't know what she was getting into…

"Where do we go now? Oh! What about that shop over there?"

"Nooooooo, enough!" Hamuko stomped the ground. "Seriously, we have been into five stores already. You've been looking for some freaking summer top for two hours! And you haven't bought anything yet!"

"Well, I'm looking for something that fits me!"

"For the last time, Yukari, EVERYTHING looks awesome on you!"

"Buh! You liked every single shirt you saw!" The two bags full of clothes that the red eyed girl was carrying around proved it. "Your opinion doesn't count!"

"Look… What about we just… Go into that shop, grab a pink shirt, and call it a day. Hey? You like pink, I like pink, Minato-kun loves pink."

"Wh-what does he have to do with anything?" Yukari pretty much began dragging Hamuko towards the clothing shop.

"Nooo… I'll tell good things about you to him if you let me free! I'll say you're the nicest person ever!" The girl in a cardigan was getting annoyed. "I'll tell you his secrets!"

"I don't give a damn about Minato-ku-!"

"Hi to you too." As usual, the bluenet's appearing out of nowhere meant the end of Yukari's words –and the drop and consequent fall of Hamuko to the ground. Forget Io, Yukari was awesome at summoning Minato.

"…I don't give a damn about Minato-Ku, Hamuko. Neither you nor me will ever have enough money to live there." The boy seemed ready to say something, but eventually he just shook his head.

"I need to speak with Hamuko-chan for a moment, if you don't mind." Yukari nodded her head. "In private."

"Oh, sorry. Um, see you at the shop, Hamuko." She walked away, seemingly a bit troubled.

"Thank you thank you thank you." Hamuko gave Minato a chocking hug as her classmate walked away. "I love you forever, man."

"Um, what did I do? Ah, whatever." She continued embracing him for a while, not wanting to let go. "…Can I speak to you now?"

"Oh? You actually wanted to speak?" Hamuko pulled away, a bit embarrassed. "And there I thought you just wanted to save me from Yukari."

"I think you owe me for what you did with the Gourmet King."

"What are you, a pimp?" He didn't realize how wrong his phrase sounded until Hamuko did that comment. "What about I pay you with some unforgettable time helping Yukari choose summer clothes?"

"I'll… pass." Hamuko got visibly down, and he guessed he had chosen the right thing. "I want you to help me get a chance to speak to him."

"But I'm trying to bond with-" Her words were interrupted by a sudden cry.

"Mommyyyyyyy!" A child was bawling loudly nearby. "Mommy, where are you!" The teens ran towards him to see what was happening; Yukari showed up as well, having heard him from… Wait, it was impossible she had heard him from the shop.

"_Was she spying on us?_" As amusing as Hamuko found the thought, she had better things to think about.

"What happened? Are you lost?" Yukari seemed really concerned about the little boy.

"M-mommy told me to wait here… And… And… She gave me money, but…" He began sobbing. "But she's not coming…"

"Hey, don't cry. See, you're okay. I'll stay here with you, alright?" She asked him about how his mother looked and then turned to the Fools. "I'll accompany him to the police station and wait with him until his mum shows up, okay?" Hamuko and Minato nodded and their dorm mate walked away.

"Well, that was opportune." Minato rubbed the back of his neck.

"Alright, time to pay for past dick moves." They headed towards the bench where Nozomi "the Gourmet King" had sandwiches for hours every afternoon.

"Hamuko-san! You're back!" Hamuko smiled awkwardly at the chubby student's enthusiasm. "Oh, you too." He gave Minato a condescending look.

"Err… This is Minato. He's a big fan of yours… And he'd be really honored if you could indulge some time to have an eating competition with him. Or something."

"What? This skinny guy actually eats?" Nozomi glared at the bluenet. "You'd never be a match to me."

"Please, Nozomi-san!" Hamuko clapped her hands and bowed, as if asking something indispensable. Minato had to prevent himself from laughing at her exaggerated gestures.

"Ah… Okay… I'll give him a chance to accompany me if he can answer three gourmet questions correctly… BUT, if he fails, you have to have dinner with me tonight!" The Fools interchanged a quick worried glance. Hamuko eventually sighed and accepted the invitation.

"_Good luck._" Minato caught the not-so-subtle threat in her brown haired friend's voice.

"Alright. I'll give you an easy question to begin: what's Chagall Café's specialty?"

"Easy indeed; Pheromone Coffee."

"Correct. Next; what color is Wild Duck's mascot?"

"Err… Green." Nozomi nodded and Minato smiled confidently. "Can't you give me something more difficult?"

"You want a challenge, huh?" The Gourmet King seemed pleased with that. "Last question: what's the hidden dish in Hagakure?" Hamuko's eyes widened; not even she knew that.

"…" Minato smirked at Hamuko, who had been glancing at him with a horrified expression all along. He hesitated a few more seconds before he opened his mouth to speak the answer. "Hagakure Bowl."

"Correct!" Hanging out with Kenji had proven to be useful, after all! "If you know about the Hagakure Bowl, you must be quite literate about food. Alright then! You're worthy of sharing my time!" The Moon Social Link was formed, represented by a crescent moon with a… Lobster floating above it. "Well then, now if you excuse me, I have a sandwich to attend."

The Fools high-fived as they walked towards the police station. Apparently, the child had phoned his parents and now he only had to wait for them. Having nothing else to do there, Minato excused himself and left the girls. However, before leaving the mall, he decided to go to the Velvet Room and check the new requests.

Yukari had been able to finally drag Hamuko to the clothes shop, much to her dismay.

"I'm glad he's been able to contact his parents… But what were they thinking, leaving that poor kid all alone! It makes me so angry!"

"Yeah, something could have happened to him..." Hamuko fixed her eyes on Yukari. "…It reminded you of your mother, didn't it?"

"Yes… I told you about her before…"

"What kind of parent is she?" The red eyed brunette had no clue of what having **real** parents felt like…

"A terrible one." …And she didn't expect that answer. "She wasn't always like that, though. After what happened to Dad, she totally changed… She's probably living with one of her boyfriends somewhere… Honestly, I'd rather not know." The atmosphere became really awkward. "Hey, you know what'd be cool? Changing the subject! …Um, look, you're the only one I've told this to, so please don't tell anybody else about it!" Yukari confided in her, and that meant… Lovers Social Link reached level 3! Yup! As the card vanished from her mind, Hamuko began wondering what the hell meant the fact that Yukari was her "Lovers" social link. "I don't feel like looking for clothes anymore… Err… I have things to do, alright?"

Yukari and Hamuko parted ways as the later decided to make a quick stop at the dorm and leave her new clothes before heading back to Paulownia. The first thing she found upon entering the lounge was Mitsuru talking to Minato about something related to swords. Hamuko couldn't avoid detracting her sight from her senpai; seeing her brought her horrible memories. As the Fools walked together towards the station, Hamuko noticed that the boy walked in a rather awkward way, just to remember about a quest which involved getting a triangular sword.

"You were gonna fail on purpose, weren't you?" Minato beamed at the girl who was serving him coffee.

"Nah, why would I **ever** do that?"

"You're just proving that you really are a sore loser." She sighed as she put the kettle back on her tray. "Having dinner with the Gourmet King would have actually been kind of nice, though." She tapped her chin with a finger. "How does "Gourmet Queen" sound?"

"You have the weirdest taste in men I've ever seen." Minato shook his head disapprovingly as he casted his eyes down.

"That explains why I like you." Her half affective, half mocking smile was answered with a wry one. "Is there anything wrong?"

"No… It's nothing." For once, Minato failed to lie properly, making Hamuko worry. She meant to pry about it once she was done with her job, but she forgot.

* * *

><p><strong>I just had to make fun of this game's logic. I mean, eat sushi from Wakatsu, pray to the Academic god, pay attention in class and play videogames and you'll be able to be in the top ten of your class without hitting the books. Seriously? 8D;<strong>


	19. Unrequited

**Author note: man, I don't like this chapter at all. **

**For this chapter, let's do a comment about the narrator, shall we? It follows one of the MCs' POV and includes their remarks and thoughts sometimes. But it's not omniscient or omnipresent towards the rest of characters; this means that if something happens at the MCs' backs, it won't be described.**

**You may as well call that lazy writing.**

* * *

><p>"Tell me."<p>

"No."

"C'mon, you can tell me…"

"There's nothing wrong, everything's fine."

"Aren't you supposed to be a good liar?"

"Aren't you supposed to be terrible at telling lies apart?" A sigh. "Hamuko, go back to your room, I don't want to suffer Mitsuru's rage again."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me why you're sad." Minato rolled away from the side of his bed, only to quickly turn back as he felt Hamuko trying to get in his bed, probably to pressure him to answer.

"…Will you go away if I say I'll tell you later?"

"You **promise** you will tell me?"

"Yes." The sound of steps and the creaking of an opening door were the only answers that the sleepy boy received before his consciousness faded away.

* * *

><p>"Is it "later" yet?" Hamuko shook Minato's arm as they walked downstairs towards the small store placed in the entrance of the school.<p>

"It's lunchtime; aren't you hungry or something?" He pointed towards a piece of melon bread behind a display.

"I- Yes."

* * *

><p>Something hit the bluenet's head while he was taking a nap during one of the classes. It was a pen with a little piece of paper attached to it.<p>

"_What~ about~ now~_? =D"

Minato glared at the obvious sender as he quickly scribbled an answer. He threw the item back at her.

"_ZZZZZZZZZZ._"

The pen hit Minato's head yet another time.

"_Prick _=[ "

* * *

><p>"Will you tell me now?" Minato had never seen Hamuko being so insistent about anything before.<p>

"We gotta go to practice."

"I already told Rio I couldn't go today and she didn't get –_too_- angry; I bet they can forgive you too."

"No." Hamuko stomped the ground after receiving the negative.

"Tell me or I'll make sure you don't sleep ever again. In the bad sense." Minato knew that she was being completely serious. He closed his eyes and exhaled, resigning to do as she asked.

"…Let's talk in another place, alright?" If one ignored the couples making out from time to time up there, the roof was the best place to keep important things from public eye –ears, in this case? Still, finding a day in which the roof was empty was a tad difficult. Why? The amazing sight of the always lively city which extended beyond where sight could reach; the soft breeze pushing the windmills which grew from the bottom of the sea as gargantuan metallic flowers; the timid gleams that decorated the water as the Sun died on its eternal way to the West… There was no doubt why that place captured everyone's hearts.

"Stop zoning out." A voice snapped Minato out of his inner poetic rampage. He turned his head to see a very concerned Hamuko staring at him. "You should see a doctor or something, man. Being always so up in the clouds can't be normal." The bluenet nodded vaguely and then went back to staring at the sea. "So, we're up here. Are you going to tell me what's up or not?"

"I'm looking for the correct words."

"Geez! Can't you just say it?" Minato became very interested in his shoes, all of a sudden. "I just want to know why you look unhappy, okay? I mean, I thought you were a bit…" She scratched the back of her head. "…I'm not sure, but you have been like that for a few days. You haven't been your normal you."

"…Do you remember the last night we spent on Escapade?"

"I don't remember half of my sober life. You'll have to elaborate a bit on a drunk night."

"Nice, you just made this worse to explain." He walked a few steps around the roof.. "To put it bluntly, we almost kissed."

"Oh, nice." Hamuko was sure… Unaffected by the news. "Wait, almost? Wait, you tried to kiss me while I was drunk? Wait, WHAT?" Gotta love fridge logic.

"Hey, it was **you** who tried to kiss me. I… I just put no objection." The bluenet rubbed his temples and sighed.

"Don't worry, I'm kidding, I know you wouldn't try anything on me… But, is that the matter? You're upset because I tried to kiss you?" Her words had a hint of sorrow.

"You kinda… Fooled me. I mean… We were gonna kiss… But then you didn't… And I was… And you were…" He sighed. "It hurt me." Hamuko parted her lips in surprise as the boy glanced away, completely ashamed.

"Minato, I'm sorry… I..." For some reason, seeing her rival so wounded, having let his stoicism aside for once, hurt her a lot more than if she'd been the hurt one. That couldn't be mere empathy…What did she feel for him? She had thought about it a few times in the last two months and, whatever it was, it wasn't the same thing she felt for Junpei nor any other boy she had met. Was it because Minato actually was a difficult person to deal with? Maybe it was related to the fact he was his rival, and yet his usual partner in crime? Or maybe… Uncountable interesting possibilities crossed her mind.

The boy glanced away, his sight lost in the sea, ignoring the fact that Hamuko had hers fixed on him, her heart beating with anticipation. She approached the blue haired Fool, something new in her gaze. Something deeper than just friendly affection. Sunday night replayed in their minds: once again, Minato allowed her to shorten the distance between the two; again, he embraced her as she pulled him closer to herself… But when her lips clashed against his, caressing them softly as she waited for his response, all he did was stare at her with his apprehensive cobalt eyes. Hamuko was searching for an answer, yet all she found was rejection.

Minato wished for that third step, even though she wouldn't let her know. He knew what was coming when he asked about it back in the club and looked forward to it, but now, three days later, that gesture only achieved to bring an awkward moment. He didn't return the kiss, unsure about how he felt about his flirty friend now both were sober.

"…Why did you do that?" They were still in each other's arms, neither wanting to let go.

"I-I thought you were upset because I didn't kiss you." Hamuko buried her face in Minato's chest, trying to hide her wet eyes.

"It's because you played with me." She tilted her head up to look at him. "I'm not upset, though; just confused." They fell into a thick silence as they comforted each other.

"So this is how rejection feels…" Her mumbles were muffled by Minato's shirt. "This is awkward, man."

"That might be an understatement." They finally pulled away. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" She gave him a smile which looked a bit forced, but her tune became suddenly much cheerier. "Yes, I mean, this is all my fault, man. Heroes gotta accept responsibility for their actions and look ahead."

"You still think we're heroes?"

"We? Who talked about you?" She looked up, drying a last stray tear rolling down her cheek. "Hey, it's late. Let's get back to the dorm." Despite acting normal on the outside, both had a feeling they'd feel weird being around each other for quite a while.

Minato didn't show up to the café that night, and Hamuko commented about that with another waitress… And somehow it ended up with all her coworkers prying about it all evening. The situation became hilarious because of all the drama they added to Hamuko's story by themselves. At least she could share it with someone and even laugh at it, but poor Minato didn't have that luck: awkwardness would ensue if he told Yukari; he wasn't going to share that kind of things with Junpei… And everyone else he knew was either a gossiper or would be uninterested.

* * *

><p>Fuuka Fuuka Fuuka Fuuka Fuuka Fuuka Fuuka Fuuka Fuuka. That's all Hamuko could hear by now every time she talked to Junpei. She was glad that her dear "Bropei" had found something to look forward to, but he could save some details for himself.<p>

"Junpei, for the last time: I'm a girl. I don't understand what you see in wanting to protect a little sick girl."

"Oh, right… But you haven't lost hope in her joining the team either, rite?"

"Nope! I mean, c'mon. It doesn't matter that she can't fight; if she has a persona, senpai will eventually try and get her to join."

School was boring as a general rule. Of course, there were a few exceptions, such as Maths class, which was hilarious, or Classic Literature, which was deadly… And then there was the new lesson, Integrative Learning, with no other than Mr. Edogawa as the teacher, which was indescribable. What was it about? Magic! Every –awake- S.E.E.S member in the class felt like telling him that the way to magic was committing mock-suicide with a gun which worked on nonsenseholium and shot traumas and not meditating or some shit. They didn't for obvious reasons.

And the chosen activity for the afternoon was… Health Committee as Ms. Toriumi's "suggested" in between classes. Fun times alone with Saori in the nurse office.

"No one's come by today."

"…I noticed." Hamuko couldn't avoid sighing of boredom. She chided herself mentally as she deduced that poor Saori probably spent a lot of days alone. "_Man, I always end up in the "liveliest" clubs._"

"…Oh, that's right. Mr. Edogawa said that more medical supplies have come in. We should put them on the selves. Could you help me out?"

"Err… Sure! Anything's better than just standing still, right?"

"Yeah… I'll bring them right away. If anyone comes in while I'm gone, assist them." The brunette nodded eagerly and Saori walked away. "Eek! Oh, I'm sorry!" Apparently, she had just crashed against someone.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry." The victim of the collision was another female student wearing hair buns. She looked very flustered. "Uh, Saori-san… Um…"

"Me? What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

"Well… Um… C-Could I borrow your physics notes?" Oh, another fan of Mr. Takenokuza? "The teacher erases the blackboard too fast for me to copy them down…" Yeah, sure. That was what everyone said.

"Oh, of course. I've been taking a lot of notes for physics, too… I'm not too good in that class myself, so I need to pay attention."

"Oh, um… That's all right." What she really meant was "_I dun care, gimme your notes._"

"…I see. Give me one second." Saori brought a notebook out of her schoolbag and gave it to the other student.

"Oh great. Thanks…" Saori stared at the girl as she ran away.

"…She's my classmate."

"Is everyone that formal with you?"

"Heh… You noticed?" Naaah, it was all wild guessing. "We don't know each other all that well. But, it feels good to have people rely on me."

"Never forget that there's a difference between relying on you and using you." Saori nodded at Hamuko's words with a sad smile and then they fell on silence.

"So… I've never got used to this school. …You're a transfer student, but you seem to have grown accustomed to this place really quickly. I've seen you sometimes talking with people in the hall and you always seem to be having fun, no matter who you're with."

"I adapt to every situation! I'm like a chameleon… You can call me… Chamuko! …On a second thought, don't." She chuckled dumbly. "Hey, next time you see me, come talk to me!"

"Hm… I thought other people would think the wrong thing if we started getting along well…" Saori smiled while Hamuko silently wondered what she meant by "the wrong thing". Oh well, Hermit level 2 and what not. "Um…? What was I doing? Oh, I was going to get the supplies. Well then, I'll be right back."

Once the health committee duties were completed, the two girls walked out of school together. In the way, they walked past Minato and a very nervous Chihiro. Apparently the timid junior had been finally able to accept his invitation to hang out together. It was a good thing, right?

"Have you changed your mind?" Minato had a comprehensive smile.

"N-no, it's just this is so sudden… Err, let's leave, alright?" A train ride and a short walk later wasn't enough time for Chihiro to gather the courage to say a single word. Not like Minato cared, he enjoyed being with someone silent for once.

"Chihiro-san. Chihiro-san?" Minato had never had the chance to wake up someone zoning out before, as he was usually the one doing that. It did look a bit worrying.

"…Oh! I-I'm sorry! I was just thinking about… What to say…" She looked down. "I was trying to come up with a topic you might be interested in, Minato-san…" A sigh. "…But I couldn't think of anything…"

"That's very nice of you, but, I'm sorry; we've arrived to my dorm. We have to part ways."

"I-I see…" The bluenet's kohai was a bit flustered. "…My house is in the other direction."

"Oh, my apologies, I should have asked before. Do you want me to accompany you?"

"N-NO! Err… I mean… D-Don't apologize! Please!" She bowed down repeatedly. "It's my fault… I-I knew we were going in the wrong direction, but I didn't say anything…" That girl was like the epitome of shy girl, complete with nerdy overtones. Minato wasn't into all the "Moe" stuff, but he was sure that she'd make a boy like Junpei the happiest man on earth. "Th-thank you very much for… Umm… Making some time for me, Minato-san."

And then the voices from beyond informed him that the Justice Social Link was formed, with the image of a sword from whose handle two balances were hanging.

"_She has taken a liking to me… But we're only acquaintances for now… Wait. Why am I thinking this kind of things again? I'm not interested in her!_"

"W-well, um, excuse me…" The girl ran away as Minato entered the dorm. "Ah, good evening Hamuko-san!"

"Hey there." She waved her hand at Chihiro and then the junior resumed her race to home. Hamuko walked into the dorm. "Hello everyone!" Her cheerful salutations were ignored.

"So if we didn't have our Personas the city would be full of zombies?" Crap, she almost missed a conversation involving zombies.

"Zombies crawling around the city? Sounds like a thriller to me!" Hamuko looked around to see if anyone reacted positively. Or if Minato was glaring at her. That would have made her quite happy. However, the boy was glancing away and everyone was coughing awkwardly.

"Apathy Syndrome is a serious topic, Seikatsu." Mitsuru's glare wasn't like Minato's at all. When she looked at you in a derogatory manner, she gave a whole new meaning to the word "glare". The bluenet's glare, on the other hand, didn't hurt; it was rather a signal to know that you were about to hear a snarky comment.

"Y-Yes, sorry Senpai."

Nothing much happened in the rest of the evening… Other than Minato doing a questionable investment of 10000 yens in Paulownia Mall.

* * *

><p><strong>Do you hate me yet? 8D<strong>


	20. Deadly encounter

**Author Note****: A big thank you to ****Nefertieh****! She's been helping me mend the mistakes in this fanfic. Oh and to ****Harmoniche****, if you're reading this, I'm almost done with your picture :D I just have to learn how to draw a classroom ;w;**

**Okay, time to put up a FAQ section. Because I need it.**

**Q. Is Hamuko Minato's sister? **

**A. No. Minato says he remembers a "Faceless blue haired toddler" in chapter 16. Last time I checked, Hamuko has brown hair :U**

**Q. If Hamuko often screws up, why is Minato the one who apologizes?**

**A. (mostly taken from a PM) Hamuko usually screws up, it's her fault yet she acts like she is the victim, because, like a child, she doesn't quite understand that it's her fault; and when she does accept it, like in the last chapter, it's because it's something so obvious that she'd have to be blind to ignore. She's not a person anyone sane would be able to keep around because she strives for attention, doing ANYTHING to get looked at. The only reason she gets more screen time is because Minato's POV is mostly composed of "I'm tired" and "I want to be alone".  
><strong>

**Minato thinks he's a gentleman or something, looking down at her most of the time because of that behavior. He can bear her out of will power and having got used to her already. He knows better than angering Junpei and breaking a social link would mean less strength for them, so he does what he thinks he has to do and apologizes. There's also the fact that he understands and accepts part of the responsibility for suddenly starting the fight, something Hamuko is unable to do unless he does it first, and the fact that Minato has been aloof for most of his life and doesn't know how to deal with someone that acts in such a way with him. Ergo, he doesn't want to lose her because he doesn't know how he feels about her, yet he doesn't want to keep her too near, as the honorifics prove.**

**They're not supposed to be likeable characters nor heroic archetypes at the current storyline time, but, that's where character development comes in!**

**Character development about those two will try hard at Hamuko noticing how she acts, calm down, understand Minato, and learn to accept responsibility over her acts. In other words, stop being a big child with questionable behavior. Minato, on the other hand, will stop being a condescending bastard, leave his introversion aside, and begin to understand how Hamuko thinks. More or less.**

**And now, an answer to a question nobody dared ask: yes, I love trolling my readers 8D**

**That's it for today.**

* * *

><p>"What, like, bullying him?" Minato turned down the music as he walked past the school gates. "Poor kid, what's his name?"<p>

"I don't know! All I heard is that it's really a problem!" The conversation didn't interest him enough to arrive late to school.

How to start a morning in a fun, energetic way? …Surely not with Integrative Learning.

"Quiet down class! It's time to begin today's lecture. Progredio ado rukem shiderem…"

"Progressive ado nuking cyber-net?" If Hamuko excelled at something, it was misunderstanding things.

"…" …Yukari wasn't there to help.

Countless hours later… Lunchtime arrived. Hamuko thought she could sure use a sandwich… Or five. No, maybe gyudon. Gyudon would be pretty awesome. Maybe she'd cook some for herself.

"Hamuko-sama!" Scratch that, she just lost her appetite.

"H-Hey Bebe…"

"Konichiwa Hamuko-sama! You 'aven't been to the Fashion Club in a lot of time! You 'aven't forgotten about Bebe, right?"

"I-I have practice, and… And…" The blonde was pouting. Oh God why. "Okay… See you this afternoon." He did a sound similar to a "yaaaaay". "Rio is going to kill me. Woo..." Nearby in the hall, Minato, Kazushi and Yuko were talking about several things. She was sure the bluenet had seen her and he was doing his best not to have visual contact with her.

Afternoon classes? Were there lessons in the afternoon? If so, all she could remember was Yukari going on an on about how some girls were talking about bullying someone, and how much that infuriated her. The red eyed girl hated bullying just as much, but gee, Yukari sure was strongly opinionated. And then they called Hamuko a loud person…

The bell rang and everyone left class. "_Well, time to bond with Bebe…_"

"Hamuko-sama!" Hamuko screeched, scared. She relaxed upon noticing that that was just Bebe waiting for her outside her classroom. "Let's go togezer, yes? Like tomodachi!"

"Whee." Bebe held her arm as they –or at least he- walked happily towards the Home Economics Room. During the journey, the brunette couldn't avoid wondering if that was how Minato felt when she clang to him. Oh well, not that it bothered her, but…

"How does zis look, Hamuko-sama?" The blonde held a scarlet fabric with a beautiful flower pattern.

"Wow… Um… You're the… Master!" No, Hamuko didn't have a clue of how to praise the French tailor-wannabe.

"You really zink so!" Guess what, it worked. "Zen, I, ze master, will teach you!" He guided her in the process of making a phone strap and Hamuko discovered it wasn't difficult at all. And it was piiiiiiiiink.

"Look at this! So cute!"

"It eez kawaii! Kawaii desu!"

"You think so too?" Hamuko clapped her hands in delight.

"Hai!" He fanned himself with the fan with butterfly motives he carried everywhere –those whiny Europeans can't stand heat… "Good job, appare Hamuko-sama! Well, our work eez over—owari! Let's go to ze Sweet Shop!" Bebe smiled innocently. "This eez my first time going, so will you teach me?"

"…Teach you?" Did he need to learn how to eat sweets or something? Wait, he was back to pouting. "I mean … Sure!" He answered with a happy squeal. If he liked sweets and was always that enthusiastic, they'd become great friends.

"Well, zen, shall we go? Let's go togezer, my tomodachi!" Leaving the whole Japanglish aside would help their friendship greatly.

They went together to the sweet shop in Iwatodai Strip Mall and had a delicious time together. Growing closer to Bebe by eating a hideous amount of sweets? Best Social Link. Ever. Meanwhile, Minato had just reached Chariot Social Link level 5 by keeping Kazushi's secret, his injured knee… Yeah, no comparison.

"I love ze culture of Nihon! Japan eez sugoi, amazing!" They walked out of the shop while Hamuko was still eating her last brochette of mitarashi dango.

"I know, right?"

"Hai! Hai! Yes! Yes!" Bebe was euphoric. Too much sugar. "Japan's culture eez number one, ichiban! I wish I was born 'ere." He seemed very determined all of a sudden. "I want to learn everyzing about Nihon and become Japanese!"

"_You and half of the Internet._" She muttered that as she munched the sweet rice dumplings so Bebe couldn't catch it. "Good luck with that!"

"Zanks!" His smile became nostalgic. "You see, I 'ave an aunt who lives back 'ome. She 'as been 'elping me… I must tell 'er zat I 'ave made a great friend! Tomodachi!" He really seemed to be grateful towards Hamuko. And hey, annoying weeaboo or not, he was a really nice guy. Temperance Social Link rank 2, ho! "Oh, look at ze time! I would like to ask you more about Nihon… I'll talk to you later! Aishitemasu!" The foreign student ran away, unknowing that he had apparently been using "love" as "bye" thanks to Hamuko…

"_There's a slim, little chance that all those rumors about him are my fault." _Hamuko pressed her lips together and stared at the ground._ "Naaaah. They probably would have started one way or another._" The brunette strolled around Iwatodai, trying to get rid of the guilt. "_Maybe_ _with some music…_" "Easy Feelings", a really frivolous song, began playing in her headphones at a stupidly high volume. It occurred to Hamuko that she might have just found the reason why she had problems hearing other people. The music was so loud that she didn't hear someone calling for her.

"Hey." Someone removed her headphones. Minato? "You're going to go deaf."

"Says the guy who's always wearing his headphones?" Hamuko gave him an amused look, but soon she got serious. "Can I help you?"

"Is everything alright?" Minato knew the answer. He was asking because… Well, he wasn't sure why he was asking.

"Well, you have been avoiding me for two days. Sorry if I don't jump at your neck." Actually,that was just what she wanted to do. Give him a hug, apologize, forget the forget the whole kissing dilemma, and go back to being the best friend-rivals ever… But she wasn't going to do that at own will. Ooh, maybe he had come to beg for forgiveness or something?

"I need twenty thousand yen." Minato said that phrase like that. As if he had just said "hi" or something.

"…" Hamuko's eyes were wide as saucers. Maybe she had really gone deaf. "Sorry, what?"

"I need twenty thousand yen."

"…What?" She began laughing hysterically. "Man, that's the most original apology I've heard in my life!"

"So are you gonna help me gather that money or not?" The brunette's laughter increased and she had to put a hand on Minato's shoulder to prevent herself from falling to the ground. Then she suddenly stopped.

"Take a wild guess."

"Hey, I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't urgent." He grumbled.

"You're dreaming if you think I'd give such a large amount to you, just like that." Hamuko had an idea. "…You have to ask for it properly." Minato looked at her questioningly. "Apologize for avoiding me." That request was suspiciously easy…

"I'm sorry."

"Say it with feeling."

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry for what?" The brunette cocked an eyebrow as her dorm mate glared at her.

"I'm sorry for avoiding you because I still feel awkward." He rolled his eyes as he said this, ignoring the thumbs up Hamuko was giving him.

"See? It wasn't so difficult." He extended his hand to ask for money, but Hamuko chided him. "Not so fast. Now you have to say: "Hamuko, can you give me twenty thousand yen, please?" Easy, right?" Hamuko smiled sheepishly as Minato mumbled something.

"Hamuko-chan, can you give me twenty thousand yen, please?"

"Hamuko." She said her name with an amused tune.

"What?"

"Drop the "**chan**"." His eyes narrowed as her grin grew bigger.

"No." Arisato was the only guy Hamuko knew who was capable of keeping honorifics even in private after a kiss. Despite his ethics, he needed that money to "invest" in that old man's scam… Damn Social Links… "…Okay, **Hamuko**…" Dropping the last trace of formality that remained between them seemed to hurt him. "Can you give me twenty thousand yen, **please**?"

"Sorry, I don't have a yen on me. We'll go to Tartarus tonight, alright **Minato**?" Hamuko backslapped the boy and headed to the dorm with her headphones back on, the song "Wiping All Out" playing so loudly that even he could hear it as he saw her off.

* * *

><p>Never before had anyone seen the male leader attacking shadows with such rage, no matter their size or number. That Change Relic in the 36th floor? It must have deeply regretted to have ever found itself in Minato Arisato's way. The rest of S.E.E.S felt more or less the same…<p>

"Hey dude, calm down! You tryin' to get us killed?" When Junpei is the one telling you to relax, you know that you're acting like a mad man. "Let's head back, I'm beat."

"_No, I still don't have enough money._" He mumbled to himself.

"Shut up about your money!" That was Hamuko getting annoyed. Minato had just noticed that, for once, she was wearing normal clothes. Well, not quite so, she had an "Angora Sweater" on, which bore a striking resemblance to the sweater she usually wore when there was no school. She was wearing one of her scarves and a skirt too, so the bluenet guessed that she saw the similarities as well. Why the change? "Jun-kun, go back if you're tired. Yukari, you don't look too good either, you should go with him."

"Will you and Senpai be okay by yourselves?"

"Don't worry. We'll manage." Yukari nodded at Hamuko and then left the group with the boy with a baseball cap to look for an access point. "I'm pretty tired myself, so we'll just go fight a few more shadows. If you haven't got enough yen by then, tough luck."

Running around Tartarus was never a fun experience for the people involved –except Akihiko- but sometimes things got downright creepy. This was one of those times. They had just defeated a shadow when…

"C'mon Senpai, give me that card!" Akihiko was keeping a card with the persona Chimera away from them.

"No, Sanada-senpai. Please, give it to me." Minato begged. The silver haired boy was pretty much ignoring them. He had a weird feeling…

"Me, me, me!"

Much to everyone's dismay, Akihiko decided to shove the card into his pocket, saying he'd give it to whoever was worthy of it once the exploration concluded. Among his kohai's whines and grumbles, he caught the sound of something similar to steps.

"Quiet you two." He hushed them. "Can you hear that?" They didn't have time to answer; Akihiko began running after something.

"Does anyone ever remember that **we**'re the leaders?" Minato shrugged and darted off after the boxing team leader.

As he quickly reached their senpai –Track Team practice was actually useful!- he found out the reason the other S.E.E.S member was running: a golden shadow in the shape of a hand. Not golden as in "golden colored" but golden as in really made of sweet, dazzling gold. Hamuko could swear she saw Minato's eyes gleam as he raised his katana in the air. With a quick move, the shadow avoided his attack and resumed its escape climbing a nearby set of stairs.

"Come back here!"

"Keep shouting, Minato; I'm **sure** it's gonna listen to you."

"Can you stop acting like kids? It's gonna escape!"

Amazing. Marvelous. Wonderful. Minato didn't have enough words to describe the floor they had just arrived to. They couldn't walk two steps without finding a golden chest, the kind which had the most awesome items… And things like a Shirt of Chivalry. Hamuko was sure Junpei would love it, and it would protect him better than his Camo Shirt.

When there weren't golden chests around… Golden shadows appeared! In fact, there only seemed to be golden shadows, which upon being killed dropped quite valuable-looking items. It was perfect. Too perfect to be the ominous tower that it was.

"Don't you guys think this is a bit suspicious?"

"No!" Hamuko was raiding chests blissfully while Minato was too busy hunting golden shadows to act as the voice of reason. Akihiko decided to let it go and join the later. Fun times raiding the floor… It was all fun and games, until Mitsuru suddenly broke the silence.

"_Did you feel that?_" The voice did not have Mitsuru's usual, haughty tone.

"You okay, Senpai?"

"_C-Can't you feel that?_" She was… Scared? "_Please, listen to me. I'm not sure about what I've detected right now, but it's an incredibly strong presence. Please, head to an access point immediately_."

"But-" Before Hamuko could voice her opinion in the matter, Akihiko covered her mouth with a hand and told her to listen. Rattling chains could be heard in the distance but they seemed to be getting closer. Minato motioned everyone to follow him as he peeked around, always walking next to the walls, looking for an access point. "It's getting kinda chilly in here, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" The metallic sound echoed so much in the walls that it was impossible to tell its exact source, but it was doubtlessly much nearer than before. "Senpai, any luck finding out what that "presence" is?"

"_Ugh…_" Mitsuru seemed really troubled. "_You'll consider this ridiculous but… It feels like… Death._"

"Death? You mean like an invisible mass or something going all "Bwahaha! I'm Death! You can't escape your final destination!" or Death like "oh man there's an evil dead thing going around and it's out to get our brains"." The boys gave Hamuko a weird look. "Because I think I kinda prefer the first kind."

"...No more horror films for you." In that precise instant, the air became much colder.

"D-don't worry." A blood-freezing scream made everyone shriek in fear. The screech preceded a much more familiar sound: a gun shot. "S-senpai, I changed my opinion…"

Nobody dared make a move as an ominous figure scanned them with its only eye, which glowed like an ember. The rest of its face was shrouded under red bandages. A torn up leather long coat covered its figure and slim hands consisted of nothing but bone. It held two revolvers with impossibly long cannons. The creature gave Minato and Hamuko a horrible feeling of déjà vu.

"_The Reaper._" That was all Mitsuru could tell them. She was sincerely just as frightened as they were.

Minato took a deep breath. "_Let's try to walk away. Maybe it won't see us if we're stealthy enough._" The other two nodded in response. As soon as Minato moved away from his original spot, a bullet landed on the wall, right next to his shin. "_On a second thought…_"

'"Guhn," was all Hamuko could say, her hands over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.'

"_What?_"

"_Gruhhhn._" The creature pulled down the safe of both of its revolvers. "**RUN**!" Everyone ran. Enraged, The Reaper screeched and shot a bullet into the roof.

"H-Hey! Maybe it's not as strong as it seems! There's a chance we can take it down!" Akihiko was always up for a challenge.

"NO." When you're able to tell that the strength and power of your team is about seventy times lower than your enemy, you stop being optimistic.

"_There's an access point nearby. To reach it you have to go past two corridors more; then turn to your left and go ahead until you find it. Disregard the shadows you might find, please._" Oh, that was easy! All the golden shadows ran away from them, and Death flew really slow…

_**Bang**__._

A bullet that turned Hamuko's hockey stick into splinters made them aware that they weren't running fast enough. Death did not even need to be near them do to do its job.

"_**Ma**__…_" The ground below them began to tremble. _"…__**ha**__…_" Runic symbols began appearing under their feet, forming circles and squares in grayish colors. _"…__**ma**__…"_ The seal which seemed to move after them began glowing with a dazzling intensity as curse papers appeared out of nowhere. _"…__**on**_." Everyone could feel their breathing become irregular as a strange force clenched their hearts.

"Gah!" Akihiko tried to take a last breath as his consciousness faded away.

"_**Akihiko**_**!**" Mitsuru shouted in the minds of the only remaining S.E.E.S. members, who were feeling incredibly lightheaded. While they were still weak, their ghostly hunter approached Akihiko, pointing one of its revolvers to its temple. They feared the worst, but The Reaper began screaming in anger, its bandages loosening to reveal a mouth full of light; apparently, it wasn't interested in the silver haired boy. Its head turned slowly towards the other two teens, which were shivering in fear. It was staring at them with that ominous eye, bigger than its whole forehead.

Hamuko reached out for Minato's hand, needing some support. Despite his whole body was trembling, his eyes had a look of hope.

"…What's on your mind?" The bluenet clenched the katana in his right hand as he fixed his sight on The Reaper's amber eye.

"A very stupid plan." The monster in front of them was getting ready to shoot. They began running towards The Reaper. "Do heroes die?"

"…Let's find out!"

One bullet hit Hamuko's forearm, sending her evoker, as well as her hope to fight that moment, away; another grazed Minato's brow, making a stream of blood come down his temple… But that was nothing compared to the pain produced by the Juzumaru which slashed Death's head, cutting right through its eye. Never before had they heard a sound similar to the horrendous shriek The Reaper let out, and never would they forget it. The blinded creature tried to hit the teens using its revolvers as melee weapons, but, incapable to achieve so, it flew away. Hamuko didn't waste a second picking up her Evoker while Minato carried Akihiko away.

"You still feel it around too, right?"

"Y-Yes." Minato wrapped the zone above Hamuko's left wrist where the bullet had impacted with her scarf, trying to stop the wound from bleeding. "…Hurry u-up."

As the green light coming from the access point surrounded them, they heard the clanking of The Reaper's chains again…

* * *

><p>Fortunately for them, no one seemed to miss Hamuko at school the following day, busy as they were gossiping about a girl from 2-E who disappeared or something the previous night, so they didn't have to use that lame excuse about exhaustion from working too much that Mitsuru prepared. Yukari suggested jokingly that, just in case, Junpei should come up with a better excuse. It didn't end well.<p>

"Hey Minato!" That was Junpei with a red mark on his face. "Have you heard the details?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I know you're looking forward to telling me." He looked up from the table, which had a few drops of saliva where Minato's head had been resting. "Enlighten me."

"Well, a girl from 2-E went missing last night. This morning, they found her lying on the ground in front of the school gate! Nobody knows what happened, and supposedly, she's still unconscious."

"Last night I was chased by death in a nutshell with hand cannons, my best friend was shot, Akihiko-Senpai is still on the mend, and now I've got his look with a bandaid over my face. Why would I care?" Junpei's face was nothing short of amusing.

"…Morning." And that was Yukari strolling into the conversation.

"Yo, Yuka-tan." Minato said hi with a nod. Still too tired from the previous day… "This is a tough case, even for Junpei Iori, Ace Detective!"

"Ace Detective? …Are you stupid or something?" No matter how gorgeous the brunette was, she could be a real jerk sometimes. Well, he could quite a jerk too, so… "…More like Stupei, Ace Defective." Yeah. They were done the one for the other. If only Hamuko hadn't…

"Hey! I resent that. Anyway, where've you been?"

"I was talking to the teacher. That girl they found… I saw her yesterday at lunch. She seemed okay then…"

"Whoa… Now, that's really strange." Junpei, honorary captain obvious… "Hey, I almost forgot; we promised we'd go to the hospital, right? C'mon man, we gotta go!"

"Eh… Sorry, I have some business to do in Paulownia first. I'll head there as soon as I can."

Minato arrived to Tatsumi Memorial Hospital about half an hour later than everyone else, but nobody asked why.

"Hey Minato! You gotta take a look at this!" Hamuko showed the wound left by removing the bullet in her arm with a happy grin on her face. "And the doctors say that it's gonna leave a mark! Ahahah! Real heroes need scars, you know?" Well… That wasn't the reaction he expected from someone who had got shot. …Not even from Hamuko.

"Hamuko, I'm not gonna let you go around with **that** in your arm!" Yukari, always so worried about aesthetics… "As soon as you go back to the dorm I'll dia the hell out of it."

"But muuum, why can't I keep it?" Hamuko laughed as the girl in a cardigan rolled her eyes at her. "Okay guys, can you go out of the room for a bit? I need to talk about something with Minato…"

"Minato…?" Ooh, Yukari noticed the lack of honorifics. Woops.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Junpei shouted as he pushed Yukari out of the room.

"Yes?" He walked towards the bed while Hamuko motioned him to approach her.

"This is just a… Dumb question. Something which occurred to me while I was completely high on morphine back in the OR…" Was she trying to pull off a guilt trip? "Don't make that face man, I just want you to answer me this… What did you need that money for?" Minato suddenly choked on his spit. "I'd say "you don't have to tell me if it's too kinky" but I know you and I know it can't be something you can't tell me." Her fiery red eyes were almost as inquisitive as Mitsuru's scarlet ones.

"I needed it to…Start a… Social Link." He didn't dare lie. Not with that look on him.

"Hah… Hah ha-ha… Hahaha… You're shitting me, right?" He hadn't seen Hamuko looking so annoyed since they discovered that Yukari and Mitsuru knew about the Dark Hour. Wait, how could he remember that? "You're telling me I got **fucking** shot to get you money for a Social Link?"

"Wait, weren't you glad to have a scar?" Not the best phrasing he could have used.

"Yes Minato. I'm super mega duper glad I have had a bullet stuck on my arm." She gave Minato a glare. "Okay, listen. This is what we're gonna do: you're gonna choose between getting your groin kicked so hard you won't be able to recognise your balls ever again, OR, giving me whatever money you have left and forget the issue."

"What about neither? I mean, I'm obviously not going to let you kick me, and I'm trying to save to get the 40,000 yens I need to start it now…"

"…" Hamuko's face was getting as red as her eyes. "You. Need. More. Money?" Her rage seemed to disappear all of a sudden. Her eyes lit up and a devious smile appeared on her face. "Okay. We'll get you money."

"…Eh?" Minato didn't like that smile. At all. But she didn't seem to be joking about getting him money…

Everybody spent the afternoon in the hospital, until some doctor –who seemed to be aware of S.E.E.S.'s activities- came around and said that Hamuko was free to leave as long as she could get some healing.

Hamuko spent all evening complaining about how she liked her scar and how unfair it was that Yukari had forcefully healed it. Figures.

At some point in the night, the same brunette and Junpei began talking about how it felt to get shot. Junpei said that he wished he had been shot too because "chicks dig scars" or something. Minato decided officially that he was the only sane… Well… The sanest sophomore in the place…

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry that this chapter has been uploaded later than usual. I got stuck while writing some parts 8D;<strong>


	21. Believe it, or Don't

**Author note: I give up at trying to transcribe Maya's dialogue. You're just going to get some description about what she said. Can't put up with so much autocorrection stuff ;A;**

**Man, I had the weirdest dream in my life last night. It was just Junpei ranting about sushi. Yes really.**

* * *

><p>"Why are we here?"<p>

"To have some ramen, man."

"Let me rephrase that; why am I here?"

"To have lunch with the one and only Juuuunpei!"

"Alright then, let's try a different approach: why are you here?"

Minato had got up very early that morning and left. This was one of those days when he just needed to be alone; maybe visit the shrine or something. The place didn't matter; the only thing he cared about was being by himself. Enjoy the peacefulness he didn't have at the dorm, as the silence was often disturbed by Yukari and Junpei bickering; Mitsuru preaching to Hamuko; Junpei trying to talk with Akihiko like they were best friends -only to get a weird look from their senpai- or, in the worst case, Junpei and Hamuko speaking together, being plain annoying. It was easy to see why they were such good friends.

Apparently, at some point in the morning, probably after a certain children show had ended, Junpei decided he needed some company and began looking for Minato. He located the bluenet in the shrine and decided to drag him to Hagakure for reasons beyond his comprehension. Unlike Hamuko, Minato didn't have his videogame loving dorm mate as a Social Link, so he wasn't obligated to bear him, his usual lewd behavior and inappropriate jokes. That meant that having ramen with him was completely pointless. Unless the boy with a baseball cap was trying to be Jung-Pei again, in which case it wasn't just pointless but annoying.

"…_Jung-Pei? Did I just think that? …I have to stop hanging out with that girl._"

"Well, you looked lonely by yourself so I thought "Hey, I'm gonna spend some time with my bro". And here I am."

"I wasn't lonely; I wanted to be alone."

"Like I'm gonna believe that, man!" Minato decided against explaining him how much he valued occasional solitude. Junpei would've made some rather predictable comment about it, and Minato had more than enough bearing Hamuko's ones. "So, I tried calling some people! But buh, Yukari was hanging out with some of her friends and when I asked her to bring them here she told me I'd freak them out; Kenji said something about some private lessons; Hamu-chan answered the phone only to begin ranting about how she had the best plan ever and… And I wasn't going to ask our senpai…" Minato was surprised to hear that Junpei's contact list was so incredibly short.

"_I_ _guess he doesn't kid when he says I'm his best friend._" Minato wasn't very sure about how Junpei had managed it, but he had hit a soft spot. "Thanks for worrying."

"Hey, no need to thank me! I mean, you're paying dude." He had to shout he was joking as Minato got up to leave. "Man, you're a cheapskate, yanno?"

"I'm saving for… Investments. You could say I'm a broker."

"Really? Well, ya could say I'm broke." Minato couldn't avoid laughing at the pun. Junpei seemed ready to twist the pun further -something which probably would have killed the fun- but his mobile phone his phone rang. He picked it up and answered –or tried to, as a familiar whiny voice kept shouting through the phone. "Hagakure. Yeah. Plan? No, I haven't told him." The bluenet was getting progressively used to being referred as "him" in almost every conversation, so he guessed that phone call was about him too. "Yeah, okay, see you later."

"That wasn't Yukari, was it?" Junpei shook his head. "It's never Yukari…"

"Jun-kun! Minato!" Hamuko ran into Hagakure barely a minute later. "It worked, Minato! Woo!"

"…What worked?" The brunette sat down next to Junpei, a big grin plastered all over her face.

"My plan to get you money." Minato had a bad feeling. "Listen: 3000 yen a night. Three nights a week. You can quit as soon as you have enough money." She etched her hands below her chin. "You don't have anything against butler outfits, do you?"

"You got him a job as a gigolo?" Junpei just voiced Minato's thoughts.

"What? No! He's gonna work in Chagall Café!" For some reason that didn't sound like it was any better. "I managed to make my boss believe that a waiter would attract more female consumers." The brunette beamed at Minato. "We're gonna work together!"

Being Hamuko's work partner wouldn't have normally bothered Minato. If he worked with her for a few weeks and visited Tartarus a couple times, he'd soon have enough money to give it to that greedy old guy… Yet, he wasn't comfortable with the sudden altruism the brunette presented; he knew Hamuko usually had second intentions for everything she did.

"Is the butler outfit really necessary?"

"Well, DUH, it's a maid café. Of course you have to dress as a butler." The blue haired Fool didn't seem too convinced.

"…So you aren't saying all this because you want to see me in that kind of outfit, right?"

"Meeee?" She vaguely tried to hide a grin under her scarf. "Nope." She sincerely couldn't care less about seeing him in such disguise, but… His doubts didn't seem to be very farfetched.

"Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, man." Junpei and Hamuko interchanged meaningful glances. A conspiracy against Minato was being plotted in Hagakure… Conspiracy mixed with ramen. Delicious treachery.

"I got you a job interview tomorrow. Just go there; act nice; begin working, alright?"

Junpei and Hamuko took off to the arcade, probably to keep plotting –or to play Avatar Tuner, who knows- so Minato spent the rest of the afternoon alone in his room. Well, nor really alone: Maya was online, speaking through his laptop while they did some level grinding. The online player told him about a jerkass teacher called "Mr. E" and he couldn't avoid thinking about Mr. Ekoda.

"_It'd be hilarious if Maya was someone like Ms. Miyahara or Ms. Toriumi. And very awkward._" Hermit Social Link level 5. "_Heh, what are the chances?_"

At night, everyone was talking about that girl who disappeared. Apparently, she had been bullying someone…

* * *

><p>Mitsuru seemed really restless that morning… So much that it kind of worried the Fools as well. They decided to forget about their senpai's paranoia and focus on how awesome summer uniforms were.<p>

"Today is Monday, isn't it?" Minato nodded. "Akihiko-senpai told me he could only hang out on Monday and Friday… He's a really boring guy, but I feel he can be a Social Link of mine…" Hamuko looked troubled. "But I have practice… I need to come up with an excuse to tell to Rio…" She had been absent for a week already, and her captain was less than amused.

"Tell her the truth: you'll be busy practicing other things." Hamuko cocked an eyebrow at that comment. If Minato was back to calling her things, that meant he had already overcome any confusion he had had in the previous days. Frankly, she wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. "I'm talking about you jogging with Senpai, of course."

"Of course." She got up from her chair and walked towards the door with determination. "I'm gonna ask him to walk home together right now."

"…I'm gonna see if I can skip practice somehow."

Asking Akihiko out… That was easier said than done. Hamuko had no trouble at all walking towards her Senpai and asking him to go home together. In fact, he seemed delighted with the idea, but… **They** were there: the boxing captain's fan girls. And they could be really dangerous…

"Look, it's that Hamtaro girl." Or plain stupid. As dangerous as stupid, alright?

"How does that bimbo dare talk to Senpai like that?"

"_Bimbo? __**They**__'re calling me a bimbo?_" Hamuko sighed. "_C'mon Hamuko, just ignore them…_" Her glares hurt… They hurt a lot… But she was used to Mitsuru's, which were much, much worse. She smirked at them as she walked away with Akihiko. "_Bye-bye, bitches._"

When Akihiko mentioned stopping somewhere before going home, she didn't think they'd go to Hagakure. That being Akihiko, she expected that he'd go to Paulownia to buy some protein shakes or go punch some trees.

"You're okay with the special, right?" She was okay with anything when Akihiko was paying. "Two extra-large specials, please!" And more than okay with that.

"Can you make that four?" Akihiko seemed amused seeing Hamuko wolf down the contents of her bowl.

"Physical strength is everything… Your skills are truly remarkable..." Gosh, he couldn't leave the whole fighting thing aside while eating? "But they won't be of any use if you get exhausted easily."

"Don't worry Senpai." She was slurping the last noodles of the third bowl. "Minato and I are the ones that keep saving your butts in Tartarus." The truth hurt Akihiko.

"…SO err… It's amazing how you eat all that!" Nice way to change the subject. "Want to go to another restaurant?" Damn. He should have told her that he planned to go somewhere else. "Aw, you're giving up already?"

"Um…!" She wanted to say no, but four **extra**-large bowls of ramen in her stomach disagreed. "Yeah okay, I can't eat any more. Maybe we can go to Wild Duck another day or something."

"What? There's no way we're eating that rubbish! You have to eat right to grow stronger and tall!"

"…How old do you think I am? Eight?" She glared at him.

"Eh?" He stuttered. "D-don't look at me like that! I'm not Junpei; I won't go easy on you because you're a girl! I just think that a leader has to be healthy to do a good job, okay?" Something told her that he should have taken Minato out to have dinner, instead. "You guys can count on us anytime, though. All of us are always trying hard to be there when you need back up." Despite the fact that Akihiko seemed to have problems expressing himself, Hamuko could feel that he cared for her –in his own, bizarre way. The image of a card with the picture of a star informed her that the Star Social Link had been formed. The voices from beyond just stated the obvious. "Well, since we're done eating, let's go back."

As soon as she arrived, Hamuko ran towards Junpei and the two spent the rest of the afternoon whispering to each other. All the dorm members found it kind of unnerving.

"…What are you doing?" Whispering was one thing. Searching every cupboard in the lounge looking for a flashlight was another.

"That is classified information, Yukari." Hamuko dug her head back into the wardrobe she was checking. "Aha! Jun-kun, I found it!"

"Awesome!" He ran to Hamuko and picked up the item. "We can start! HEY, EVERYONE! Come to the kitchen!" Why the S.E.E.S members listened to him and did so, Minato would never know; he was dragged there by Hamuko while he was getting ready to leave to arrive early to his new job.

"So, there's been a lot of talk about that girl who was found by the front gate." Junpei and Hamuko stood by the kitchen table. "We believe we know what happened that night…" He glanced at Hamuko with a smile.

"The school ghost did it!"

"What? The school ghost? You believe in such a stupid thing?" Yukari was just so bad at masquerading fear with skepticism…

"Yukari, we escaped Death two days ago… Who says others haven't done that beforeee…?" Hamuko tried to illuminate her face with the flashlight to make her eyes look creepy, but she dazzled herself instead and lost all chance of causing fear in the other brunette.

"Could you tell me more about this… "School ghost" you're talking about?"

"Mitsuru-senpai, it's just a lot of nonsense!"

"I'm interested. Go ahead and tell us." Lacking support in either senpai, Yukari unconsciously approached Minato. …He was asleep.

"Hamu-chan, lights!" Hamuko handed Junpei the flashlight and quickly switched off all the lights in the room. He turned on the flashlight and pointed it to his face. "Good evening. Welcome to Junpei and Hamuko's "Believe it, or Don't"."

"...There are many strange things in this world... According to one story... If you get caught at school late at night, you'll be devoured by a maniacal ghost that roams the halls!" Hamuko laughed evilly.

"The other day, this friend of mine, let's call him Ken-_"_

"K!" The brunette elbowed Junpei covertly.

"...K said to us "I saw something strange." He sounded serious, so I asked him what he'd seen. He said it was about the girl in 2-E... He claims he saw her go into the school on the night of the incident. We couldn't believe it."

"I told him she's not the kind of girl to be out at night... But K was white as a sheet. He insisted it was true..."

"Then it hit me..." Junpei turned off the flashlight for a few seconds, only to suddenly switch it on again. "That ghost must have tried to make her its dinner!"

"And that's why they found her lying on the ground by the gate!"

"I felt a chill run down my spine, and I broke into a cold sweat..."

"I screamed in fear, I couldn't accept it…" Both teens grimaced. "Yes, there are many strange things in this world… Believe it…"

"…Or don't." Seeing that the comic couple was done with their lame performance, Akihiko turned on the lights. "Man, we sounded so much better during the practice…"

"We were awesome. The special effects sucked." Junpei and Hamuko began sulking.

"So what do you think, Akihiko?" Mitsuru's voice made them flinch.

"I think it's worth investigating." Wait, what?

"What? Can't you see it's just something these two made up?" Yukari was obviously really scared.

"Hey, K-kun is a very reliable source! His facts are wholly true and very interesting!"

"Don't waste energy, Hamu-chan; Yuka-tan is just deeeeeead afraid of ghosts." The aforementioned girl seemed very offended.

"Hey, watch it!" Yukari stomped the ground. "F-fine, then let's investigate. We'll each ask around for the rest of the week. I'll prove to you that this ghost story is just an urban legend!"

"I appreciate that. The story is a bit unnerving." Even Mitsuru feared ghosts?

"Then I'll let you guys handle it. Just make sure you sleep with one eye open..." Aw yeah, Akihiko was with them in the joke.

"Guess we didn't do it so bad after all." Hamuko and Junpei high-fived. "Hey Minato! What do you think of the story?"

"B-buh?" He yawned. "What hour is it?"

"Late o'clock. We'd better get leaving." Minato rushed out of the dorm, not waiting for Hamuko. "Hey Yukari, do you want to come to the café?"

"I'm busy researching the ghost story online. I can't go to the café today!"

"_Crap. Someone's not feeling helpful._" "Well, okay, maybe tomorrow."

Hamuko followed the bluenet out of the dorm. He looked pretty nervous during the train ride. Maybe he hadn't had any job interviews before?

In a matter of minutes they arrived to Chagall Café. The manager eyed Minato carefully.

"Hmmm…" Minato was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "He looked better in the photography you showed me, Seikatsu-san, but you were right, he's rather handsome." The boy looked at Hamuko and she blushed slightly… Her boss shouldn't have mentioned that she called him that. "Okay, I'll leave him under your responsibility today. You'll be the one paying if he screws up, you hear me?" The brunette nodded. "Show him where the dresser is."

"Well, that went better than I expected…" They walked towards the boys' dressers, also known as the staff's toilet. If they were going to hire waiters, they'd eventually have to set up a dresser for boys. "Hey, what photo did you show him?"

"The one I like a lot." She shoved him into the bathroom, not letting him ask anything else. "Okay, here's the uniform. Put it on quickly or they'll think you're slacking off."

"Did that happen on your first day?" Hamuko nodded, only to realize that he couldn't see her. "…How do I put this vest on?"

"Do you want me to show you how it's done?"

"I'm trying to learn how to put it on, not take it off, thanks." He could hear her mumble something as she kicked the door and walked away. "_Seriously though, how does this work_?" Minato left the bathroom five minutes later, feeling great after having figured out how to combine everything to conceive a proper butler outfit. For some reason, it didn't feel much different from his school uniform…

The bluenet found Hamuko a few steps away, glossing her lips in front of a big mirror. She was wearing her maid outfit already.

"Oh, hey there." Minato was staring at her with a weird face. "…Do you need to use the mirror?"

"Please, tell me you haven't changed clothes here."

"Um, hello? This is the waitresses' dresser…"

"I-I could have come out of the bathroom earlier and seen you-!"

"Nah, you wouldn't do that." She kept applying the lipstick.

"I meant accidentally."

"Um, you didn't, right?" Hamuko made a "pop" sound with her lips a pair of times and then looked at him. He quickly shook his head. "Then what are you worrying about?" Minato furrowed his eyebrows. "…You didn't tie your bow tie well."

"I prefer it loose." He didn't tie properly the bow tie which came with the school uniform either.

"Well, I prefer not to work, but both you and I want to be paid." Despite Minato's attempts to try to back away from Hamuko, Hamuko stepped close and properly tied his bow..

"Seikatsu-chaaa—Oh." From the door's angle, the waitress could only see Hamuko's back. "Sorry for interrupting!"

"Huh?" The brunette turned around, hands still on Minato's bow tie. "Interrupting what?"

"Dohoho, nothing. Don't worry, I didn't see anything." Minato rubbed his temples, looking rather troubled, while Hamuko just looked at her coworker questioningly. "Oh, wait, aren't you her friend? The boy who keeps drinking Pheromone Coffee every night?" Before he could answer positively, she continued. "The one who broke our poor Hamuko-chan's hea-"

"MIMI-SENPAI, don't you have some work to do?" The waitress strolled out of the dresser after reminding them to hurry up.

"…Who's she?"

"Usagi, Mimi. Ignore her. In fact, ignore all the waitresses and the chef." Hamuko walked towards the door that led to the café. "They all are nuts and like inventing stories."

"That means they're your friends, right?"

Working in the café wasn't as awkward as Minato expected, but it still was. There was a large number of females who gave him interested looks as he served them. Hamuko kept teasing him about it every time they met in the kitchen. She also complained and about how her plan –apparently she did have a plan- was backfiring on her -even though the boy didn't seem to be enjoying having a fan club.

The waitresses made loud comments about Minato when he walked past them, only to be quickly reprimanded by Mimi, who had to explain the new situation –and then add a few crazy new facts to the existing story.

In the end, and despite the little competition the Fools began to see who was faster at serving and which ended with two broken teacups, Minato was accepted for the job. They arrived to the dorm minutes before midnight, feeling kind of closer than before.

"This is unrelated but… What picture did you show to the boss?" Crap. He hadn't forgotten. "Do you stalk me now or something?"

"Pssst yeah, I don't have anything better to do. I also filled your room with cameras, didn't you know?" Hamuko rolled her eyes. "It's in my room."

"I want to see it."

"…My room?" Minato face palmed.

"The photo, Hamuko. The photo."

"Buh, I'm too tired to go to my room and then down here to bring it and then go back there."

"Then I'll go there to see it." The girl sighed as she gave him an amused look.

"You're feeling bold today, huh?"

"Well, I have survived a night in Chagall with all those crazy ladies. I'm sure I can survive five minutes in your room."

"My, aren't you fast?"

"What do you-? …No more sick puns. **Please**."

They walked upstairs as silently as they could, taking even more care when they arrived to the third floor. "Stay here, alright?"

"Buh."

"Hey, I'd normally let you in here, but considering what you did last time you were in my room..."

"Should I remind you of all the things you have done in my room?"

"…Wanna help me look for the photo?" Minato walked in. "It was somewhere around here, wait a second." She began opening cupboards.

Contrary to what one would expect, their rooms were incredibly similar: they had just the necessary furniture, nothing more. Well, Hamuko had an actual use for bookshelves, but that was the only difference. It was a result of having travelled from one place to another –and from one parent to another- so much in such a short life…

"Nope. No. Can't be here… Aha!" As she found the picture, the lights went off. "Well. If that's not a sign that you shouldn't see this photo, I don't know what is."

"Good evening!"

"AAAAAAH!" Hamuko crashed against Minato, making both fall on her bed.

"Hamuko, I know I have said this many times since we met. It's probably becoming repetitive, meaningless even, but I swear I've never meant these words as much as I do now…" She looked down at him questioningly. "**GET**. **OFF**. **ME**."

"You two are funny!" The creepy child was beaming at them.

"Oh wait, it's just you." Hamuko rolled away from Minato and glared at the boy. "I mean, you used to be scary and all, but after meeting The Reaper… Well you know. Death is scarier than a creepy version of Casper." He shrugged at them.

"I'll take that in consideration." He sat on the empty spot on the bed between the two.

"Hamuko, don't give the creepy kid ideas." Said child began giggling.

"So, I came to see you as I promised. How are you?"

"Fine. Just doing the usual "Wake up, go to school, kick shadows' asses" stuff. And now we could use some sleep."

"That's nice." He stopped talking. He seemed to be trying to remember something. "In another week, the moon will be full again, and the next ordeal will be upon you. So, be careful."

"Okay, we have seven days to buy a lot of things to defeat another monster thing. Awesome! Thanks for telling us!" The boy got up from Hamuko's bed.

"I'll come again… Oh." He crouched down and picked up something. "I believe this is yours." He handed the photo to Hamuko –she had dropped it when the creepy child scared her- "Well, see ya." And so he disappeared.

"…I can't see the photo when the light coming from the moon is so dim…"

"Well, I guess you can either wait until tomorrow or stay here with me until the lights come back." She was pushed out of the room barely a second later. "Minato."

"What?"

"This is **my** room."

"Oh. I hope you like the corridor." And thus Minato's revenge for all the times Hamuko had barged into his room was complete.

Nah. It wasn't enough payback.

* * *

><p><strong>References, puns, and more puns in Japanese names. It's like being back to chapter 7! I mean… <strong>


	22. Investigation

**Author note: Whoa, it's already been two months since I began this fic? C'mon how many fics do you know which update as fast as this, huh huh? *3***

**Of course they're much better written than this one and much more interesting. Quantity over quality, anyone? ;n;**

**Oh also, it's been quite a while since I last pimped my Deviant Art account, SandraMJ. Go there if you want to see fic-related pictures, say hi, check out my comic or whatever you want.**

* * *

><p>"…Hamuko?" A voice was calling for the brunette. "…Why are you sleeping on the ground?" She yawned and rubbed her eyes. For some reason, she was sleeping right next to her door… That meant Minato was still occupying her room.<p>

"...I heard it's good for your back." Hamuko's spine disagreed.

"You know, I might have believed that… If you were sleeping in your room."

"Good point, detective Takeba." The red eyed girl's back cracked as she got up. "Err… I also heard that sleeping outside your room is good for socializing with your dorm mates. See? You talked to me; it means it worked! Now if you'll excuse me…" Hamuko began banging the door while her dorm mate looked at her like she was crazy. "You should go have breakfast. You don't want to arrive late at school, right?" Yukari stared at her for a few more seconds before walking away, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Open the door, damn it!"

"Do it yourself." Hamuko stared at the door. She cautiously took the handle and pushed it, opening the door slightly, only to find Minato sitting on her bed, eyes fixed on a rectangular piece of paper in his hands. It was the photo they were talking about the night before. "Sorry, there was no way I was answering while Yukari was near."

"Was the door opened all night long?"

"Yes. How was I supposed to lock it? I don't have the key of this room." Hamuko sat down next to him. She seemed to be rather amused by the situation. "I was ready to escape before you figured it out, but then I saw this." Minato pointed to the picture he was holding. In it, Hamuko was hugging Minato from behind, with her arms surrounding his neck. The red tint on his cheeks was obvious as he stared at the brunette, who smiled at him sheepishly. The words "April 27th" could be read at the right bottom corner of the picture. "I didn't know you were keeping a printed version of this."

"I… Err… It's just there to remind me of old times… In case the one in my phone gets deleted or something…" Hamuko became very interested in her shoes while Minato chuckled.

"A hug could make me blush back then…"

"Congratulations, you've become much harder to impress." The blue haired boy had a nostalgic smile on his face. "…Do you want a copy?"

"Eh—? N-no, why would I?"

"Because you look pretty good in there."

"I always look pretty good." Minato smiled smugly. "Now, hurry up or you'll be late." He left the photo on Hamuko's desk and walked out of her room, making sure that no girl saw him while walking downstairs.

"…" Once Hamuko realized she had fallen asleep with her school uniform on, she headed out of her room.

Yukari talked all day long about that investigation of hers. She somehow managed to drag every sophomore from S.E.E.S. into helping her, setting Friday as the last day they had to find information. The methods she used to get them to cooperate were all very different: Junpei and Hamuko were coerced into helping whereas in Minato's case, she only had to ask nicely. Unlike what happened with the promise he made to the old couple to find out about the persimmon tree, he was actually bothering to do some research.

"Toady..." Hamuko whispered as she walked past Minato, earning a glare from the boy. He had been trying to ask Kenji for information regarding the gossip, but the brunet somehow ended up talking about women. That inspired Minato to look for Yuko and invite her to Wakatsu.

Yuko ate an ungodly amount of fish in the restaurant. Apparently, being a big eater was a recurring thing among his female friends. They talked a bit about food, and Minato discovered that his friend was worried about her eating habits.

"I think that I eat too much…"

"I don't think you do." Minato munched a roll of tuna. If someone had told him hardly two months ago that he would be eating sushi to become smarter…

"Right! I just eat more than your average girl." He opened his mouth to say something against that statement, but then he reconsidered it and decided that Hamuko didn't count as average. "I'm sure I burn off the extra calories during practice!" They fell into a comfortable silence. "You live in the dorm, right Minato-kun? Not to pry but… You must love being around good looking girls…" Good God, yet another friend asking about his relationships in the dorm…

"They're nothing compared to you, Yuko…" A flirtatious smile appeared on Minato's face as he observed Yuko through half-lidded eyes. Wait. Where the hell did that come from? That wasn't what Minato was thinking… But anyway, she seemed pretty impressed.

"Wow, you're a dangerous combination: a smooth talker and a handsome guy." She said something about telling the compliment to someone, but Minato was busy fretting about what the hell had made him speak like that. When he came back to his senses, Yuko was still talking. "I've decided! I'm gonna stop eating between meals! My first goal is to tone up my arms! Did you hear that, Minato-kun? You're my witness." Well, Strength Social Link level 3 and what not.

"_Apparently Yuko thinks of me as someone she can easily confide things to… But nothing mo—Now seriously, where the fuck is this coming from? …Maybe I spend too much time with Hamuko._"

"Oh, shoot! It's already this late?" Minato checked his mobile phone. It was really getting late.

"Let's go, alright?" Yuko seemed glad to leave, as she didn't want to break her promise to herself and ask for some more food; Minato was glad to leave as yet again his friend decided to pay.

When Minato arrived to the dorm, he found Junpei playing a videogame on his COMPP while Hamuko read a book. Both were sprawled all over the sofas in the lounge, taking advantage of the fact that no other resident of the dorm was there.

"Hi there." Hamuko moved on to the next page. She flinched as she read it.

"What are you reading?" Minato walked towards her. "Magical Witch Detective Saga: Sunrise?"

"So bad it's horrible." The girl kept making weird faces as her eyes scanned the page. "It's like a badly written fan fiction of a stupidly popular saga."

"Then why are you reading it?"

"'Cause she couldn't eat ten popsicles without getting her brain frozen." Junpei snickered as the girl sighed.

"No. That's impossible. I mean, if Hamuko had a brain she'd have known better than to bet on that." Hamuko's new book may have been horrible to read, but it slammed into Minato's face perfectly.

"Hamu-chan, you gotta read it all."

"…No. I give up. Jun-kun, you don't have to help me looking into the ghost story. …But I expect a rematch!" He celebrated it laughing proudly. "So, Minato…" She cooed. "Can you share some info with me?"

"I would but… This thing told me not to tell you." Minato threw the book back at her. "I haven't really found anything."

"Then what about we do some investigation together tomorrow?"

"I have to go to practice."

"Then we'll investigate on Thursday. Or wait, do all the research by yourself, I'm sure you can manage alone."

"Yukari will get mad if she hears you haven't helped. And you don't want that to happen."

"Wait, wait, WAIT. You mean she can be even worse than she already is?" Hamuko bit her lower lip as she thought about what to do. "Okay. We'll meet tomorrow after practice." She jumped out of the sofa and walked towards the one where Junpei was lying. "_Jun-kun, if you see Yukari, tell her to go to the café._"

"_Gotcha_." They gave each other a thumbs-up before the Fools headed to Iwatodai Station.

Both teens were reprimanded that night at work. They had begun working late because Minato refused to walk out of the bathroom for as long as Hamuko was in the contiguous room, and she refused to leave the dresser unless he left with her.

Yukari didn't show up at all…

* * *

><p>Junpei and Hamuko walked to school together that morning.<p>

"Dude, Yukari is getting obsessed with this ghost stuff. Last night she spent hours on the computer, rantin' about how she couldn't find anything on the message boards. It was weird."

"She's just desperately trying to believe that the ghost story isn't real."

"Do you think it is?"

"Err…" She couldn't tell him that she knew that ghosts existed thanks to a little ghost boy who visited Minato and her every once in a blue moon. "…It's a probable story, so if Minato and I haven't finished our research by midnight, tell everyone that the ghost ate us."

"Eaten by a ghost? Sounds like an awesome alibi." Junpei had a creepy smirk in his face. "But, doing "research" in school? Seriously?"

"...What?"

Afternoon arrived and both teens went to their respective practices. Hamuko couldn't grow any closer to Rio; the black haired captain pretty much forced her to focus on tennis all the afternoon, despite Hamuko's attempt to start a conversation about Kenji. Minato, on the other hand, couldn't find Kazushi anywhere.

"Minato-kun, I just got a text message from Kaz. It's for you, but he doesn't know your address." Well, that was weird. The boy called him every so often, asking Minato to hang out –the bluenet usually had already planned something, so he had to reject his invitations- "It says "Come to Iwatodai Station." What is he thinking? He skipped practice today, too!" Once practice was over, Minato decided to go to Iwatodai. Kazushi was sitting on the stairs leading to the train platform, a serious look in his face.

"Yuko's mad at you." Minato's voice startled Kazushi.

"She's pissed off because I missed practice, huh?" He sighed. "I should've told you before, but… Um… The results… Apparently, my hamstring is getting ripped apart…"

"Ouch." The bluenet got a painful mental image.

"Ouch? Dude! The doctor said if I keep this up I won't be able to walk anymore!" Kazushi looked really annoyed. "And all you say is "Ouch"?"

"You're Kazushi Miyamoto. The freaking star of the Track Team and future leader… Unless I get that title." "_I'm helping a guy destroy his knee. …I'm the best friend ever._"

"What? No way man!" The tanned boy seemed suddenly fired up. "I won't let you do that!"

"Then, you know what to do." Minato had a smug smile on his face.

"You're right, man! Every minute, every second is critical! I don't have time to waste complaining about my knee!" He got up from the stairs with some difficulty. "I won't let you defeat me! I promised to be the number one athlete in Japan!"

"You did?" Kazushi nodded slowly. He looked rather sad.

"My nephew got into an accident and his leg got messed up… He can't walk right now… But if he goes through rehab, he might be able to recover! He says it hurts too much, though, so he doesn't want to do it… He's only five. There are so many things he's never done…" Kazushi's words were hitting hard on Minato's heart. That kid could have been him. Minato could have been crippled, if not dead, in the accident which killed his parents, but he was right there, talking… "I made a deal with my nephew that –don't laugh, alright- if I become number one in Japan, he'll go through rehab. So, I have to win this meet to make it to nationals."

"Disregarding what I said before… How do you plan to defeat every athlete in Japan if your knee is so badly hurt?"

"I can't worry about that now." He tried to smile. "Sorry for all the trouble I've caused you… Especially the depressing conversations…"

"Hey, feel free to tell me whatever. I'll always be supporting you; otherwise, who else could you compete with?" As Minato finished the sentence, he realized that it was meant for another rival of his... Anyway, what he really meant was "I'll be supporting you for as long as your Social Link levels up", and it didn't disappoint. The Chariot Social Link reached level 6, becoming the one with the highest level so far. How many levels could friendships reach?

"Hey, Yuko seems to figure out things pretty quickly, so she might say something to you, but… Tell her to talk directly to me. I don't wanna put you in the middle of this, Minato. I'm just gonna chill out here for a while. Later, Minato."

The bluenet was going to go back to the dorm, but then he remembered about the plans he had made with Hamuko.

"Hey, where you been?" Hamuko ran towards Minato when she saw him approaching the school gates. "Ready for some investigation?" He nodded and walked towards the school building. "Oh wait. Wait a second, Minato."

"What?"

"You got any plans for Sunday?"

"Um… No." A smile appeared on Hamuko's face. "Why?"

"You have to ask Kenji to hang around. I'll bring Rio."

"Do you want to be a matchmaker?" She nodded. "…It's not a good idea…"

"Do you want to hear about Ms. Kanou every day until you leave school?"

"…You know, it suddenly seems an awesome plan."

"See? I can be very persuasive!" Hamuko didn't seem to know what that phrase usually meant. It was probably for the best.

They walked into the school, but there weren't any students in its corridors anymore. It wasn't completely dark, yet the place still was still eerily creepy when it was empty

"There's no one here we can ask, about the rumors. We should go to the dorm."

"Nope!" Minato gave his investigation partner an inquisitive look. "Look, you're trying to prove that the ghost story is fake, right? Then the best way to check it is to follow the steps of the victim!"

"The steps… Are you saying we should stay here until dark to see if a ghost appears and tries to eat us?"

"Yup! But, if that happens, I brought a triumph card!" Hamuko left her schoolbag on the ground and began looking for something in it. "Aha!" She brought out her evoker.

"…You know that you'll be in a lot of trouble if Senpai finds out you bring that to school, right?"

"What do you think we do every time we go to Tartarus?" She chuckled as she hid the fake weapon in one of her pockets. "Now we just have to wait until it gets dark! If no ghost appears, we go to Paulownia with the reassurance that there are no ghosts; if the ghost appears, we kill it with fire and go to Paulownia with exorcist bragging rights. It's a win-win situation!"

"Huh. Alright." They fell into a thick silence.

"So what do we do until it gets dark?"

"I don't know, you're the one who had this idea. Come up with something." Hamuko opened her mouth to speak. "On a second thought, let me do the thinking; I don't want to know what you'd come up with." The brunette got visibly angry.

"I was gonna suggest getting some food, asshole!" She stomped her way downstairs and reappeared a few minutes later carrying a bag of melon bread. Minato looked at her questioningly, positive about the fact that the store was closed at that hour. "I… Rescued it."

"From who?"

"From the average Japanese student." She opened the bag and began eating its contents. "By the way, I think we're locked in here."

"WHAT?"

"Relax, I don't mean locked as "locked with a key" but locked as "there're two guards wandering around the entrance so walking out of here is going to be difficult"."

"WHY are you so calm?"

"Because I got food before they arrived!" The boy smacked his hand against his forehead, leaving a red print on it. "Bread?"

The hours passed by slowly. They only walked around when a guard was near, and that wasn't often. It was about time to leave to go to work and there was no trace of a ghost.

"I'm bored."

"Me too. We should go to Paulownia now."

"Man, I expected something way more awesome than this." Hamuko sighed. "You know like… An Akuma trying to steal our bodies, or an inugami coming to the attack… Oh! Oh! A beautiful moment of bonding as the magical danger approaches, which would give our relationship a one hundred and eighty degrees flip making the story end with me being pregnant of a creepy child who would try to eat me!"

Minato stared at Hamuko with a blank expression. "Okay, that sounded crazy even for you."

"Sorry about that, I'm having abstinence syndrome from yesterday's book." She shuddered. "I'd really be up for some "growing closer" stuff, though."

"Maybe next time." They began walking downstairs, heading towards the main hall.

"Whoa, that wasn't an outright "no"."

"E-eh… My new tactic is reverse psychology."

"Really?" She smirked. "Wait, how can I know you aren't actually the ghost and you have possessed Minato to flirt with me and have the aforementioned creepy child?"

"Try thinki—OOF." Both teens ran into something. Their hopes of having crashed against a wall were lost upon noticing a police uniform.

* * *

><p>"Look at the bright side…"<p>

Minato and Hamuko were sitting on the back of the police station of Paulownia Mall, right next to the room where Officer Kurosawa kept all the weapons available for S.E.E.S. The stern looking officer was glaring at them. 'His body language - the folded arms and tapping foot - gave away his hidden impatience.

"…At least we haven't had to walk all the way here!"

"There is no bright side to this, kid." Kurosawa's deep voice startled Hamuko. "You two are in big trouble: the guard who brought you said you were caught in school, where you were probably doing unscrupulous things, and you attacked him upon discovery." There was an unison "what?" from both teens.

"Unscrupulous things?"

"Attacked him?" They shared incredulous looks.

"The guard wrong: first of all, we didn't attack him; we just accidentally crashed into him. Second of all, we weren't doing any "unscrupulous activities"; we were in the middle of a very important investigation, which would probably help our team." Minato didn't sound like his usual self.

"Was this "investigation" authorized by Kirijo-san?"

"Of course." The officer narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be trying to stare into Minato's soul.

"…Very well, you're free for now. But I don't want anything like this happening again, understood?" They nodded and walked towards Chagall.

"Was it really authorized by Senpai?"

"No, but he didn't know that." The bluenet smirked at Hamuko, who looked flabbergasted.

"You lied to a policeman?" She wrapped an arm around his shoulder, giving him a friendly squeeze. "You're going to make a great lawyer."

* * *

><p><strong>It doesn't matter what work I'm doing, be it a fan fiction or my comic; I just have to insert a lawyer joke somewhere. <strong>


	23. Sharing knowledge

**Author Note: this chapter took ridiculously long to write. And it sucks.**

**And I can't give proper titles anymore ;A; Oh also, have I mentioned DarkZorel and mine's Persona 4 parody, Persona 4gotten? It's in my dA gallery. It's written by DarkZorel and the art is by me, and it's becoming fairly popular, so give it a look if you have time.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>After a long Literature class, lunch break arrived. For once Hamuko wasn't focused on getting food and kill time until classes resumed; she was busy glaring daggers at Yukari, who was a few steps away. Her cardigan wearing friend seemed unaware of the red eyes fixed on her. "Hnnng…"<p>

"At risk of regretting having asked this… Why are you looking at Yukari like that, Hamuko?"

"I'm trying to evil-eye her." As much as the brunette narrowed her eyes, Takeba still seemed unaffected. "It's… Not… Working…" She huffed and folded her arms. "This morning we walked to school together. She bragged about how much info she had about the case, and when I asked her to share, she told me find out everything by myself! Rah, come on! What does she think we were doing yesterday?"

"Pointlessly wander around school? Getting arrested? …Whatever Junpei told her we were doing?"

"No! We busted a myth!" Hamuko raised her arms on the air. "And what the hell does she have against us going to Chagall in the evening? She's so annoying!" She could feel Minato's annoyed gaze. "Ignore the last part…" He shook his head. "So aren't you going to say anything to help me cheer up and make up with Yukari?"

"Hurry up and get shit done before tomorrow's interrogation. Go back to being best friends."

"Can we do that together?" He frowned as he realised what she was trying to do. "Tell me your secrets…" She shook his arm desperately.

"No."

"I'll pay you." She had just said the magic words. "Five hundred yen."

"Two thousand."

"One thousand!"

"I'm not haggling on this."

"One thousand and I owe you a big one?" Hamuko put her hands together in front of her face and smiled at him sheepishly. "Pleeeease?"

"…Make that a thousand and five hundred. And I won't forget to ask for something else!" Minato glanced away as the brunette began squealing in delight. She looked for her purse and handed him the money without hesitation. "You're so gullible..." He stuffed the banknotes into his pocket. "If you pay upfront, you're just throwing your money away." Minato realized how ironic the situation was: it was just like what the shady businessman in Paulownia was doing with him. Well, what goes around comes around… And in this case, money.

"What? No no no no no no, gimme the information I asked for!" Hamuko began throwing a fit. Minato got annoyed, but then he had a great idea.

"…You have to ask properly."

"…!" The brunette stared at him wide eyed. Something told her that the situation had to do with that old saying 'you reap what you sow'. "…Can you tell me what you know, Minato, please?"

"Minato-sama."

"Screw you." …Fifteen hundred yen wasn't enough to make her swallow her pride.

Lunch break came to an end. Hamuko realized that she had completely forgotten about getting any food. Fortunately, Junpei offered to buy her some food later, and informed her that he needed to tell her something important. After school, they headed to Paulownia and sat on a bench after buying some snacks. They began talking –or rather ranting- about their day.

"Minato's a jerk. Jerk jerk jerk." Hamuko devoured her bag of chips as she spoke. "I swear, I hate him so much sometimes..."

"H-Hey, calm down and enjoy the food." Junpei gave her a forced grin as he patted her shoulder.

"You're right, sorry. Oh and thanks for inviting me!" For some reason, the boy with a goatee kept staring at her while she ate. "'Sup?" He didn't answer. "…Are you that worried about me?"

"Err… What do you think I'm worried about?"

"…Me choking?" He pressed his lips together and frowned. He seemed to be trying to look for correct words.

"So you really haven't heard about it…" Hamuko knitted her eyebrows. She was beginning to be the worried one. "You'll get mad if I tell you…"

"Junpei, whatever it is, just tell me, alright? I promise I won't get mad."

He inhaled deeply. "Yesterday I found out that supposedly, there are some photos of you going around." Her eyes widened. "They aren't weird photos or anything! They're of you in your tennis clothes… Another girl's in them, too, but you're right up in the center, so… I think that whoever took them was aiming specifically at you."

"I see." Hamuko kept munching the crunchy chips. She didn't seem very pleased by what Junpei had just told her. "How do you know this?"

"One of the guys in a different class found it. He came over to me and was like "Isn't this the girl in your dorm?" I took that copy away from him, but the original's still somewhere out there…"

"Wait. If you have seen them they aren't "supposedly" going around!" Hamuko was a bit more troubled now. "Someone took them during tennis practice? No one's ever there…" "_Unless… Kenji?_"

"Well, at least this means you must be really popular!"

"…Yeah! But nobody likes creepy stalkers. That's a bit too much attention…" As she said this, she noticed a familiar voice coming from somewhere nearby, but she couldn't put her finger on whose voice it was.

"Oh well, don't worry then! I'll find that guy and kick his ass for you!" Hamuko thanked him and they joined fists. Magician Social Link level 5!

"Out of curiosity, Jun-kun." Red eyes were fixed on Junpei's black ones. "What did you do with the copy you got?"

"Eh… Heheh… Want more chips?" Hamuko had a feeling that she was better off without an answer.

"…Because being a team manager isn't easy. You won't have time to be sticking gum on the shoe rack." A voice interrupted her thoughts. Team manager? Of course, the familiar voice was Yuko's! Hamuko turned around to say hi to her –and to try and forget what Junpei had just implied- but the sight of a boy with indigo hair made her change her opinion and turn back towards Junpei quickly, pretending not to have seen him. That didn't mean she wasn't paying attention to his conversation, though.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." The girl saying that seemed really nervous about the accusation.

"Of course, it was just an example. What's wrong, did I say something to offend you?" Hamuko, despite not having an idea of what was going on, cheered on for Yuko in her head.

"N-no."

"H-Hey we should get going now." The brunette saw the girls off from her bench.

"Who are they?" Junpei was quickly hushed by her.

"…Let's go sit down."

"OH CRAP, they're coming here!" Hamuko began panicking.

"Who's coming here?"

"We don't have enough time to hide! What do we do?"

"But what are ya-?" Seeing sophomores were close enough to recognize her, Hamuko stole Junpei's cap and put it over her face, like a mask. "My cap!" Junpei's crew cut had been exposed. "I feel naked without it, give it back!" When Minato walked past them, the only thing he saw was an idiot with a cap on her face and a moron's back as he tried to steal the cap from her. He went on doing his best not to stare and sat with Yuko on a contiguous bench.

"So spying on Minato, huh? Weren't we talking about stalkers just now?" Hamuko turned her head away, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Minato-kun; I didn't mean to get you involved…" Yuko was looking at him with an apologetic smile.

"No worries." He smiled back.

"…Thanks. Maybe I should tell you like, the whole story… That girl with black shocks… She went to the same middle school as me…" She paused. "Back then, there was this boy on the basketball team who asked me out and we started dating. But, he was seeing her at the same time!"

"Let me guess." Minato spoke with a comprehensive voice –which Hamuko hadn't heard in a very long time. "She blamed you, even though you weren't at fault?"

"Yes, she blamed me just because I was the team manager… That makes no sense at all! …That gum on my shoes… It was probably her. She still holds a grudge…" At this point, Hamuko considered that maybe she shouldn't be eavesdropping. "…By the way, I'm sorry they called you my boyfriend… Are you mad?"

"I'm honored." That had just made eavesdropping worth the risk. Hamuko took the cap off her face and slammed it on Junpei's head. Her jaw dropped as she saw Minato's take Yuko's hand and plant a kiss on it.

"_Okay. No. No no no. __**No**__. That ain't Minato. That can't be Minato Arisato. It's just an emo guy with blue hair who happens to be called Minato and knows Yuko_." She could see Yuko blushing, but she was too busy ranting to herself to catch the manager's words. "_Minato doesn't act like that… Or is he cold just to me?"_

"_Okay. No. That was definitely not me_. _I was gonna say that I'm used to being paired with the wrong people!_" Minato had just scared himself. It felt like someone had spoken in his place and then took control of him. The first explanation for all this that he could think of was the personas. The second explanation was that it was all contracted from Hamuko. He seriously needed a psychologist or maybe just talk with Hamuko about it…

"…People will think we ARE dating if they see you doing these kind of things… I don't mind, though." Yuko was back to blushing. As Minato's sight became unfocused, probably because of the creepy voices.

Hamuko got up and walked out of the mall. It was best to leave them alone. Minato noticed someone with bushy brown hair gathered on a messy bun rushing out of the shopping centre. "_Was that Hamuko just now? Was she spying me?" _He smirked to himself._ "Is she jealous because she has seen that?_" Minato stopped to think about what he had just thought. _"…I think I can see why she likes teasing me.._"

"Hey, Minato-kun." The bluenet snapped out of his thoughts. "Don't tell Kaz or anyone about the story; you're the only one who knows." Whatever, he was like a walking dump for secrets. "By the way… That guy I was going out with… I broke up with him a long time ago!" There was an awkward silence. "You probably figured that out already, huh? S-See ya later." Yuko ran away, embarrassed after her not so subtle hint.

Minato decided to go back to the dorm after checking the requests in the Velvet Room again. There were a few requests about to end, namely getting a handheld system, three Old Lanterns and the second Old Document. The one asking for a triangular sword was about to end as well, but he had completed it. That meant he needed to go to Tartarus to get some of those things. Hamuko probably had the handheld, so she'd ask her to trade again.

Once in the dorm, Minato found Hamuko watching TV alone on the armchair, eyes fixed on the screen as if the anime which was playing was the most interesting thing in the world –maybe it was, Minato would never know.

"Hi." She went back to staring at the old television. Being so distant was not usual of Hamuko, even when she was zombified by electronic machines, and the thought of that being how she acted when she was jealous amused Minato. Maybe he could tease her a bit.

"Hey. How was your afternoon?"

"Good, I had dinner with Junpei."

"Where did you go?"

"…Hagakure."

"And did you spend all afternoon there?" Minato knew that his friend was anything but psychic, but it was obvious that she could tell he knew something. Probably he had messed up when asking about her afternoon.

"…I'm still angry at you for your scam."

"It wasn't a scam; I taught you a valuable life lesson." He smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Is that all?"

Hamuko raised an eyebrow at that question. She was now positive that she had being caught "overhearing" Minato and Yuko's conversation.

"What else would there be?"

"Oh, I don't know. You could have lost a bet… Read more of that book… Maybe you could be angry at someone... Or maybe jealous." They eyed each other carefully.

"I was the one who helped you get Yuko! I wouldn't be jealous because you act all lovey dovey with her!" Hamuko jumped to her feet as she yelled at him. She realized that her over-the-top denial gave it away; however, there was no point in pretending anymore.

"I spend most of the day with you, we don't use honorifics, we have spent nights in each others' room –and we have kissed, but we better forget about that… Why would you be jealous?"

She was about to mention that she didn't like being treated differently... But then he cut her off.

"We're just friends!"

"…What 'we' are you talking about?"

The brunette put her face right in front of his and looked at him in the eye. Barely a second later, her gaze dropped to the ground alongside the words she was about to say. The only things in the world capable to leave her speechless were Minato and his cold cobalt eyes, so different from her warm crimson ones. Even when there was some genuine concern and curiosity in those calm blue orbs, they seemed to be trying to stare into her soul. They didn't hurt, but they were certainly unnerving… Just like that creepy child's.

"I don't know."

"…I thought you would have already worked that out."

"It's not that easy."

"I tried to help you once." Her gaze gradually travelled upwards, until it was back in its initial point, clashing against Minato's. "Would you like an encore?"

"Get a room!" That was Junpei walking into the lounge with a bowl of noodles while their faces were a bit too close. They quickly turned away from each other. Hamuko slumped back on her seat and gave Minato a troubled look.

"…Keep thinking about it." She sighed. "So like, I'm still waiting for the info, you know?"

"I'll give it to you if you do well in Tartarus tonight."

"You wanna go to Tartarus? And you say it like that?"

"It's just a re**quest**."

Hamuko mouthed an "oh" and nodded in agreement.

The exploration was rather dull. The Old Lanterns were kept by shadows which looked like ghosts and weren't a big threat at their current level. They also found the second Old Document on the 28th floor, as well as the second barricade. Hamuko had the luck of getting it first and trading it to Minato for information about the ghost. She'd be ready for Yukari's interrogation!

They also got some new personas, such as Oberon and Fortuna. Old ones like Apsaras and Sylph felt more and more distant, and they discovered they were becoming incredibly hard to summon. Minato commented it to Elisabeth after showing his three old lanterns to her, and she kindly explained that that was the very purpose of the Persona Compendium: to remember the Personae which the Fools would eventually forgot in favor of new and better ones. That way, if they ever needed to recover a forgotten Persona, they'd just have to ask their respective assistant and, for a small fee, it would be theirs.

* * *

><p>"So, today is Friday!" Yukari smiled at her classmates. "Did you three ask around?"<p>

"Don't look at me! Hamu-chan's the one in charge of my part."

"I have all the info you need!" The brunette smiled. "We won't disappoint you."

"Great, then we'll meet in the lounge after school. Don't forget!"

"Yes, ma'am…" Yukari walked away, and everyone exchanged annoyed glances –except Minato who was happily sleeping on his table.

Once the bell rang, marking the end of the school day, a certain silver haired boy walked into 2-F. Practically all the female students in his path gawked at him or squealed like the fan girls they were.

"Hey, there." They all seemed dumbstruck to see Akihiko talking to Hamuko so casually. "I have nothing to do this afternoon; do you want to go jogging with me?"

"Jogging? Sure, sounds fun!" It actually sounded more like overkill, but Social Links are Social Links.

"Nice, I'll see if Minato wants to join us!" Akihiko ran towards the bluenet and asked him to join them. Thinking that Minato was going to skip practice to do special training with their senpai, Kazushi decided to tag along.

They ran all the way from school to Naganaki Shrine through the Moonlight Bridge. Cars drove at high speed through both sides of the road, ignorant of the accident which happened there ten years before. Not like half of the group of joggers were much more aware than them.

"L-Let's take a short break..." Everyone was pretty tired, especially Kazushi, who had to endure both the pain and the exhaustion.

"Y-You're giving up a-already?" The future Track Team captain was really forcing himself too much, but that was what he had chosen and Minato respected it.

"Well, I'm a boxer not a racer." Both sportsmen began laughing together.

"Minato, Hamuko!" A child was calling for them. "It's you guys! Yay!" As Maiko approached the group, Hamuko silently gave up her hopes of deepening her relationship with Akihiko that day.

"Hi Maiko-chan." Minato waved his hand at her. "I'm sorry we haven't had much time to play with you, but we're very busy with school." Hamuko and Minato turned towards Akihiko and Kazushi and gave them begging glances.

"Hey, if you're here with your friends don't worry about me; I'm not alone today! I'm playing tag with Striped Shirt! But I can't find him… Tell me if you see him, okay?" Maiko ran away from the teens, who began wondering who that "Striped Shirt" was.

"Is she a friend of yours?" Akihiko eyed the girl as she ran around the shrine.

"She's almost like a sister to me."

"A sister, huh…?" Sorrow was obvious in his eyes. "Let's go back to training."

"Agaaain?" Hamuko whined.

"When you agreed to come running with me, you should have known that I was talking about doing more than just running!" He pointed towards the horizontal bar in the children's zone where Maiko usually played. "C'mon everyone, you have to do a back hip circle." No one saw that coming. "I'll start!" Akihiko ran towards the horizontal bar and grabbed it. He hanged upside down for a moment and then swung backwards in a full circle. He then jumped off the bar as if he had done the simplest thing in the world. "Your turn."

"Err… OH! I'm wearing a skirt! Sorry Senpai, maybe next time!"

"_Since when has that ever stopped you?_" Minato snickered as Hamuko nudged his ribcage.

"Don't worry; it's probably too dangerous for you, anyway." The brunette's jaw fell open at that statement. What was he exactly implying? "You?" Akihiko pointed at Kazushi.

"I don't know how to do a back flip." He actually did, but one thing was bearing the pain he got when he ran and a very different thing was destroying his knee acting like an idiot.

"Minato." That was not a question. It was an order. As usual, Aki felt free to command his leader when they weren't in Tartarus. He was older, after all.

The bluenet walked towards the bar and stared at it. If it had been solid enough to stand his senpai, it could perfectly hold its weight and it didn't seem slippery. Minato jumped onto the bar and sat on it, trying to keep balance as he put his hands down on the metal.

"You gonna do a flip or a frog leap?" Minato did his best not to glare at Akihiko and glanced instead at the others. Hamuko was giving him a thumbs up while Kaz was cheering on him and encouraging him to try and stand on his hands. Akihiko made handstands on a bar seem very simple, but Minato discovered it was actually incredibly complex. His arms began to fail and he lost balance, swinging backwards perchance. The acrobatics would have been perfect, hadn't he fallen rather unceremonially to the ground halfway through the flip. Hamuko ran towards him and crouched down next to him to see if he was okay. He had only scrapped his chin a bit.

"Not bad!" The silver haired boy was laughing. "We gotta improve that landing." Akihiko patted Minato's shoulder as he helped him up. While he was cleaning the dust on his shirt, something began tugging his arm.

"Are you okay?" It was Maiko again. "I was about to catch Striped Shirt but then you fell and I got worried!"

As the child finished her phrase, a boy of approximately the same age as the rest of the group –if not a bit older- walked towards Minato and Hamuko. He had long beige hair and a pale face with prominent cheekbones which only remarked the dark circles under his grey eyes. He was wearing a dress shirt with blue and white strips, combined with black trousers. It wasn't a very appropriate outfit for the almost imminent summer… He had that… Aura social links had.

"I'm sure he's fine, otherwise he'd be complaining." Hamuko smiled at the little girl. "Who's your friend?"

"He's Striped Shirt!"

"…Oh. Because of his striped shirt, right?" No one made a comment about that question.

"…And you are?" The sick-looking boy seemed to be going through a great pain just by talking. "Wait; are you those guys she's always talking about? I wondered what you were like..." He stared at them. "Are you "too old" to play with kids, or are you still young at heart?" Before anyone could answer –or rather before they could ask what did he mean- Maiko began yelling.

"Hey, I'm hungry! I want takoyaki! Takoyaki!" They agreed to buy her some. "You can eat with us too, Striped Shirt!"

"Nah, I'm okay, thanks." His coughs said right the opposite. "I'll see you guys around." And with that he left. Maiko informed them that he usually visited the shrine on Sunday.

"Can we have takoyaki now?"

Hamuko loved the child's idea. "Can we, Senpai?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. We'll keep continue training another day." Hamuko and Maiko high-fived. "Hey, take good care of her, alright? You have to be strong to protect the ones you care for…" Akihiko's voice seemed to tremble as he asked his kohai to protect Maiko. Hamuko guessed that there had to be a reason for this, and that he probably didn't let everyone see it. Seeing a glimpse of that interior, however, was enough for her to feel closer to Akihiko. The Star Social Link reached level 2 somehow.

Everyone left the shrine together. Akihiko walked away to keep training and Kazushi headed to… Wherever he lived. The Fools bought some of that weird takoyaki from Octopia in Iwatodai and sat together on a bench at Maiko's request –Minato actually wanted to stand away from the girls. The little girl seemed infatuated with the food, so the teens had time to talk about their own things.

"So how much money did you find last night, Minato?"

"Somewhere around fifteen thousand yen. That'd make twenty four thousand with the money from the café and almost thirty thousand with the money which remained from the exploration before this one."

"Aw, so you will only have to work with me one more week?" He nodded. "Nooo! I'll miss you a lot!"

"Hmmm… Maybe I could keep working a bit longer." Hamuko shouted a "yay" and embraced him. "H-Hey cut it out; I meant that more money is always good."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure that's just what you meant… And I'm just hugging you because it's getting cold, so don't get any ideas." Minato rolled her eyes at her. As he did so, he noticed Maiko's stare.

"B'aw, you look so cute like that! So, are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" Both Minato and Hamuko exchanged shocked glances as the brunette freed the boy. How do you explain to a little girl that there's positively no painfully obvious romantic undertones in a one-way friendly hug?

"S-So, how is that takoyaki?" …You don't.

"It's so hot that I might burn up!" The girl was distracted again with the takoyaki, a fact that brought both teens relief. "I remember one time Dad burned his mouth on this takoyaki! ...Cause I put too many in his mouth at once. He was like 'Fungaaaaah!'" While Minato was thinking about what a nice sound effect that was, Maiko saddened. "…Dad doesn't spend as much time as home anymore these days. But I have a birthday soon. Oh, do you think he'll come home for my birthday"

"Of course he will, Maiko-chan! No dad would forget about their child's birthday!"

"Y-You think so?" Minato nodded at Maiko. She seemed to feel happier. "I mean, I know Mom will buy me presents, but still… She hasn't asked me what I want yet."

"So what would you like?"

"I… I would ask them not to get divorced! If they really loved me they wouldn't get divorced!" She began pouting. "You will never get divorced, right?"

"We're not-"

"Of course not, Minato and I love each other a lot." Minato gaped at Hamuko and she shrugged. She was only telling Maiko what she wanted to hear. That proved to be useful when the Hanged Man Social Link reached level 3. Maiko mentioned something about laundry day and ran away.

"…" The bluenet looked slightly bothered. "…Weren't we supposed to meet up with Yukari today?" They rushed to the dorm, where the rest of sophomores were gathered and waiting for them.

"'Bout time you arrived." Yukari sighed and shook her head. "Well, as I was saying… It turns out no ghost was involved." She wasn't telling anything new.

"Oh, so THAT'S what's important, huh?" Junpei snickered.

"Hmph. First off, let's talk about how this rumour got started... Since the girl was found on school grounds, there's at least one similarity to the ghost story. But, why did the rumour spread so fast, if this was the first time anything happened?"

"Because it wasn't the first time." Minato jumped into the conversation. "It was in fact the third victim…"

"Correct!" Yukari nodded, content with his answer. "But yeah, I was surprised when I found out the reason... Over the next few days, there were two more similar incidents. All three victims had to be hospitalized. No wonder people were talking. Next, the victims are in different classes, and they don't seem to be connected. However, they did have one thing in common. What was it?"

"And now for one million yen, what's the answer, Hamu-chan?"

"They hanged out together!"

"Wait, didn't you just say they weren't connect-?"

"Exactly!" Yukari interrupted Minato's words, probably just so she wouldn't have to recognise her contradiction. "Not just once or twice, either. They got in with a bad crowd, and were always out late. It can't be just a coincidence... So, to find out what happened, we're gonna do some field research." Bad crowd plus being out late plus field research could only mean one place…

"Do you plan to go to the outskirts of Port Island Station?" Minato seemed shocked at Yukari's idea. "You can't go there! It's too dangerous!"

"Nonsense, I've been there. It's a nice place, just a bit creepy." Everyone gave Hamuko a weird look, even though her words didn't really surprise them. Of course they didn't know that by "I've been there" she meant "I briefly visited it some days ago." "But if you're not brave enough to come along…"

"C'mon Minato-kun, where's your spirit of adventure?"

"I'm not being a coward, I'm being sensible!" The bluenet rubbed his temples. "Well, if you insist on going, I'll accompany you to make sure you two are fine."

"Forget it!" Even Junpei had more common sense than Yukari and Hamuko. That was a bad sign. "That place is bad news. I mean, don't you think we're getting in over our heads?"

"Up until now, all we've done is take orders." Was Yukari using Junpei's resentment towards the people who had power to convince him to help? ...She was a great strategist! "Does that feel right to you?"

"I know what you mean, but... Man, did you have to say it like that?" The boy with a cap sighed. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Okay, we'll go tomorrow night, then." The following day promised to be interesting.

* * *

><p><strong>I should stop uploading at past midnight. So sleepy.<strong>


	24. The back alley

**Author note: hey hey! I was torn up between calling this chapter "The back alley" or "Topsicles" and I ended up going for the serious sounding one. If you haven't played P4, "Topsicles" is how they call popsicles in there, so I decided to keep it |D**

**Initially I was going to put the Full Moon event here too but I decided to insert the hideous amount of canon plot information into the next chapter and let you enjoy this chapter alone.**

* * *

><p>Saturday, 6th of June. Only two days away from a full moon, our protagonists hadn't had any time to stock supplies as a result of having been busy the whole week: firstly, thanks to the time consumed by socializing; second of all, thanks to the investigation, and then their latest distraction: not being able to find their old quest items in the last day they had to trade them and show them to their respective Velvet Room attendants.<p>

They were "requests", simple invitations to gather some items for the Velvet Room denizens, nothing obligatory; however, neither Fool wanted to know what happened when failing to meet the deadline for one of them. After all, the requesters were people living between dream and reality and taking care of the monsters in their minds; it was better not to upset them.

"Any trace of Junpei's COMPP?"

"Nope, but I'm sure I left it somewhere around here yesterday!" Hamuko yelled at her mobile phone as she revolved the contents of every drawer in her room. "How the hell did you lose a sword?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" After a whole afternoon of fruitless exploration, their rooms seemed to have suffered a tornado's rage; ergo, the chances of finding anything had decreased considerably.

"Hey Minato-kun, Hamuko!" Someone was claiming at them from downstairs. It seemed Yukari. "Come down here, we have to go to Port Island!"

"Take your time, guys!" An "ouch" followed that sentence –probably Junpei's reaction to getting his head whacked by an annoyed Yukari.

The noise of the ruckus taking place in upper floors increased as the Fools panicked, positive that they wouldn't have time to complete the requests.

Ten minutes later, the girl clad in pink climbed upstairs and, after freaking out at the state of their bedrooms, dragged both teens –and Junpei- out of the dorm with her.

"Dang! I didn't have time to change clothes!" Hamuko whined as they left the station. "The punks told me that there's nothing lamer than going to Port Island Station with a school uniform!"

"Why would you ever listen to that kind of guys?" Minato was running ahead of the girls to recognize the terrain, like it was one of the floors in Tartarus.

"What's your hurry?" Junpei seemed frightened to enter the 'dangerous zone', so he suggested walking behind them to –as he said- 'guard the rear'. "...I still think this is a bad idea. I mean, bringing two girls and Minato..." Said boy glared at him. "...Is like wandering into a lion's den with steaks strapped to my face!"

"All the more exciting, then!" Hamuko was in her own happy world where common sense didn't exist.

They finally arrived to the bars zone, which was settled deep in the marginal streets of Port Island. Several tough-looking boys and girls were hanging out and having some drinks. Everyone gave the S.E.E.S. a disgusted look as they made loud comments.

"...The hell?"

"Check out those rags... They're from Gekko High." Two punks walked towards them. "Hey, you. I think you're in the wrong place." Whoever those guys were, they weren't the same Hamuko encountered in her first visit to the back alleys of Port Island Station.

"Uh... Well, I..."

"You don't belong here... Get it? Beat it, Goatee..."

"G-Goatee?" Junpei seemed shocked. "Oh y-you mean me..."

"Who says we can't be here?" Hamuko stepped in front of the group.

"I do." The punk's friend clenched his fists as he approached the brunette. "Whatcha gon' do?"

"She's right; we don't need your permission to be here!" Yukari shouted that from her safe position a few steps away from the other girl. Minato just stared at them, acting like the situation had nothing to do with him.

"A-Are you two trying to get us killed or what?"

"Shush, Jun-kun!" Hamuko stared at the tough looking guy with a confident smile. "They smell fear!"

"Y'think we're fucking dogs or something?" The punk shoved her with enough strength to send her to the ground.

"You look more like mutts to me!"

"Smart mouthed fucker!" He raised his fist to punch her face, but something got in the way and stopped the attack.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on her." The punk stopped as he felt something cold touching his forehead. It was the cannon of a gun… Minato's evoker, to be precise. He stepped back, raising his hands in defence.

"M-Minato…" She gawked at the bluenet.

"Don't just stay there, get up!"

Hamuko did as ordered and stood on her feet.

"Hey wait!" Someone shouted. "It's a fake gun!"

Minato cursed under his breath after being discovered. Almost immediately, Junpei ran towards them.

"I can't leave all the hero stuff to you guys!"

"We'll show this scum what we're made of!" It was now Yukari's turn to stand on the battle line with them.

"'Nother bitch insulting us?" The punk's buddy rolled up his sleeve. "Man, I feel bad about you, Goatee! Dealing with so many bitches must be a pain in the ass… Wait, lemme help you with that!" He punched Junpei's belly so hard that he fell on his knees, clutching the damaged zone in pain. "Who's next, huh? You, pretty boy?" At that rate, they weren't going to make it out of the place alive. The only solution left was using their Personae to escape, but…

"That's enough." A calm, familiar voice interrupted the fight. It belonged to the same guy they found in Akihiko's hospital room. "They didn't know what they were getting into. I'll make sure they leave."

"Who do you think you are, dumbass? You want some too!"

"…Do I have a choice?" The young man with a wool hat tilted his head upwards, like he was looking down at them. This enraged the already irate punks.

"That's it, you're goin' down!" The same guy who had punched Junpei tried to repeat his attack on the new arrived, but he just sighed and dodged it easily and then preceded to headbutt his aggressor, sending him to the ground.

"Damn you, Shinjiro…"

"That's right, you're from Gekko High too, aren't you? I thought you were one of us..."

Shinjiro snorted. "What gave you that idea? I don't remember swearing a blood oath."

"You son of a bitch! You just crossed the line! You think you're going home alive?" A simply glare from Shinji was enough to defeat the boy. "Uh... S-screw this... You better grow eyes in the back of your head!" All the punks retreated while their girls walked away laughing at them. After making sure that Junpei was okay, the S.E.E.S. members walked towards their saviour.

"Oh man, Senpai, that was awesome!" Well, Junpei seemed to be just fine.

"SO badass!" The excitement in Hamuko's voice earned her a glare from Minato. "What? You were great too!"

"You three." His glare shifted between Junpei, Yukari and Hamuko. "You clowns were in Aki's room at the hospital, weren't you?"

"_Ooh, he remembers us!_"

"_Hamuko, that guy has just called you clowns._"

"You idiots! Get outta here. This place isn't for you." The shaggy haired senpai walked away.

"Wait!" Yukari yelled. "We came here for a reason!"

"Did Aki tell you to come here?" All the S.E.E.S. members exchanged confused glances.

"Uh... No?"

"Hmph..." Shinji sat down on the ground. "What do you wanna know? About that story?"

"Um, yeah... How'd you know?"

"I heard a rumour about some idiots from Gekkoukan High who were asking everyone about the ghost story." ...Those were probably Minato and Yukari. "Those girls who wound up in the hospital were here talkin' shit every night... About all the things they'd done to some girl named Fuuka."

"Fuuka...? You mean Fuuka Yamagishi, from 2-E?" Junpei sounded really concerned. "They were picking on her?"

"That's why people are saying it's Fuuka's spirit that did it." Shinji seemed bored as he explained everything.

"Fuuka's spirit...? Wait, what do you mean by that!"

"You guys don't know? This Fuuka girl might be dead. She hasn't been home in over a week. "How comes you don't know any of this? What do you guys go to school for?"

"Well, everyone thought she was out sick... But, she's missing?"

"So much for the ghost story..." Everyone nodded at Yukari's words. "Mr. Ekoda is the homeroom teacher for 2-E, right? Does he know about this...?" Shinjiro's gaze softened as he adopted a thoughtful stance.

"I get it, Aki... Still trying to make up for the past." Nobody understood those words, but they awakened Hamuko's curiosity. "It's you who can't let go..." He shook his head and mumbled something when he saw everyone was staring at him. "That's all I know. ...Satisfied?"

"Hey, Shinjiro-senpai."

"...What?" The boy glared at Hamuko for using his first name.

"...Can you teach me how to be that awesome?" That question left him dumbstruck.

"Um, what she meant is thank you very much for your help!" Yukari chuckled nervously as she covertly pushed Hamuko aside. "You're very kind, aren't you?" Shinjiro's glare became more ferocious. "I, um... Never mind."

"Tch... Don't come here again." Everyone returned to the dorm.

* * *

><p>The night ended on a happy note as after a really long search, the Fools found their lost items and arrived to Paulownia before the Dark Hour arrived. The bad part was when it hit while the monorail was taking them back to Iwatodai over the sea. There really is nothing like chatting calmly while gliding above a sea of blood.<p>

"Oh, I forgot! Minato?"

"Yeah?" He felt something soft touch his cheek. Next he knew he was staring at Hamuko wide eyed while she smiled coyly.

"Thanks for helping me earlier."

"Anytime..." He put a hand over the kissed cheek, still looking quite surprised. There was a comfortable silence between them all the way to the dorm.

* * *

><p>Sunday. Minato's favourite day in the whole week... Or that's what it used to be, until he met Hamuko. Now he always spent his dear 'sleeping day' hanging out with the brunette or any other of his friends –although it would be more appropriate to say that he tried to hang out with his friends and somehow Hamuko kept tagging along, uninvited- and watching the strangely addictive "Phoenix Ranger Featherman R" with the aforementioned girl.<p>

That afternoon's plan was apparently helping Rio and Kenji talk about some things, with a very specific aim: getting those two together. With that intention, they invited both of their friends to go to Paulownia, not informing them that the other was going.

Punctuality didn't seem to be their thing, so the Fools decided to go shopping to kill time and finally get the necessary supplies for the Full Moon which would take place the next day. And since they were at it, Hamuko decided to buy some Topsicles to face the heat of that summer-like Sunday. Having already learnt a lesson about the relation between ice cream and brain freeze, she only opened one of the Topsicle wrappers, saving the rest for later.

"...Where are they?" Minato sighed and switched on his MP3. Soon, he was nodding to the rhythm of Mass Destruction, trying to disconnect his mind from the world. ...But doing that was kind of difficult when there were so many people staring at something in his direction. At first he thought that they'd be just normal bystanders giving him weird looks for bobbing his head to the music only he could hear, but their expressions didn't seem to reflect that. "_What are they looking at?_" The bluenet turned towards Hamuko to see if she had any idea of what was happening... Only to look straight at the answer.

The red eyed girl put her strawberry ice pop aside when she felt a pair of cobalt eyes fixed on her. She observed that Minato's face was unnaturally red, but she blamed the heat for that. Hamuko decided to ignore him and go back to eating the ice cream nonchalantly causing the boy to gape at her, even more flushed, while the girl was still completely oblivious to the cause of such weird behaviour. "...Would you like some?"

Minato misunderstood that phrase. "HNNNG!" He grumbled as he turned around and covered his nose with a hand, trying to hide a thread of blood which was coming down it.

"H-Hey, are you okay?" Hamuko put a hand over Minato's cheek, trying to turn his head to see what happened, but the boy jumped away.

"STOP. **PLEASE**."

"Huh? What did I do?" He pointed at the cylindrical ice pop in her hand. "What do you have against Topsicles?"

"Wha—? Don't play innocent now!"

"…?" Hamuko finally noticed that his nose was bleeding and she understood the situation. She seemed disgusted. "One thing is getting… That when I'm wearing battle panties, but now that's just plain creepy!"

The bluenet was far from understanding his friend's thoughts about what was okay and what not. He cleaned the blood with the back of his hand and gave her a doubtful look. "So you weren't doing that on purpose?"

"No!" She folded her arms and frowned at him while he casted his eyes down, feeling rather awkward. Her glare, however, didn't last much, eventually replaced by a devilish look. "So, what did you think I was doing…?"

"Eh… N-nothing."

"Oh. So **that**'s what 'doing nothing' means now, huh?"

Minato looked away, embarrassed. "Hamuko, stop being gross."

"Look who's talking! Stop having your mind in the gutter, I'm talkin' about nothing special."

"Hey guys!" Kenji walked towards the entrance of the shopping centre, where the teens were bantering. "Sorry for being late, there were some delays in the monorail's schedule. So, what's up?"

"Nothing!" Hamuko answered cheerfully while Minato gave her a troubled look.

"Aha… Minato, you have something red below your nose…"

"It's nothing!" The brunette began laughing. "Nothing at all, right Minato?"

"Err… Ignore her, she had too many Topsicles." A bit of fridge logic told Minato that maybe he had discovered the reason why Junpei had made a bet with his brown haired friend related to their current situation. …His dorm mate had just taken a level in creepiness.

"…Okay." Kenji took a look around. "Is anybody else coming?"

Minato was positive that he had heard Hamuko mumble his name before her laughter increased. "She invited Rio-san. You don't mind, right?"

"What? Man, you gotta learn to leave your girls at home. I can't talk about important things like this!"

"Trust me, if it was about me, none of us would be here."

"Yeah, he'd probably be in the dorm… Doing nothing!"

"…That is enough, Hamuko. Thanks for-"

"Nothing?"

Fortunately for Minato, the brunette decided to stop her unfunny jokes as soon as the tennis team captain arrived.

Hanging out around Port Island with Rio and Kenji proved to be pointless. The former would just complain about going around with the later, while the boy would just talk about his own things –namely, Ms. Kanou and his beloved Hagakure.

"So Rio…" Hamuko tried to break the ice. "What do you think of Kenji-kun?"

"Eh? Well… He's just a pest!" …What? "He's always bothering us while we're doing tennis practice!" That reminded Hamuko that she needed to have a word with him about certain photos taken without her consent. In another occasion, maybe.

"Pshaw, you're just a kid! Nothing like my dear Emiri!" The brunet sighed dreamily as Hamuko dragged Rio away.

"Rio, what are you doing? You don't insult the people you like!"

"I-I'm sorry, I just don't know how to tell him!"

"I see… You just have to be direct! Praise his good qualities!"

"What good qualities?" Both girls began laughing.

"Ah, look, I'll act as your Hamuko de Bergerac! I'll tell you what you have to tell him, alright? Ahem…" She stared at Kenji, trying to get ideas about what to say, but the only thing she could think about when looking at the brunet with a funny face was ramen. Maybe she would have to look for another source of inspiration…

Her eyes stopped on Minato, who, after noticing her, flashed her a slightly forced smile while Kenji ranted about something. Hamuko smiled back and then she began speaking in a low voice, her gaze still fixed on the blue haired boy.

"Tell him... Tell him what a caring and nice guy he is, even though he can be really mean and quite a jerk most of the time. Explain him how really glad you are when he's by your side, although you don't usually let him know that, and how much you hate it when you fight, even if you don't know why you're arguing in the first place." She sighed. "Sometimes -and only sometimes so he doesn't get too cocky- you can comment offhandedly how handsome he is, telling him how much you love his hair, his eyes and his smile, and ask him why he doesn't wear one of the later more often..."

"Um, Hamuko?" Rio was giving the brunette a curious look. "Kenji-kun is always grinning like an idiot..."

"Ken—O-oh, right, we were talking about Kenji-kun, err... Just tell him something about ramen and see the results." Hamuko pushed her captain towards the boy she liked and clasped Minato's hand to take him away from his friend –against his will- in the process. "Good luck!"

Hamuko managed to convince Minato to just stare at the teens from a safety distance, curious to see how the events unfolded. He was positive that it wouldn't turn out well.

"Hamuko."

"Hmm?"

"You can let go of my hand now."

"Nope. I don't want to."

Minato decided not to oppose that and just reminded her instead that it would be awful if their hands got sweaty because of the high temperature. "So, is this holding hands stuff related to your staring at me while talking to Rio?"

"Maybe."

"Why would you ever look at me while chatting?"

"Hmm… I don't know…" Hamuko smirked at him as she tugged at his hand to pull him closer. "Maybe I was checking you out…"

"Were you…?"

She answered by taking his free hand within her own, so as to face him properly. "…So why were **you** looking at me while I was talking? Were you thinking of 'nothing' again?"

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!" Rio's yelling claimed the Fools' attention. "Thanks for trying, Hamuko, but it's impossible to talk with that guy!" And with that she stormed off.

"…I was just telling her about my girlfriend." …Kenji couldn't be Hamuko's stalker. He was too obsessed with older women.

Everyone decided to go back home after the awkward scene. The Fools were occupying Minato's bedroom, which was their usual hideout when they had things to talk about which would be better off unheard by Mitsuru –who couldn't scold them because it was fine to roam around any floor before curfew. Minato was laying on his bed while Hamuko was sitting on his desk chair, making it spin around itself nonchalantly.

"So, what have we learnt today, Hamuko?"

"Don't meddle in your friends' love life unless you have a very specific plan to make the meddling work."

"More like don't meddle at all." He yawned as he stretched his arms. "Any other resolution you'd like to share?"

"Topsicles are your kryptonite."

Minato blanched. "…Are you going to use them against me?"

"Use them against you...?" She left the chair and walked produced an ice pop out of one of the bag where they had been carrying all the first aid supplies they could need the following day. Minato was ready to get up and look for shelter in the lounge when something poked his stomach, causing a chuckle, immediately followed by a blank stare.

"What are you doing?" The boy received yet another shameless stab at his belly by no other thing than the still wrapped Topsicle.

"You talk about these things like they were weapons, so… Behold!"

Minato was doing his best to contain his chuckles and fight his mischievous comrade as she kept using the frozen snack as a harmless knife. After a few long minutes of struggle, he managed to drag Hamuko onto his bed and capture her between his arms, a smirk breaking forth in his face as her cheeks began matching her eyes.

"Two can play that game."

Apparently a bunch of suspicious giggles and desperate begs to stop reached Junpei's ears as he headed towards his room, prompting him to break into Minato's room to see if everything was okay. His jaw dropped at the sight of the scene: Hamuko was lying on the bed, a big grin on her incredibly blushed face, while Minato was sitting on his knees, straddling her, hands clasping her waist beneath her orange cut-sew, ready to tickle the sensitive zones in her belly –even though Junpei didn't know that was his purpose. Their faces mirrored their cap wearing friend's when they noticed his presence.

"…"

"…"

"…Don't jump to conclusions, Jun-kun."

"T-That's kinda difficult, yanno?"

"…It was her fault. She assaulted me with an ice pop."

Junpei nodded slowly. "…Sorry for interrupting, guys." He exited the room and closed the door behind him.

"Well, that was awkward." The Fools stared at each other, suddenly quite more conscious about the position they were in. "Should I quote you and say "get off me" or you have other plans up there?"

They spent the rest of the day in the lounge, trying to avoid visual contact with Junpei as much as possible.

Once again, after a whole month, during the Dark Hour that night everyone felt great and ready for kicking some shadows; once again, that power was lost as they hadn't gone to Tartarus to train…

* * *

><p><strong>How do you like the ship tease? A lot, otherwise you'd have stoppedreading this fic by now :B<strong>

**As a matter of fact, I have seen popsicle tickle fights in real life. They're awesome and a bit messy because people tend to open the wrappers before beginning and then the popsicle melts and gets everywhere :u **

**So yeah. Fighting back? Minato is it just me or are you slightly bolder lately *3***


	25. The Second Ordeal

**Author note: Okay, you can skip like 3/4 of this chapter, since most of it it's directly taken from the game. If you feel like reading all of the cannon stuff, cheers on you, I only wrote it for a few friends of mine who read this fic without playing P3.**

**But yeah, outside the whole cannon stuff... You're gonna like this chapter 8D  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Today there'll be a full moon, huh?"<p>

"Yup. And this time we'll be ready for the action!" Hamuko punched the air. "Maybe we should tell the others so they can be ready too."

"Nah, they'll eventually work it out by themselves. If we tell them, they'd just begin asking us questions about why we know that and why do we know more than they do. And I'm not about to go telling everyone that a creepy child visits us at nights when we're alone in the same room."

Hamuko nodded, feeling slightly troubled. The Fools kept walking towards school in silence.

"…Don't stare at the monster this time, okay?" The brunette reached out for Minato's hand as she gave him a playful smile. "I would get mad if you fell for a shadow again."

"Mad? Don't you mean jealous?" Minato smiled smugly. Hamuko was about to retort, but the school bell rang, making them put an end to their talk.

During lunch break, Yukari suggested going to the Faculty Office to talk with Mr. Ekoda about Fuuka's disappearance –which Minato and Hamuko accepted reluctantly, seeing that Junpei was going too. Apparently, she hadn't been the only one with that idea…

"Oh, Mitsuru-senpai." Yukari greeted her. "Why are you here?

"Same reason as you. Mr. Ekoda, I'm here to ask you about a student named Fuuka Yamagishi..."

"No! I-I never thought it'd turn out like this... Fuuka..." The girl speaking had brown hair and really tanned skin. She seemed frightened.

"Wait." The brunette in pink stared at her. "You're that girl..."

"What did you do to Yamagishi?" Mitsuru spoke with authoritative voice.

"Hold on, Mitsuru..." Mr. Ekoda seemed really nervous. "This isn't an interrogation. Natsuki, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You wouldn't want to give her the wrong idea."

Disregarding the previous sentence, Natsuki began recalling the events of the night of Fuuka's disappearance. "Fuuka... She... She always looked so frazzled whenever I gave her a hard time...Then, I realized... She's an honour student, but deep inside, she's just the same as us. I knew exactly which buttons to push...We were just messin' with her that day, too! May 29th... We took Fuuka to the gym... And locked the door from the outside..."

"What?" Junpei shouted. "You locked her in?"

The tanned girl ignored his words and kept talking to herself. "That night, Maki returned to school alone. She was afraid we'd get in trouble if Fuuka committed suicide." Hamuko's eyes widened and she clenched her fists, containing the urge to punch the girl in front of her. "But, she never came back... And the next morning... She was found lying on the ground by the gate." Natsuki clutched her head. "I went to the gym to let Fuuka out, but the door was still locked... So, I opened it and went inside, but she wasn't there...We all freaked out. Starting that night, we went out looking for her. But every night, another one of us went missing..." Her eyes got teary and her voice cracked. "And they each ended up like Maki!

"I see..." Mitsuru adopted a thoughtful stance. "By the way, Mr. Ekoda... All this time, you've attributed Yamagishi's absences to "illness." But in reality, she was missing. You must have been aware of that...What was your intention?"

"I was thinking of the students, of course. You children may not understand, but we have to consider the future of everyone affected."

"You mean, you chose not to report this to the police for the 'good of the class.'" The red haired girl was glaring daggers at the teacher.

"It-It was in her best interest. I wouldn't want her records to be stained by something like this. Her parents agree!"

"So to protect your career, you ignored your responsibility as a teacher... How despicable...!"

Mr. Ekoda gasped. "I-I didn't... I was just..."

Mitsuru decided to ignore the teacher and talk directly to Natsuki. "About your friends... Did you notice anything unusual before the incidents? ...Anything at all."

"…They all heard a voice... A creepy voice. ...Right before each of them went missing. They said it was calling their name."

"Oh, man..." Recognition was obvious in Junpei's voice.

"Senpai, could it be...?"

"It's them... no doubt about it. Until now, there was no way of knowing how or why some people are conscious during the Dark Hour... But, it's the voice; it draws them in. It's not a random phenomenon. This whole thing has made me realize... They're clearly targeting humans. Shadows are the enemy of mankind."

"That's a really cool discovery, Senpai. But why are we talking in front of everyone?"

Mitsuru turned to Natsuki, leaving Hamuko's question unanswered. "Stay at our dorm tonight; it's the safest place. If you hear the voice, tell us immediately. And don't leave the room, no matter what. If you can do that much, you should be okay." The brunette nodded slowly. "...Don't worry; Yamagishi should be alright as well."

"Fuuka..." Natsuki began muttering Fuuka's name, as if it was some sort of madness mantra.

The red head walked towards her kohai. "We'll meet after school in the Student Council Room to discuss tonight's operation."

"T-Tonight?"

"We're going to rescue Yamagishi. If my guess is right, she's still inside the school."

"U-Understood!"

Well, that meant that the Fools wouldn't have time to socialize. Minato suggested phoning their boss to warn that they wouldn't be working that night, because of the need to study for a… Surprise test.

Once school had finished, everyone gathered in the Student Council Room. Mitsuru used the chance to scold Hamuko for not having showed up to a single meeting since she joined, causing Minato to snicker at her cost.

"Tonight, we will infiltrate the campus. Our objective is to rescue Fuuka Yamagishi."

"Um, I don't get it... Is Fuuka inside the school somewhere?" Junpei seemed pretty confused.

"And why at night?" Yukari inquired. "At midnight, this place turns into-"

"Exactly." Mitsuru nodded with a determined expression. "That's how Yamagishi wandered into Tartarus."

"Then, ever since Fuuka got locked in the gym, she's been stuck there...?"

"...That's correct." A horrible thought crossed everyone's minds.

"But, that was ten days ago! That means..."

"Not necessarily." Akihiko interrupted Junpei. "We can't jump to conclusions. Tartarus only appears during the Dark Hour. So, what about the rest of the day?"

"Now that you mention it..."

Aki continued speaking. "This is only a theory, but I think time may function differently with respect to Tartarus. So, even though it's been ten days for us, perhaps only ten hours have passed for her. It's possible she's still alive."

"Wow, ya think so? Uh, but the Dark Hour is pretty brutal... We can barely handle an hour; how's she gonna last ten?" Junpei's logic made everyone flinch.

"That's true... And, even if she's still alive, we might not be able to get to her..."

"Are you just gonna let her die, then? Just like that? Without even trying?" Akihiko looked depressed for a moment. "...I have an idea. Let's try to enter Tartarus exactly how Fuuka did. We'll go to the gym, and wait for midnight. That's the quickest way." None of the teens in the room seemed to like the idea, but only Yukari voiced her doubts.

"Is that really gonna work...?"

"Honestly, I have reservations." Mitsuru admitted. "If something goes wrong, you could all end up lost in Tartarus too. But..."

"I won't stand by and do nothing if there's a chance we can save her... I'd never forgive myself. If you guys don't want to go, then I'll go by myself."

"Senpai...?"

"...Alright. We're aware of the risks, but we can't just leave her there." Everyone agreed with Mitsuru.

"Cool, we get to sneak into the school!" The boy with the cap seemed really excited. "Heheh... In that case, I know just what to do..." Yukari shot him a curious look.

* * *

><p>After their reunion, everyone headed to the dorm and took a seat in the Command Room while Mitsuru tried to contact Ikutsuki.<p>

"This is a bit worrisome... I can't get a hold of the Chairman."

"I guess we can handle it ourselves." Yukari seemed ready for some action.

"There's one problem, though. Without the Chairman's help, I'm not sure how we can get inside the school..."

"No need to worry." Junpei laughed proudly. "I've got it all set to go."

"Set to go...? An explosive?" Mitsuru chuckled. "Alright, I'll let you handle this." As the Fools abandoned the room, they heard Junpei commenting something about unlocking a door.

* * *

><p>"See? We got in no problem. Man, I'm a genius!"<p>

Thanks to Junpei's foresight when opening the school's emergency exit, everyone managed to sneak into the laboratory corridor.

"Is that really something to brag about?" Yukari sighed.

"So, you unlocked it earlier..." Mitsuru smiled. "Tres bien!"

"Oui. No time for compliments. Let's go."

"Was that English?" Junpei asked as their senpai walked ahead. "French?"

"Wasn't Tray Ben Bebe's real name or something?" Minato shook his head at Hamuko disapprovingly. And to think she had scored higher than him…

* * *

><p>Once in the building, everyone headed to 2-F. Why? Good question.<p>

"Can we turn on the lights...?"

"Aw, you scared?"

"No! ...Stupei."

"Stop callin' me that!"

"Quiet." Akihiko grumbled. "It's better if we leave 'em off. They cut the power at night anyway."

"I don't like sneaking around..."

"It's just another adventure, Yukari!" Hamuko said cheerfully.

"First, we have to find the key to the gym. We'll split up into two groups and meet in the main hallway on the first floor." Mitsuru glanced at her kohai. "Understood?"

"The Faculty Office, huh...? Hey, maybe we'll find some test questions! Heheh..." Junpei smiled mischievously.

Akihiko grinned. "Hmm… Maybe I should go too."

"Are you planning something unscrupulous under my supervision? If so, then expect to be severely punished..." Both teens gapped at Mitsuru's execution threat.

"It-It was a joke! I'd never do something like that! Ha, haha..."

"Come on, Mitsuru. Lighten up a little..." Aki sighed.

"...Perhaps I'd best take Iori and Akihiko with me to the janitor's room."

"_Yukari, you should go to the janitor's room too._" Hamuko's smirk was hidden by the darkness of the room. "_You know, to help taking care of Junpei or something, right?_"

"_Ugh, you two are friends, why don't you go?_"

"_Err… I really don't want to deal with Junpei right now. Pleeeease?_"

Yukari sighed and mumbled something similar to "whatever". "Wait, Mitsuru-senpai, I'm going too."

"Alright, we'll meet up in the main hallway."

After everyone had stepped outside of the classroom, the Fools walked in silence through the eerily silent corridors. Well, it wasn't the first time they had had to spend the night in school, so they weren't so creepy anymore.

"_Hmm, I wonder…_" Minato muttered to himself. "_Hamuko, you had something to do with the arrangement of the teams, didn't you?_"

"…!" Hamuko tried to contain a giggle. "_What makes you think that?_"

"_I don't think Mitsuru-senpai would let us roam together around school at night._"

"_And why is that?_" Hamuko walked progressively closer to Minato to link one of her arms to his.

"_Err… Hamuko, this is a stealth mission, we can't afford to-_"

It had taken them nearly five minutes to find the stairs to the laboratory corridor; only ten seconds to roll down them after Minato misplaced a foot, dragging Hamuko with him.

"Ow…" Hamuko rubbed the back of her head, a bit dazed. Once her thoughts were clearer, she noticed that there was something laying atop her, embracing her. Her first thoughts were about beating the living daylights out of whoever was there and run, but once she noticed that the person crushing her had blue highlights on his hair, she recalled the events happened a few seconds before. "_He's hugging me… Was he trying to protect me?_" Noticing she was the one on the ground, it was either a failed attempt to protect her or an attempt to crush her.

Minato grumbled as he lifted his face from the ground. For some reason, the marble tiles felt a lot softer and warmer than he'd expected them to. And much more huggable too. In fact, he didn't know that marble could breathe… "What…"

"Hello there, handsome." The brunette laughed as her friend jumped onto his feet, completely shocked.

"I-I tripped! I swear!"

"Aw, why so shy?" Despite it was too dark to see anything, she could almost feel the glare Minato was giving her. "I jest, I jest… Let's find the Faculty Office, okay?"

There was no one in the main hall, but it was easy to hear the footsteps outside, so the teens rushed into the Faculty Office.

"_Alright, gym key… Gym key…_" While Hamuko rummaged through a bunch of keys, Minato reached into his pocked and brought out his mobile phone, using it as a flashlight. "_You know, we wouldn't have tripped if you had thought of that before._"

"…_Shut up and get that key._"

Once they had what they were looking for, they met with the others in the main hallway.

"Did you find the key?" Minato nodded at Mitsuru's question.

"We'll divide into teams again. Four of you will enter Tartarus, and one of you will remain outside with me. Once the Dark Hour has begun, I'll determine Yamagishi's position."

"I'll go." Akihiko stated simply. "You two can lead the group as usual. But no running off on your own, understood?" Hamuko nodded shyly.

"I have reservations about sending both of our main assets in battle into such a risky mission…" Mitsuru commented. "But I guess we have no choice. Who'll be the last?"

"I'll be the fourth-" Yukari couldn't finish her phrase.

"Wait a second...!" Junpei cut off Yukari's words. "Remember how I accidentally screwed up on the monorail? Gimme a chance to make up for that!"

"Oh, come on! It's not always about YOU!" Funny it was Yukari the one saying that. "Besides, you didn't 'accidentally' screw up."

"Alright, Junpei." Aki patted his kohai's shoulder. "We'll give you another shot."

"Sweet! Thanks!"

"Seriously...?"

"What's wrong, Yukari? You don't want to stay behind with Mitsuru?"

"Um, n-no, it's fine, Senpai."

* * *

><p>"Grn…" Minato grumbled as he got up slowly, still feeling dizzy. He took a look around the place; it was definitely Tartarus. That meant their plan had worked but… He was alone. They had been separated.<p>

The bluenet began wondering around, eyes squinting the darkness as he held his katana close to him. It wasn't long before he heard a soft breathing breaking the silence that took over between each step. He approached the source of the noise and found Hamuko laying on a blood puddle. After a few seconds of fearing the worst, he noticed she just napping, perfectly fine, from which he deduced that the red liquid didn't belong to her.

"Are you awake?"

"…Minato?" Hamuko opened her eyes and yawned. "Did we trip again?" She noticed that her friend seemed shorter than usual.

"Hi!" The one who spoke the previous phrase wasn't Minato, but that mysterious child who kept visiting them every so often.

"Oh my God, I could have sworn you were Minato." The bluenet gave her a weird look as she stood on her feet and began dusting her shirt, completely ignoring the fact that her back was drenched in blood. "What? He sounds just like you!"

"If you say so…"

"So!" The child exclaimed happily. "This is the first time we've spoken outside of your rooms."

"How did you follow us here?"

"I'm always with you..." Awesome, they had a stalker ghost. "But we don't have much time to talk. Tonight there is more than one ordeal you must face. You should hurry..." He smiled sinisterly. "She's waiting for you. You guys will need her. Okay, then. I hope we can speak again..." He vanished, leaving the Fools alone once again.

"…She? Did he mean Fuuka?"

"Maybe he meant Fuuka's spirit?" Hamuko shook her head as if trying to send that thought away. "Let's look for the others, alright?"

"_Are… You… Alri-?_" Mitsuru's transmission stopped before she could even finish that question.

"Mitsuru-senpai? Senpai!" Minato shouted at no one. "It's futile, we can't reach each other."

"I guess we're somewhere really high…"

They kept wandering around, receiving fragments of transmissions every so often.

"_Who's there?_" That voice didn't definitely belong to Mitsuru, but it had sounded clearly in their minds. "_...Are you human? Where am I? Why am I here? Please answer me...Is someone there? Please answer..."_

"More ghosts?"

A set of stairs and a few shadows later, they finally found the rest of the group.

"Hey, there they are!" Junpei and Akihiko ran towards their leaders. "We were worried about you!"

"I don't think we should enter Tartarus this way again..." Everyone agreed with their senpai.

"Oh yeah! Did you hear a voice while you were in here? Uh, kinda like..."

"Who is this…? Are you human?" The voice didn't sound in their minds any more.

"Th-that's it! That's the voice! It sounded like it came from behind us!"

Everyone turned around just to see a girl with cyan hair looking at them shyly from behind a wall. She walked towards them with difficulty, looking very pale and tired. Hamuko ran towards her and put one of her arms over her shoulder to help her walk.

"Fuuka Yamagishi?" The girl nodded at Akihiko's question. I'm glad you're okay..."

"Thank you so much..." Her voice sounded forced, as if she was about to cry. "I..."

"Looks like we made the right decision." Akihiko smiled proudly. "I'll see if I can contact Mitsuru."

Fuuka looked really exhausted, but she felt well enough to answer simple questions, such as "if she had seen any monster."

"Whaddya mean with "I sense them"? Are you psychic?"

"She has the same power as Mitsuru. ...Maybe even stronger, since Mitsuru's Persona is more battle-orientated."

"Persona...?" Fuuka looked at Akihiko, confused. Her confusion only increased when he handed her an Evoker. B-But, this is...!"

"Think of it as a lucky charm. It doesn't shoot bullets."

They kept walking around, looking for an Access Point, when they stumbled upon a corridor opened to the outside. There was a magnificent view of the city and the full moon.

"Whoa, check out the moon!" Junpei shouted. "...I've never seen it so bright."

"Some research indicates that the Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon." Akihiko informed without being asked. "Of course, the same can be said for humans."

"That would explain Yuka-tan's mood swings. Am I right, or am I right?" He raised his hand and was high-fived by Hamuko. Minato rolled his eyes at them. "Hey, wasn't it a full moon the night we went to the monorail?"

"Yes..." Minato answered dryly, pretending not to know anything.

"Did you see the moon on the night the dorm was attacked, back in April?"

"Yes, Senpai, it was full. Yes, monsters attack us on full moon days. It took you long enough to work it out."

Akihiko gapped at Hamuko. "Wait!" The silver haired boy shouted. "How do you know all that?"

Hamuko and Minato exchanged troubled looks, which were interrupted when the former ran off, deciding that warning everyone else was more important than dealing with their Senpai.

"What are you doing here?" Mitsuru gave the brunette a shocked look. "Where are the others?"

"They're on the way. Look, I came here to-" Hamuko didn't need to explain herself. A black fog wandered into the first floor, coming from outside Tartarus, and settled itself around a great part of the west wing of the entrance. The girls stepped away from it as the gas began taking shape, getting divided into two blobs, from which two figures emerged.

One was an obese figure, with really slim limbs and neck, all the same colour as the substance from which it came, save for a green cape which covered its neck and a white collar behind her neck, reminiscent of the ones queens such as Elisabeth the First wore in portraits. Its mask was white and it was attached to its long, slim neck and acted as its whole face, giving the shadow a smug expression, completed by the sceptre it lifted in the air with its right hand. Seemingly a parody of a queen, Empress really didn't come up as very menacing.

The other shadow looked slightly more solemn than its companion, with a long body and long arms attached to it via shoulder pads, but its really short and arched legs broke the effect. Its scarlet mask had a serious look and the shape of a crown. Both the Emperor and the Empress stood together, looking down at the teens.

The Empress pretty much laughed at Yukari's Io's garu attacks, which didn't seem to do any other thing than tickle it. The Emperor on the other hand, only glared at Hamuko after she tried to slash it into pieces with one of the oldest naginatas she had –she was beginning to miss her hockey stick. Once everyone had called out their attacks, it was the shadows' turn.

"Swift Strike" was a name none of them would forget in quite a long time, as only one of them destroyed all the devices Mitsuru used to strengthen her persona's communication skills, turned her motorbike into junk, and sent everyone flying. A few seconds after the attack, Akihiko, Fuuka, Junpei and Minato appeared at the Access Point, gasping at the situation.

"What did I say about running off on your own?" Akihiko ran towards Hamuko, crouched down next to her and shook her shoulders furiously. "What's wrong with you, Miki?"

"M-Miki?" That's all she managed to mutter.

Minato shoved Akihiko away. "Leave her alone! Can't you see she's hurt?" Aki stepped back, resigned. "Go check on Mitsuru-senpai! Junpei, take care of Yukari-chan and Yamagishi-san! And watch out for their attacks, everyone!" He turned towards her and caressed her cheek. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah... You're flattering me with all this attention…" Hamuko rubbed her cheek against Minato's hand. "…But I'm not a princess, I can care for myself, you know?" She chuckled as the boy raised an eyebrow at her, having just realized that she was in no position to refuse help. "No attacks have worked on those guys." She got up slowly. She didn't have any critic wound but she could definitely use some revitalizing medicine. "I guess we can only keep trying attacks. **Beam** me up, Minato!"

"You'll have to manage with some Medical Powder, I-" A roar from the Emperor attracted everyone's attentions. It seemed to be getting ready to attack. "It'll have to wait."

While the boys and Fuuka were running towards the shadows, someone walked into Tartarus.

"F-Fuuka!" It was Natsuki, the girl who Mitsuru had asked to stay at the dorm.

"Why are you here?" The red head shouted.

"...Moriyama-san!" Fuuka seemed shocked. "Please, get out of here! It's dangerous!"

"I... I wanted to tell you... I'm sorry..."

"Hey! Look out!" The Emperor was ready to unleash a Swift Strike over the green haired girl and the brunette.

"Moriyama-san!"

It was all too fast. Fuuka clutched her evoker, and, when Junpei warned her that it wasn't a gun, she only answered a confident "I know" before she pulled the trigger while the cannon was pointing to her temple. Shards of a crystal-like substance came out of the temple opposite to the evoker, and soon, a creature manifested itself, protecting Fuuka and Natsuki from the shadow's deadly attack.

Fuuka's persona was a woman with golden hair clad in a pink dress. Her eyes and throat were bandaged, and a crystal sphere filled with a water-like substance, in which Fuuka could apparently breathe and talk, constituted a big part of her body. Nobody told the Fools that her name was Lucia, but they knew it just by looking at the persona.

"_...I can see..._" Fuuka's voice echoed in everyone's minds. "_I... I can sense these monsters' weaknesses, somehow..._"

"...Just as I thought." Akihiko grinned to himself. "Mitsuru, let her take your place. We'll take care of this!"

"_You're battling against the Empress and the Emperor!_" Fuuka announced. "_You can attack the Empress with any physical attack; aim for the neck to cause more damage!_"

Minato summoned Oberon and ordered him to use holy arrow on the Empress, making the shadow shriek in pain as it fell backwards, incapable to get up because of the shape of her body. "What should we use on the Emperor?"

"_The Emperor is vulnerable to elemental attacks only, overall in the zones which aren't armoured!_"

"Leave it to me!" Akihiko's Polydeuces struck the shadow with a powerful zio spell, but it stood on its feet until Junpei casted an agi which made it jump and fall on its back.

"Okay, we'll end this quickly!" Minato ran towards the Empress, ready to stab it right in the face to end its existence.

"Paradigm Shift." Of course, the shadow had other plans. As soon as the bluenet's katana hit the mask, it bounced away, sending the weapon flying towards him. Minato barely avoided its cold iron blade before it ended up on the stairs. On a rather worrying note, the Empress was back on its feet.

"_Don't try physical skills on that thing now!_"

"Gotcha!" Junpei casted agi on the Emperor once again. It didn't work.

"I think they changed resistances!" Akihiko ran towards the emperor and punched the gigantic figure to the ground, proving his point.

A magaru from the empress threw everyone to different parts of the first floor, landing near the girls. It was then the Emperor's turn to mutter the cast the spell "Paradigm Shift".

"Oh, hey, you came back." Hamuko pulled Minato up and ordered Fortuna to use Media, a multi-target healing attack. "I just remembered about this Persona!"

Minato shook his head disapprovingly at the thought that she could have just used it on herself and the girls before the battle. "We can't battle like this. We have to take both of them down in one 'turn', or my guess is that they'll keep shifting resistances."

"Are you talking about… **That** attack?" The brunette received a nod in response. "Oh. Well. If you don't have anything against doing that in front of everyone…"

"I guess we can deal with an interrogation, right?" They headed towards the shadows, ordering everyone to keep the distance.

"So what do we do now? Shoot each other?"

"You want to shout a cheesy phrase or something?" They pointed the evokers to each others' temples, much to everyone's shock. They pulled the triggers with utmost synchrony, and, soon, Pyro Jack and Jack Frost were floating above them, holding a microphone.

Once again, no one had a clue of what they were saying. Unlike the previous time when all the Crying Tables fell on their faces, the full moon bosses seemed unaffected. Well, the Emperor seemed to be chuckling slightly.

"…It seems we had a difficult public." Hamuko muttered, unbelieving of the ridiculous scene they had put up for nothing.

"_No, wait!_" Fuuka shouted in their minds. "_The Emperor has let its guards down! You can attack it with anything you have!_"

"JUN-KUN! Cleave to the big guy! Yukari and Senpai, get up and hit the Empress with whatever you have!"

"What are you doing?" Minato, being used to letting everyone follow their own ideas, was surprised to see the S.E.E.S. working with order.

"Your job!" Hamuko kept shouting orders. Once everyone had complied, both shadows were on the ground, laying on their backs, having just casted Paradigm Shift again. If they guessed right, they could just finish the shadows before they had a chance to attack; if they didn't guess right, they'd have to attack once again.

"So how do we choose what to use?"

"…Wild guessing?"

"Sounds fine to me." Minato and Hamuko walked towards the Empress. "Zio or Holy Arrow?"

"Um, err…" Hamuko rubbed her temples. "Zio! Use zio! Or no wait, Holy Arrow! No, zio! Err… Choose by yourself!" Cold cobalt eyes were gazing at crimson ones intently.

"…Should we do it at the same time?"

Minato faced the Emperor, Hamuko faced the Empress. They sighed and put their evokers to their respective temples.

"Bufu!"

"Holy arrow!"

The Emperor got his mask frozen, proceeding to explode in a mass of fog as a shinning arrow killed the Empress as well. Hamuko was about to give Minato a hug after realizing they both had had the same idea, but she had to restrain herself as everyone ran to them to congratulate them.

"Are there more of them...?" Fuuka asked as Lucia vanished. She seemed exhausted.

"Don't worry." Aki smiled. "It's over."

"Fuuka... You..." Natsuki muttered.

"A-Are you alright...?" The brunette nodded. "Thank goodness..." After she had ended her phrase, Fuuka collapsed.

"Fuuka!"

"It's alright." Mitsuru patted Natsuki's shoulder. "She's just exhausted."

"Fuuka... Fuuka, I..."

"Um, what are we gonna do about Natsuki?" Yukari asked, seemingly troubled. "She saw the Dark Hour, and the Shadows..."

"Don't worry, she's not like us, so she won't remember any of it." Akihiko explained. "The good news is, she didn't fall victim to the Shadows, even though she obviously heard their call. She should be safe from now on."

"But, that means she'll forget Fuuka saved her life, right? That doesn't seem fair..."

"I think…" Minato muttered as he watched Natsuki repeat over and over again that she was sorry. "I think she's learned her lesson."

Everyone left Tartarus as the Dark Hour was about to end. The Fools were informed that they would undergo and interrogation of sorts about the "fusion spell" and the knowledge about the full moon events. It really sounded 'promising', so they decided to stay behind, at quite a distance from the rest of the group to decide on what to tell.

"How do we explain the full moon issue?"

"Magic. Instinct. Err…"

Both teens looked at each other. "Wild guessing!" They began laughing after saying it simultaneously.

"Such a coincidence we thought the same, huh?"

Hamuko casted her eyes down and reached for Minato's hand, intertwining her fingers with his. "Do you really think it was a coincidence?"

"…" He ogled her, lips pressed like he was deep in thought.

"Hey…" The brunette began tugging at his hand, trying to get an answer. "C'mon Minato, don't give me the silent treatment!" Hamuko kept shaking his hand. She didn't see his next step coming…

Minato cupped her cheek with his free hand and leaned in suddenly, stealing a kiss. "I… Tripped." That was all he said after pressing his lips against hers. It had been only a moment, barely a caress, but enough to make both teens' faces blush furiously.

"…You tripped, huh?" Hamuko took a hand to her lips, flabbergasted, while Minato began fidgeting with the knot of his bowtie. They turned their faces towards the others' and just stared deeply at each other for what seemed an eternity. Minato was becoming increasingly afraid that she'd do something to let him down, when he felt her arms wrap around his neck; next he knew, he was being pulled down by Hamuko, who was kissing him with all the energy she had left after the battle –just enough to turn Minato Arisato into a stuttering and adorably flushed mess- only letting him free when they began running low on oxygen. "We're going to pretend this is the first kiss I've given you, alright?"

"W-whatever you say."

Hamuko giggled as she walked away. "C'mon, let's go back before they begin missing us." She stopped and turned around seeing that the blue haired boy was not following her. He was still there, just staring at her; this caused an innocent smile to bloom in her face. The –other- Fools Social Link reached level 4.

* * *

><p><strong>SMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCH.<strong>


	26. Setting the rules

**Author note: heeey people! Cue here standard pimping of my dA account SandraMJ and mine and Zorel's P4 comic parody "Persona 4gotten".**

**For reference: a lot of things happen in this chapter. If you want to smash my head against a wall after it, please, form a nice and ordered queue and respect your turn *w*d**

**By the way, thanks in advance to my new Beta Reader xRiikox. I hope there aren't many mistakes in this chapter :)**

* * *

><p>"Do you think Mitsuru-senpai saved Fuuka because it was the right thing to do, or was it just because she's a Persona-user and we need her?"<p>

Hamuko nodded vaguely, perceiving Yukari's words as a distant buzz. She wasn't ignoring her on purpose; she simply was busy not falling asleep, too tired from the previous night to deal with her friend's paranoia.

"Well, whether or not she joins us is up to her... Hey, sorry to bring this up out of the blue, I know you have enough dealing with Senpai asking about that 'Fusion Spell' thing you guys did yesterday."

"Blue…?" A dreamy sigh escaped Hamuko's lips.

"Hamuko, are you okay?" The popular brunette snapped her fingers in front of Hamuko's eyes, making her blink quickly in surprise.

"Eh—Y-yeah! Err… I'm sure Senpai was just doing the best for the group." Hamuko's random answer made Yukari adopt a thoughtful stance. Well, that was some luck.

"Good morning." Minato muttered as he walked past the girls. He seemed as aloof and detached as always, but Hamuko didn't miss the pink tinting his cheeks as he casually glanced at her.

"Aw, just 'good'?" She rested her right forearm on his table as she leaned towards him. "_Can I do anything to make it 'great'_?"

"_Not here, Hamuko_." The bluenet smiled patiently while Hamuko pouted. "_I'll see you on the roof later._" More than content with that answer, the girl sat down on her chair again, waiting for classes to start, a bit more eagerly now.

"What were you talking about?" Yukari shot an eyebrow up as her friend giggled softly.

"Nothing."

The roof was as beautiful as ever… But the Fools were too busy wolfing down Minato's bento box to care. They were sitting on the ground, next to the door leading to the roof, trying to protect themselves from the heat by resting on one of the few shadowy zones the place had at noon.

"This is not what I had in mind when I asked you to come to the roof, you know?"

"Yeah, me neither." Hamuko grabbed a rice ball. "But you should have known better than to bring food if you wanted anything with me." She chuckled as Minato mumbled something about that not being the reason they were there. He tried to approach her, but she kept pushing him away, thinking that all he wanted was to get his food back.

Eventually, Minato took his bento box and pushed it away, finally attracting Hamuko's attention. "I wanted to talk a bit…"

"Talk or 'talk'?" The brunette rubbed her cheek against his shoulder as she purred softly.

"Erm… Talk." He spoke slowly, not wanting to give the girl who was nuzzling him any wrong ideas. "About last night."

"Sounds serious..." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a worried look. "Can't it wait?"

"I just wanted to know… What did that kiss mean?"

"Which? Mine or yours?"

"Both." He muttered under his breath, feeling a bit embarrassed at how lame his display of affection seemed when compared to Hamuko's. "What do they change?"

"What do they change?" She didn't seem to understand that question.

"I mean… What do they make us? As in… What are we now? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Special friends?"

"Oh…" She gave him a troubled look. "Look, I… Y-you're still Minato, I'm still Hamuko, and we're still t-the best rivals ever, aren't we? And the whole couple thing is really awkward and, and…" Hamuko's voice cracked as she looked down with teary eyes. "I don't want anything to change just because of a-"

Before she could end her phrase, Minato grabbed her face carefully and tilted it upwards so she was facing him. "I don't need a girlfriend." He then planted a soft kiss on her lips, which she returned gladly. A gentle smile decorated his face. "A Hamtaro is fine too." He ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, everyone's been thinking we're together since the school year began. Nothing is different, is it?"

"I'm glad you understand…" She put her face right next to his ear. "Call me Hamtaro one more time and I'll make everyone call you Mina-chan until you start college." Hamuko finished the contents of the bento box which laid forgotten on the ground and stood up, ready to go back to their classroom before the break came to an end.

"I have another question, Hamuko… I've been meaning to ask this for a while, but… What do you feel when you improve a Social Link with a boy?"

"Huh? What kind of question is that?" The girl scratched the back of her head. "Um, I feel err… Closer to the guy? You know, that's kinda the point of socializing."

"You don't… Feel the need to flirt with them?"

"Erm… No, I do that at free will on a daily basis." She tapped her lower lip with a finger, thoughtful. "Are you trying to tell me that's why you're so flirty with Yuko-san?" Before Minato could explain himself, she carried on speaking. "As I said, I don't want anything to change between us; I'm not a cutie girlfriend, don't you know?" Minato noticed that she had taken that line right out of one of her favorite songs, but decided against commenting on it. "You can go around with anyone, get a real 'girlfriend' or do whatever you want -that's just what I'll do- and I swear I'll never get mad and I'll always be there for you… For as long as I'm the one who gets to spend most time with you." She winked at him. "You do that, I'll do the same. You don't do that… I'll still do it." Her grin was half mocking, half affective. "I'm sure you were aware of this before you 'tripped' yesterday."

Minato blinked, a bit shocked at the explanation. From all the time he had spent with Hamuko, he knew that there were few chances that she'd have let him keep her for himself. However, those words had been a tad too… Direct. "…Seriously, I don't do the flirting thing on purpose…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever; tell it to someone who cares."

Afternoon? What afternoon? Minato was napping as usual –having nicer daydreams than usual, as well- while Hamuko kept throwing notes at Junpei; they seemed to be engaged in a really intense conversation. Or at least they were until Mr. Ekoda caught one of the notes and made both teens leave the class. Then they began talking aloud in the corridor.

"Whoa, he really agreed to that? Damn, that doesn't seem like Minato at all."

"That's because you don't know him as well as I do!" Indeed, Junpei had no idea about Social Links. "But yeah, I'm kinda surprised he took it so well. I was afraid he'd go all 'Durr, durr, no you be mine' or something and I'd have to tell him off."

"So… Heheh, does that mean I still have chances with you?"

"EW, no, man. That'd be like… Friendcest." Hamuko patted Junpei's shoulder as he groaned in disappointment. "You'll find a girl that loves you. You'll see." They joined fists, even though Junpei did so less eagerly than the brunette. "SO, speaking of finding people, any luck with the stalker?" He shook his head. "Oh. Well. Tell me if you see any more photos, okay?"

Once the lecture the two friends received after school ended, Hamuko was kindly 'invited' by Ms. Toriumi to attend to her duties in the Health committee –'invited' meaning threatened with detention if she didn't go.

It was a busy day in the nurse office. Edogawa wasn't present and people just kept going in and out, asking for all kind of things. Oh well, at least Saori seemed delighted. Hamuko was sincerely amused by the amount of students who were trying to get medicines which could get them high, and how the older student kept apologizing for not being allowed to help, seemingly oblivious to their intentions.

"S-Saori-san!" A girl with hair buns ran into the place, ignoring completely the bunch of people waiting before her. She looked familiar.

"...Oh, Higashida-san. I'm sorry; I'm a little busy right now..."

"Oh, it's okay, it'll be quick! Um... About the notes I borrowed..." Oh, of course. She was that one girl from the last time Ms. Toriumi 'suggested' making Saori some company.

"My notes...? Oh, right..."

"Michi lost them. I'm sorry; I'll make sure I yell at her!"

"Huh?" Saori seemed surprised. "...Oh, that's fine."

"Well, s-see you!"

When the girl left after her lame apology, Saori went back to helping all the people whining about some or other pain. Eventually, people stopped showing up to the nurse office.

"Whew... Today was pretty rough, don't you think?"

"Nah, I could spend all day doing this." Hamuko meant seeing people invent illnesses, not actually assisting them.

"Uh-huh, that's how I feel, too." Saori laughed cheerfully. "Oh, right, didn't we get homework today?" The brunette wasn't in her class, so she had positively no idea. "I should make use of this time and get it done... Oh, wait, my notes..."

"I'd ask you if you want mine, but… I didn't have Physics today, sorry."

"It's fine, don't worry! I was just thinking that my homework would be a lot easier if I had the notes I gave her... Well, there's no point complaining about what I don't have.

"What did I tell you about not letting people use you?"

Saori seemed troubled. "You're such a nice person. Thanks..." The older girl gave Hamuko a thankful smile. Enough to make the Hermit Social Link reach level 3. "Oh, it's almost time. Which do you want to do? Clean the ground or refill the dispensers? Let's roshambo for it."

"Err—Don't you prefer rock, paper, scissors?"

"It's the same, isn't it?"

"…Yyyyyeah."

Meanwhile, in Paulownia Mall's main hall -which was awfully full of children running around-…

"Wait for me!" Yuko had invited Minato to hang out, which he accepted reluctantly. He had avoided any kind of visual contact with the girl; if it worked when avoiding cards dropped by monsters, it had to work when avoiding whatever inner force made him need to court Yuko every time he was near her. "You're taller than me; I can't go as fast as you, okay?"

Out of courtesy, Minato finally stopped and turned around to wait for the girl. Then, against his will, he walked towards her and held her hand to make sure she was following.

She giggled. "Well, I don't mind about this but... It's just… I didn't think we were going out yet."

"_Me neither._" He released a sigh.

They had been holding hands for hardly a minute when someone crashed against the team manager, making her turn away from the bluenet –which he thanked deeply. The assaulter seemed to be a little boy with a yellow shirt.

"Ow! …Heeeey!" Recognition was obvious in her eyes. "You have to learn to look where you're going!"

"Is that your son, Miss?" Minato asked, trying to fake Officer Kurosawa's voice.

"WHAT? I'm 17! There's no way I could have a kid that age!" The girl seemed angry.

"_I was just joking…_" The bluenet sighed yet again.

"It's your fault! You weren't paying attention!" The child stuck out his tongue at Yuko. "Ms. Nishiwaki!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me 'Big Sis.' …I give up!" The team manager seemed a bit upset. "...This is no place to be playing tag. It was okay this time, since it was me... But what if you had bumped into a stranger? Go play at the playground."

"We can't play there... There are sixth graders playing soccer... They said they'll move if we beat them in a race, but..." He pouted. "...We're only fourth graders! We can't win... So, we had to play tag here instead, Ms. Nishiwaki."

Yuko rubbed her temples. "I'll let the "Ms." slide this time, but only because I feel sorry for you... Alright, come with me."

Yuko, Minato and a horde of fourth graders –a horde meant four or five children for the bluenet- walked out of the mall and headed towards Gekkoukan High. Once there, they sneaked through the corridors until they arrived to the part in the west wing of the school where the Track Team practiced.

Yuko explained that they weren't supposed to be there and gave them a few rules to use the tracks correctly. When the boy with the yellow shirt was about to begin running, she stopped him. "Wait, come here for a second... Pump your arms more... And don't lift your legs so high, or you might pull a muscle."

After a few more pointers, the child was free to run. He was delighted to see that thanks to Yuko's advices his speed increased dramatically.

"Me too!" Every child shouted. "Me too! Come help ME, Coach!" Yuko's eyes seemed to gleam at that word. "We're gonna win!"

Once she was done helping everyone, Yuko walked back towards where Minato was standing, watching amused how the kids competed. It was like what he and Kazushi used to do back when his knee was just fine. Back then he couldn't appreciate those moments, though, as he was too busy not dying of exhaustion.

"This is such a hard work… But, it's worth it just to see the smiles on their faces... But... I've never been a coach before... Am I doing the right thing, Minato-kun?"

"Of course."

"But…"

"Search in your heart, you know it's true."

"…You're right!" Yuko shouted, excited. She then turned to the kids. "I'll do it! I'll be your coach! But, I'm not gonna go easy on you guys! And no one's allowed to quit, either! Got it?"

"Got it, Coach!"

A little girl pointed to Minato. "Is that your boyfriend, Coach? Is he gonna teach us too?"

"Of course." Minato smiled kindly.

"What?" She looked at the other teen and blushed. "O-of course what? Uhh... Don't worry about that." Yuko cleared her throat and went back to shouting. "Think positive! If you think you're gonna lose, you will! Don't be afraid of them just because they're sixth graders!" There was a general "yaaaaay" and everyone went back to training.

* * *

><p>Eventually, it got dark and the children had to go back home. The teens walked silently back home.<p>

"Hey, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting all afternoon. Once they called me 'Coach' I just couldn't resist." Yuko giggled.

"I think you're really kind." Minato smiled. "Would you like me to help you coach them?"

"What? You'd help me? I mean, it'd be great because I only know a little about racing and you're pretty athletic."

"Is that a compliment?" He smirked as she blushed. "It'd be my pleasure to help you."

"Really? Thanks!" Yuko's gratefulness was really hard to miss. The Strength Social Link grew yet another level, thus reaching level 5.

"_Don't relationships level up at intimacy 5 in videogames? I wonder if… No. NO. Don't think that!_"

"I'm sorry about last time too…" The tanned girl muttered with a smile on her face. "I keep dragging you into this kind of things. But, I promise I'll make it up to you one of these days…"

"What about today?" Minato put his hands over Yuko's shoulders.

"M-Minato-kun…" He hushed her with a kiss, which he broke as soon as regained a bit of lucidity. "Minato, I…"

"E-E-E-EH LOOK AT THE TIME!" He yelled nervously. "I'd better go back to my dorm now! Have a good night!" He proceeded to ran away, leaving a rather dumbstruck Yuko behind. "_WHAT. __**WAS**__. THAT?_"

* * *

><p>Minato arrived to the dorm and slammed the door shut. He walked –or rather stumped, after such a long race- into the lounge and found Hamuko and Junpei playing videogames while following closely the movement of an electric fan. Yukari was on the armchair, trying to focus on one of her fashion magazines.<p>

"Take that, Junker!" Hamuko shouted as she pressed several buttons at the same time.

"Hah! Level Drain! All your monsters' level is halved, Hamano!" Junpei retorted. "And now Junker Infection, go!"

"Nooooooo! Think positive! Think positive!" An explosion-like noise blared out of Hamuko's COMPP while a fanfare came from Junpei's. She left hers on the sofa as she slid down from her seat, defeated. It was only then when she noticed the bluenet. "Hey Minato. You look pale. Well… Paler than usual."

"I err… I have to talk with you about something."

"You're feeling talkative today, aren't you?" Hamuko got up and followed him towards the kitchen. "I'll get my revenge, Jun-kun!"

"I… Look, I know what you said this morning, however… I feel that I should tell you this... A-And I… Heavens, err…" He took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly as he spoke. "Yuko and I have kissed."

"Aha." Hamuko's expression didn't change, and Minato found that endlessly unnerving. Eventually, she raised an eyebrow as an answer to the other Fool's expectant face. "With tongue?"

"Huh? No… But Hamuko, that's not-"

"If it was just a kiss, I don't see why you're so worried." She shrugged. "I mean, I'd get upset if someone made out with you before I've had the chance to do it first, but..."

"Err, what?"

"I want to be the first one to do that with _my_ Minato, silly. Otherwise it'd be a bit gross for me." The brunette spoke like she was telling him the most usual thing in the world. Complete with a dumb smile. "So did you interrupt my epic battle only for this?"

Minato couldn't prevent himself from smacking his hand against his forehead. He decided he would just give up on trying to understand the female Fool. "Ugh, never mind... Let's change the subject, okay? Have you seen Senpai around?"

"Yukari told me that they told her to tell us that they had gone to the hospital to see Fuuka, so we'd have to tell them what we told them we'd tell them another day."

"…" The bluenet hadn't really understood a word.

"Short version: we have to get going to Chagall. After I defeat Junpei."

* * *

><p>"It's dark in here…" A childish voice and the noise of soft steps were the only thing breaking the empty silence which filled the place. "Hello? Anyone here?"<p>

"Anyone here?" Another voice echoed.

"Oh! I'm not alone!" The slow walking turned into desperate running. Soon, an invisible barrier stopped the advance. It seemed to be a transparent mirror or a window of sorts, not reflecting anything at all. "Where are you?"

"Here." Someone knocked on the wall which impeded the speaker's advancement. There was a silhouette behind the glass. It seemed to be carrying something in its arms. "This place is my home. Who are you?"

"I'm someone… But no one, because I haven't been given a name. Do you have one?"

"I used to have one, but I don't anymore. I think I'm… Shi… Shi… Ne?" The voice sounded doubtful. "Well, no, I can't be Shi. I'm just the one who has to make sure that Shi stays with me." The shadow in the mirror extended its arms, showing a much smaller human silhouette.

"Shi? Why would a baby be called that?"

"I don't know; I didn't choose it. Someone just gave Shi to me, without asking me if I wanted to care for it, and told me that it must never leave my side."

"You had to accept Shi…?" Two little hands slammed the mirror. "I'll help you guard Shi if you let me stay in your home."

"My home shattered when I took Shi here. It's beginning to fall apart. If you come here, it will disappear completely, and Shi will escape."

"Then, get out of there! Come here with me!" The glass was hit once again. "We two will make sure that Shi doesn't hurt anything else."

"But I can't leave my home! What do I do with it?"

"I'll help you mend it if you help me make a home for myself!" A shy hand approached the mirror as it began vanishing. "Deal?"

* * *

><p>Hamuko rolled down her bed and fell on her face.<p>

"Ouch…" She rubbed her nose as she sat up. A quick glance out the window told her that she had woken up as the Dark Hour was about to end; that is, barely an hour after having gone to bed. Subconsciously, she reached out towards the glass which sealed the window to prevente the entrance of burglars into the dorm. Solid. "What was I dreaming about…?" A sigh. "No more Pheromone Coffee competitions before going to bed."

* * *

><p>That morning, Minato walked to school with Mitsuru. She informed him that Fuuka and Natsuki were healing well and that she'd invite Fuuka to the dorm to ask for her help. She also kindly explained that she and Akihiko would be going to the hospital that night as well, but they hadn't forgotten about the information the Fools owed them. Great.<p>

Both teens went to practice that afternoon. Rio did positively nothing but choke in self-pity because of being unable to tell Kenji that she liked him and whining about how their student-teacher romance wasn't going to work. Before Hamuko got a chance to tell her to gather some courage and confess all that to her classmate, the Chariot Social Link reached level 6 and she was allowed to leave practice early. Cool.

For the first time in quite a while, Minato and Kazushi met during practice. Unfortunately for the later, everyone in the team noticed his considerable speed decrease and began badmouthing him, despite Yuko kept scolding them.

"Kaz!" Yuko shouted when practice ended. "The coach wants to see you in the office!"

"Alright! I'll be right there!"

As Kazushi left, Yuko walked towards Minato. Her face was slightly flushed and a big smile decorated her features.

"Um, Minato, about yesterday..."

"Err… I'm sorry, Yuko. I have to arrive early to my dorm today too."

"Oh, never mind then…"

Minato ran off, not wanting to deal with that kind of conversation again.

"Hey Yuko-san!" Hamuko ran towards the team manager. She glanced around the athletics field. "Where's everyone?"

"Hi, Hamuko-san!" Yuko greeted her. "I'm sorry, but everyone left already. Did you want anything?"

"Nah, since practice finished early I just thought I'd come by and ask Minato to walk home together. I guess I should have skipped the melon bread snack if I wanted to arrive on time to see him." She chuckled, oblivious to the dirty look that Yuko had been given her since the brunette referred to Minato without any honorific. "Well, see ya!"

When Minato was about to leave school, someone stopped him.

"Hey, Minato! Wait up..." Kazushi gasped as he finally caught up to the bluenet. "The coach just called me to the office to tell me he's worried about me..." He looked annoyed. "I'm not accusing you of telling him, but... Damn! What should I do? I think he knows..."

"That's because everyone can tell you're injured. Your knee is getting worse, isn't it?"

"It's just a bit sore, nothing worrying!" It was obvious he was lying. "The coach said I'd have to quit the team if I'm hurt. But, I told him I'm not... I've already missed three days this year!" ...Wow? "Now, I'll have to work even harder! Otherwise, I won't be able to keep my promise to my nephew!"

"Then grow some balls, stop complaining to me and do your best when you're training." Minato was just saying what his friend wanted to hear. If it was about him, he'd force his friend to rest for a while, but alas…

"Huh! You're right! I have to continue no matter what! ...I'll take my chances for my nephew's sake... Even if I permanently damage my knee. If that happens, Minato..." Kazushi put a hand on Minato's shoulder. "I want you to be the next captain."

The boy really had to trust Minato to say such a thing… Chariot Social Link level 7. "Do your best, and you won't have to worry about such a thing."

"…I'm just covering the worst case scenario. But don't worry, I'll keep my promise and win at the regional meet as well as the nationals! Then, I'll give my knee a rest. …But for now, I'll do whatever it takes!" Kazushi walked away, trying his best to ignore the pain.

"Oh, there you are!" Hamuko shouted. "I was looking for you, man!" She clang herself to Minato's arm. "I finally have a strategy to defeat Junpei in Jungian Archetype 2! Wanna come see how I kick his ass?"

"…No?"

"Awesome, let's go!"

* * *

><p><strong>For future reference, she lost.<strong>** CRIPTIC DREAM IS CRIPTIC! And it will also be hilarious in hindsight one day as well.**

**Raise your hands those of you who want to smash my head against a wall after this chapter :D**

**But yeah, I mean, I didn't spend 25 chapters explaining how Hamuko didn't understand love and how Minato just didn't have experience with it to let them together and happy forever after *3* Sorry.  
><strong>


	27. Not so fast, 'Muko

**Author note: okay, while I go look for some bandages because of all the people who raised hands in favor of slamming my head against a wall -and those who will hit me because of the pun on the Trope "Not so fast, Bucko"- I'll leave a little FAQ in here:**

**Q. Only friends with benefits? Wrrrrrry?**

**A. It will get better. They just need time to get used to what love feels like. Anyway man, come on, it was in the very summary of the fic that they'd go through all the ships 8D; The summary is bad but fair.**

**And now for a random fact: I've said until exhaustion that Minato hates Hamuko's behavior. Then how did they end up **_**somewhat**_** together? He likes little cute things she does, like flashing him smiles or hugging him with whatever excuse. He still doesn't like when she's all over him or making sick puns, but, if you notice, the first kind of annoying behavior has decreased considerably –and then increased lately again with good reason- since the first chapters. That's because Hamuko has grown to understand that 1_He didn't really like that and she was just upsetting him. 2_It wasn't funny anymore for her when Minato stopped reacting to the things she did. –And then Topsicles happened-**

**So anyway, see? Character development happens. It's slow, but it happens. But it's slow. But it happens ;w;**

**Okay, last info of the day: POLL POLL POLL FOR THE SHIRAKAWA BOULEVARD EVENT! You see, I've thought up two versions. One is hilarious to a hilarious extent of hilarity. Of the kind that would make you want to slam my head against a wall until I lost capability to write. The other is pure, delicious ship tease. Of the kind that would make you want to stomp on my hands until I lost capability to write. Either way I end up invalid. So, choose carefully, folks.**

* * *

><p>"What are you listening to, Minato?"<p>

"'Deep Breath Deep Breath', by Lotus Juice."

"Really? I love that song! It's one of the best ones they've done!"

"Huh? You think so? …I didn't know you liked this kind of music." Minato took off his headphones and handed them to Hamuko, who thanked him with a smile.

"…What?" She gave him his headphones back. "What **is** that, man?"

"'Deep Breath Deep Breath'." He seemed surprised. "Why, isn't this the same song you were talking about?"

"Nooope." The girl reached for the MP3 player which she always carried around, yet rarely used. She switched it on and looked for that specific song. "Here, listen to this."

"…'Deep Breath Deep Breath Reincarnation Version'?" He put Hamuko's headphones on. "…They have butchered the song." In spite of those words, he didn't stop listening to the music.

"More like they made it awesome!" Hamuko pressed her right cheek to Minato's left and pulled the wire so that the headphones could be used by both. "Doesn't this song make you wanna level up Social Links all day long?"

"Too cheesy for that. …But, if you like it…" He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her an affective squeeze. "Then, I like it." That was just a cheap excuse not to accept that he actually loved the new remix.

"…I still don't like your version, though." She laughed as Minato let out a "Hmph". "Oh, oh, wanna listen to the remix of 'Want to be close'?"

"Maybe when we aren't about to arrive late to school."

* * *

><p>Classes went by quickly and uneventfully that day. After school, everyone was pocking fun at the latest goof Ms. Miyahara had committed during Maths class, when a beeping noise alerted Hamuko that she had received a message. It was from Akihiko.<p>

"'Fuuka is being released from the hospital today. We'll talk to her this evening. Come to the command room as soon as you get back.'" Another series of beeps. "'Once our talk with her is over, we'll have our belated conversation with Minato and you. Don't make plans for tonight.'" Hamuko's face hit her desk. "Niiiiiiiiiiice."

"We'd better go to the dorm right now." Minato sighed. "We wouldn't want to make that interrogation last more than necessary, right?"

Both Fools walked together out of class.

"Oh hey there!" And that was Yuko calling from behind them. "Hey Hamuko-san…"

"H-Hi …" The bluenet turned around with the most forced smile Hamuko had seen in her life. "A-ah yes, I told you I'd help you c-coach the children, yeah…"

"Um no, I was just going to invite you to go have some sushi at Wakatsu… _You know, just you and me_."

"…Wakatsu? Sounds really ni-"

"Sorry, Yuko-san, but we're kinda **really** busy today. I'm sure Minato can hang out with you another day." Hamuko smiled as she tugged at the boy's wrist.

"Err… Yeah, sorry!" Minato waved bye as he walked away. He didn't miss Yuko's annoyed expression. "What was that, Hamuko?"

"What was what?"

"Huh… Forget it. I guess that even you can be responsible."

* * *

><p>As soon as they got to the dorm, they headed to Minato's room to make last minute decisions about what to tell to their senpai.<p>

"Have I mentioned how weird it feels to invite you to my room now we're…?" He sat down and paused to think better what he was about to say. "Whatever… We… Are?"

"I think it's actually more legit for me to be here now I don't have to barge in or think of an excuse if I want to see you in the middle of the night." She smiled mischievously. "You'll open the door if I ask nicely enough, won't you?"

There was something in the way she said the word "nicely" that made Minato's heart skip a beat. "Err…" He put a hand in front of his face and pretended to be coughing, when instead he was hiding the sudden change in coloration that his face had suffered. "…We'll discuss that later. Now we have to think about things."

* * *

><p>That evening, everyone gathered in the Command Room. In the time she had spent in the hospital, Fuuka had recovered the colour of her face and no longer looked pale and sickly.<p>

The Chairman introduced Fuuka to the sophomores, thanked them for their arduous job uncovering the truth and explained that the three girls who had fallen unconscious had already gone out of the hospital. Apparently, they were attacked by shadows during the Dark Hour.

"These facts became twisted because of rumours concerning a ghost story." Ikutsuki explained as Junpei and Hamuko exchanged innocent looks with everyone.

"I knew right from the beginning that it wasn't a ghost."

"Yeah, Yukari. We know you're alwayyyyyys right." Said girl glared at Hamuko. She wasn't definitely winning points on her friendship with the brunette…

"It's all my fault." Fuuka muttered darkly.

"...Are you kidding? You were the victim!"

"But…" The teal haired girl was on the verge of tears. "I made so many people worry..."

"Hey, don't think like that..." Yukari's attempts to cheer her up were futile.

"We could have lost that fight if you weren't there." Mitsuru suddenly intervened. "You saved our lives. You should feel good about yourself. You have a special power that you can use to help others."

Fuuka sniffed and looked up with wet eyes. "A-A special power...?"

"We call it 'Persona'." Oh God. There she was again with the same recruiting speech she used on the Fools, and probably Junpei as well. "You could be a tremendous help to us. Will you lend us your strength?"

"Are you asking me to join you...?"

"That's correct."

"I think you'd make a good addition to the team, too."

"Mitsuru-senpai... Akihiko-senpai…"

All this "we want you" speech was apparently enervating Yukari. "You know, we're not trying to pressure you, so if you need some time to think about it..."

"I'll do it." Fuuka exclaimed. "...I'll help you!"

Yukari was shocked. "A-Are you sure! If you join, you'll have to live here..."

"That's fine. I'd rather live here than at home anyway..."

Mitsuru smiled. "We really appreciate this. We'll have the school talk to your parents, to resolve any issues."

"Thank you."

"...Wait a minute." There went Yukari again. "Aren't we dragging her into this a bit fast?"

"Um, it's okay, really... I mean... It'll be nice to have two other girls in my grade around, too..."

"Huh?" Hamuko exclaimed. "No, sorry! I'm your Senpai!"

"Huh? Oh, that's right! I'm sorry, I..."

"Um, she was kidding... You'll eventually get used to the Chairman and Hamuko's humour sense."

"Now, then..." Ikutsuki spoke up. "Those special Shadows showed up again. We still don't know where they're coming from. But, thanks to Seikatsu we know one thing... Their appearances seem to coincide with the full moon. We'll take that into consideration from now on."

"So, they're kinda like werewolves then, huh?" Junpei's comment was positively ignored.

"It's a big advantage for us to know when to expect them. Now, on the day of the fight, we'll be ready to get in the ring. Well, that about concludes today's meeting."

"Everyone is dismissed except Arisato and Seikatsu. Have a good night." All the students did as ordered and left the room. "Alright then. We have postponed this long enough. We are looking forward the explanation of why you acknowledged the coincidence between the Moon phases and the appearance of shadows outside of Tartarus, and, most important, the reason why you did not share with us such a vital information!"

"Um… Yeah." Minato cleared his throat. "Well, as you know, we're different from other Persona users in many ways. We possess many Personas, we are capable to obtain new ones through defeating enemies, and we have an unexplainable urge to fight, which, thankfully, we have mostly learnt to control, not to mention…"

"Get to the point, Arisato. That's not the information we want."

"Sorry, Senpai… A-anyway, we knew because... A Persona told us."

"A Persona?" Mitsuru exclaimed. "Is that so, Seikatsu?"

Hamuko mumbled nothing more than a "yes", quite aware of how easy it was to spot her lies.

"Do you mean a Persona gave you a hint that you were going to be attacked on a full moon?"

"Hum, well… Yes and no. It just gives us cryptic messages every so often. They tend to be short talks."

Akihiko, Ikutsuki and Mitsuru began murmuring about something. "You keep conversations with you Personas?"

"UUUH… No. Only that one. Because it's special. And they're hardly conversations."

Mitsuru shot an eyebrow up. "…Can we see that Persona?"

The Fools exchanged a quick glance before exclaiming a simultaneous "NO."

"Why is that?"

"Err…" They hadn't seen this question coming.

"It's an um… Very powerful Persona." Hamuko did her best to sound convincing while improvising. "It might blow up this room or something accidentally…"

"Yes and uh… It's almost impossible to summon too! It just comes and goes like that." It was no lie; that was just what the mysterious boy had been doing since he first began appearing.

"I see. By your words, I deduce it's a Persona both of you can wield, ala Orpheus. And you're saying this incredibly powerful Persona **talks** to you." The interrogated teens nodded quickly, trying to keep their eyes from meeting Mitsuru's incredulous gaze. "So it's a talkative Persona which can't be controlled and gives you both messages which contain some kind of ciphered information." She snorted. "Am I correct to believe that it also informed you of that… 'Fusion Spell' of yours?"

"Err… No, that was other Personas' doing. We discovered that power during our encounter with the Crying Table and it pretty much saved us." Hamuko explained. "We wouldn't be here if they hadn't told us that."

"So you **do** keep conversations with more than one Persona…"

Minato shot Hamuko a dirty look because of messing up the conversation. "I-it was only once and it was more like a monologue, really."

"Well, disregarding that strange practice…" Ikutsuki muttered as he adjusted his glasses. "Could you explain how does that attack work?"

"We point to each other. Pull the trigger. BANG! Magic!" Everyone in the room looked at the Fools like they were crazy. "What? It's less awkward than it sounds when we have tried to kill each other for real so many times!"

"…_Nice way of putting it, Hamuko_." The bluenet let out a tired sigh. "So far we only know of the existence of one attack, but there might be more, maybe triggered by different Personas. We don't know if it'd work when shooting another person, though, so I believe we'd better do research in that field by ourselves rather than put others at risk."

"Yeah. Anyway, I wouldn't shoot anyone other than Minato." Said boy glanced at her, shocked. "I mean… You'd have to be a bit nuts to go around shooting anyone to see if something happens, right?" The look that Ikutsuki gave Hamuko told her that the only adult of the group could have different ideas about what measure was "crazy".

"Alright then, back to the main question." Akihiko jumped into the conversation. "Why didn't you share this information with us earlier?"

Fortunately, they already knew by heart the answer to that. "We're talking about information coming from a physical representation of our respective psyches, or for a less euphemistical term, those monsters in our mind." Minato cocked an eyebrow up as he gave the interrogators a questioning look. "Wouldn't you take words coming from them with a grain of salt? Or would you just go around telling everyone that you're hearing voices and that they say the moon is a bad omen?" The boy etched his hands below his chin. "Would **you** have believed us?"

"Indeed, you have a point there…" Mitsuru adopted a thoughtful stance and turned her back to her kohai so she could comment the information with the others. They still could hear her, though. "Their story seems rather suspicious…"

"Why would they lie to us, Mitsuru?" Aki seemed willing to give the Fools the benefit of doubt.

"Hmm…" She turned back to them. "Alright. We're going to believe you this time." Minato and Hamuko did their best not to release a relieved sigh. "However, if we see any hint that it might be a lie, if you give us any small reason to believe you're not sharing the whole truth, I promise that our methods of questioning will be much, much different." The red head glared at them. "Dismissed!"

They wasted no second running away from the Command Room.

"T-They believed us…" Minato whispered as he recovered his breath.

"Yeah... I was afraid they'd torture us or something."

"Hey, they aren't Yakuza… Well, I'm pretty sure Akihiko-senpai and Ikutsuki-san aren't. Not so about Mitsuru-senpai."

"You think she'll make us go under Yubitsume for lying?"

"WHAT? O-of course not!" Minato received a worried look as an answer. "…Just be more careful with what you say in front of everyone, and we won't have to find out…"

They decided to chill out on the lounge for a while, needing a rest after the stressful situation –and since there was no one left in the lounge, maybe cuddle a bit.

* * *

><p>"Hey."<p>

"Hmm?"

"How should I take the fact that you would only shoot me?"

"Err… I guess you can say I trust you enough to shoot you?"

"You trust me enough to kill me figuratively. Nice."

Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows, concerned about the morose boy. "Well, um…" She rested her head on his shoulder and giggled. "I'm very sure you can replace 'shoot' with anything you want and it will work just as fine."

"Anything?" Minato shot an eyebrow up.

"Anything you want. I'm sure it'll fit."

"Okay, well… Do you trust me enough to hug me?"

"Of course." She snuggled up against him and wrapped her arms around him. "Wanna try another thing?"

"Then… Do you trust me enough to kiss me?"

"Hrm… Yes..." She kissed his cheek. "C'mon, think of something else."

"I ran out of ideas…" More like, he ran out of ideas he could say aloud.

"Can I give it a try? Do you trust me enough to…" Hamuko pressed her lips softly against his face yet again, slowly leaving a trail down his jaw and neck. Once the collar of his shirt got in the middle, she began messing with his bowtie.

"Trust you enough to…?"

The only answer the bluenet received were some complains about how badly tied the bowtie was, followed by a cheerful exclamation of triumph as the knot finally was undone. The girl proceeded to grab the collar of Minato's shirt and pulled it down until his neck was exposed.

"Oh no. No." He pushed her away much to her surprise. "Not that."

"Aw, whyyy?"

"Because… One week with one of your little displays of affection on my neck was enough, thank you."

"But that was a payback, it's not the same! I'll be gentle this time! You'll like it!"

"Nope."

"But-"

"No." He got up from the sofa, ignoring the frustrated look on Hamuko's face.

"You're just afraid that _someone_ will see it, aren't you?"

"Exactly. And it's too hot for scarves, so…" Minato glanced out of the window. "It's getting late. Maybe we should go to bed."

"Go by yourself, killjoy." The brunette puffed up her cheeks.

"Don't be so immature…" He wrapped his arms around the brunette's waist and pulled her up to her feet. "Can't you imagine what people would say of me?"

"They'd say that you're a really lucky guy." Hamuko stuck out her tongue at him. "…Or more probably they'd say something like 'been hangin' out with that slut again, huh?'" She looked down and smiled wryly. "…Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't like that."

Minato moved his arms from her waist to her back and pressed her closer to himself. "If anyone dared say such a thing I'd make them regret it."

"Don't say that; you've been the worst offender by far." She laughed at Minato's shocked face. They decided to head to their respective rooms. "You sure you don't wa-"

"Good night, Hamuko."

* * *

><p>"Thank you very much for accompanying me to my class, Hamuko-san."<p>

"Hey, no problem! It's as good of an excuse as any to take a look at 2-E!"

As soon as Fuuka walked into the room, some girl began shouting. "Hey look, it's the ghost girl!"

The teal haired girl got visibly down. "Umm…"

Hamuko was about to give the idiot who said that a piece of her mind, when someone waltzed into the class, pushed her aside not even bothering to apologize, and stopped right behind Fuuka. That 'kind' student was no other than Natsuki.

Natsuki snapped her fingers in front of Fuuka's face. "You in here?" Her classmate blinked in surprise. "I heard you started living at the dorms. You seem so depressed..." Alright, if all Natsuki was going to do was to laugh at Fuuka, then maybe Hamuko would stop repressing the urge to punch her. "…Let me know if you need someone to talk to." …What? "You could probably use a friend, huh?"

"Moriyama-san..."

"Oh, come on. Just call me Natsuki."

"...Thank you."

That was one of those heartwarming moments not even Hamuko would dare interrupt…

* * *

><p>"Seikatsu."<p>

"Senpai?" Hamuko had to interrupt the intense conversation she was keeping with Minato about the superb taste of melon bread against the saltiness of crab bread. "Can I help you?"

"Indeed. I have come to inform you that this afternoon there'll be an important meeting of the Student Council. I'll require some assistance."

"I'm sorry, Senpai, but today I have practice, and I have told Akihiko-senpai that I'd leave so time to hang out with him, and Minato and I were going to visit a child at the shrine, and…"

"Seikatsu, it was not a question. I expect you to head to the Student Council Room as soon as classes end." With that, the red head left 2-F.

"Geez…"

"All this is your fault for stealing my Social Link."

Hamuko groaned. "Why do you still remember that…?"

* * *

><p>All they did in the meeting was to discuss about the necessity of school uniforms while Hamuko stayed quietly by Mitsuru's side, doing her best not to fall asleep. Once the meeting was over, the brunette discovered that the assistance Mitsuru required was nothing other than picking up printed copies of several rules scattered all over the tables, and then taking the uniform models into the school storage.<p>

For some reason beyond her comprehension, Hidetoshi, the Disciplinary Committee leader, decided to stay with her and give her a hand. "So." He began talking out of the blue. "I'd like your opinion on the main topic of today's meeting. The people requesting the abolition of the uniform are recruiting supporters…"

Hamuko had positively no idea of what to say about that, but she knew that her own ideas would most likely clash against Hidetoshi's. And that wasn't good. "How really despicable."

Hidetoshi nodded, content. "Indeed." The brunette did a mental note to quote Mitsuru more often.

"They think life without rules is freedom. It's ridiculous, plain and simple. Without rules, the whole system will collapse. They're mistaking selfishness for freedom..." …Was Hidetoshi a reincarnation of Napoleon or something? It would make sense. With the whole emperor stuff and what not. "Sorry, I may have overreacted. I hate people with no common sense. Sometimes, I can't believe the things that come out of their mouths." …Woops? "I don't mean you, of course. I just want you to understand where I'm coming from."

"…I see." Hamuko didn't quite understand how, but the Emperor Social Link reached level 2.

"Why don't you go home?" Hidetoshi smiled. "I'll finish up here." He really didn't need to say that twice to convince Hamuko to dart off. "...Take care."

* * *

><p>"Hey everyone!"<p>

"Buh." Minato barely nodded to say hi. Junpei was too busy salvaging the fridge to greet her.

"Wow, what a warm welcome."

"Sorry, but I'm too tired from practice…" That meant he was both tired and annoyed because nothing special had happened. Also, for some reason, Yuko refused to keep visual contact with him. "I'm sore in muscles I didn't know I had."

"Aw, poor thing… Do you want me to give you a massage later, hmm?"

"A… Massage?" Minato shook his head, trying to take the image out of his mind before his body betrayed him. "Y-you know, I suddenly feel much better." He flinched as he cracked his neck. "That won't be necessary."

Hamuko seemed amused by his rejection. "What kind of guy refuses a rubdown?"

"The kind of guy that doesn't like 'happy endings'."

She needed a moment to understand what the previous sentence had to do with their conversation. "…I was talking about the **normal** kind, you creep!"

"O-oh." The bluenet rubbed the back of his head. "Then I wouldn't mind one."

"Nope. I won't touch a creep."

"Touch who's what?" Junpei laughed as he walked into the lounge with a tray full of leftover fried chicken wings from the last time he went to Wild Duck.

"…See? That's why Jun-kun and I are only friends."

Minato nodded knowingly while the baseball clad teen gave his dorm mates a curious look.

* * *

><p>"Knock knock! You still up for that massage?"<p>

Minato opened the door which leaded to his room. "It's a bit late for that, don't you think?"

"Nope." She walked into his room and sat down on his bed. "You'll feel like a new man once I'm done, I promise."

"…We're talking about a NORMAL massage, right?" He received a nod and a glare in response. "Alright, just making sure. So err… Out of curiosity, why would you ever do such a thing?"

"I have my reasons."

Minato raised an eyebrow at that comment, but sat down next to Hamuko anyway.

"Alright. Take off your shirt."

"What?" He blushed deeply. "No."

"I can't give you a massage with that on."

"No."

"Are you going to repeat yesterday's stupid argument?"

"If I have to, yes."

"Look, I'm trying to apologize for yesterday, okay? I just want to do something to make you happy, because you make me happy every time I'm with you…" Hamuko had some trouble admitting that. "So, if you could…" A pleased smile appeared on her face as Minato began unbuttoning his shirt.

And then suddenly the lights went off and the world turned green. "It seems you have prevailed yet again."

As their eyes became used to the dim light provided by the moon, they noticed that the forever creepy and mysterious boy in a prisoner pyjama was waving his hand at them.

Hamuko couldn't believe how really inopportune his apparition had been. "NO. C'mon, don't give me this! W-we were about to…!" She noticed Minato's surprised look. "Err... Anyway, this is unfair!"

"…Boy, am I glad to see you!" Minato jumped on his feet and walked towards the boy. Saying that he was somehow trying to hide behind him wouldn't be too farfetched.

"You… Are…?" He smiled merrily, instead of sinisterly as it was usual for him. "Well, I came here to tell you that the end is inevitable but… But I guess this is a good moment to ask you this…" The boy began twiddling his thumbs. "Can we… Can we be friends?"

"I hate you both!" The brunette began stomping the ground as she ranted loudly.

"Err… Ignore her. I guess that seeing how we kept meeting each other, we might as well call each other friends. My name is Minato Arisato; hers is Hamuko Seikatsu."

The boy chuckled "I know; you don't have to tell me. I've been with you since the beginning."

Somehow, those words got Hamuko's attention. Minato didn't understand that comment, so he decided to disregard it. "Well, then. That only leaves you…" He extended his hand towards the child's. "I need to know what's my new friend's name."

"A name… Oh I see… I need a name, don't I?" He fell silent for a few seconds. "Pharos. You may call me that, if you wish." Pharos grabbed Minato's hand and shook it. Once he freed it, the image of the child faltered, replaced by a monstrous figure with metallic jaws. It was only a second, however, and it lasted less than the shocked gasp neither teen could hold back. The boy chuckled softly, seeing the scared looks on the teens' faces. "Nice to meet you."

A card appeared in their minds. It was decorated by a door with four locks, sealed with a skull. The standard Social Link voice informed them that they had formed the Death Social Link.

"It's getting late, so I'll go now." Pharos grinned as he began vanishing. "I'm already looking forward to our next meeting."

"Did you-"

"Yeah, I saw it too…" The bluenet ran a hand through his hair. "Didn't it feel… Familiar?"

"It kinda reminded me of The Reaper's presence…"

"…Now I think about it, maybe we should have asked him how he knew about those full moon monsters."

The Fools fell silent for a while.

"Honestly, Hamuko…" Minato broke the silence. "You really don't know how to give a massage, do you?"

"Nope." She sighed. "You aren't sore at all, right?"

"…I really am."

"Oh. I see…" Hamuko felt suddenly quite embarrassed. "Well, uhh… I think I should go back to my room." She headed towards the door. "See you tomorrow."

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was for everyone out there who loves ship tease. <strong>**Hamuko actively tries to rush a four days long relationship. Fails miserably. Watch her learn something from that and/or throw a fit because she doesn't know how to normal relationship. Or maybe learn the phrase "Not so fast... 'Muko."**

**I couldn't think of a better way to have them both in his room for Pharos's event, shut up. **

**Man, I first heard the Persona 3 Reincarnation OST two days ago. First I hated it… And then I got addicted. Deep Breath Deep Breath might as well be the perfect song for this fic 8D**


	28. Unnecessary worrying

**Author note: I had an interesting author note comment. I forgot. It probably had to do with something interesting. **

**Oh right something about characters never learning and keep voting for the Shirakawa Boulevard poll and so on.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>After the boring Saturday morning classes, the Fools decided to put up with the events of the day while they headed to the store in the main hallway. "So Mitsuru-senpai is gonna join us in battle?"<p>

"Yup. And seeing her ice powers…" Her "execution" replayed inevitably in their minds. "I bet she's gonna be quite useful…"

"But, a team of six?" Minato rubbed his chin. "It's going to require an exaggerated amount of supplies."

"The more the merrier!"

"We don't have enough money to keep so many people."

"Lies, of course you do."

"…We won't have enough once I've paid!"

"Yeah well. I hope the Social Link is worth it." Hamuko sighed. "So, who are you paying, again? Or rather, what are you _exactly_ paying for?" She smiled mischievously.

"I'm letting a shady guy swindle me with an obvious scam. I feel I'm about to become his friend."

"…Man, that's boring. You're boring."

"I'm not."

"Really? Well then, have you got any plans for this afternoon?"

"I'm going to go to Bookworms. Chihiro is coming along."

"Wow, sounds awesome… Not." The girl snorted. "What about we go to Paulownia and do something fun together?"

"Like?"

"Err… I don't know. Go to the arcade? Oh! And you should pay for it! It'd be hilarious if you paid something for me, for once." Her smile was answered with a not very amused look. "…Not gonna happen, is it?"

"I will invite you to something **after** I've paid my Social Link."

"Yay! Thanks, thanks!" Hamuko threw her arms around Minato.

"Hamuko. Not here."

Minato gently took Hamuko's hands and held them down at waist height, but away from him. He did this a few seconds before Yuko walked past the corridor which connected the sophomores' classrooms with the first floor, contiguous to the one they were in. Fortunately, she didn't seem to have noticed their presence. Perchance again, Minato realized he had forgotten to release the brunette's hands, and quickly did so before the blue haired team manager suddenly turned around, probably having noticed the proximity between the Fools.

Hamuko hadn't noticed Yuko at all –much less the offended look the manager gave her before walking away after an incensed headshaking- so she thought that they had just fallen into an awkward silence. "…What's so wrong with me giving you a hug?"

"You might not care about me going out with other people, but **something** tells me that the other people don't like me going with you." Minato rubbed his temples. "For God's sake, I've been avoiding Yuko since I kissed her, and she's a really impulsive person, she might end up reacting badly…" The delicious irony was, he had been the one to kiss her on an impulse and then acted like a loon. "So in order to keep you both in err… Cordial terms… We'd better cut any interaction other than friendly intercourse. Seriously, it's for your own safety. And mine. I don't want to get bashed by a jealous Yuko, do you?"

"…I can't do things with you in public; I can't do things with you in private… Seriously, you used to let me do more stuff back when we were nothing at all…"

"Look, I'm new to 'relationships' stuff, but I have somehow managed to entangle myself in two in a stupidly short period of time. No offense, but you're asking for too much if you want to rush things like you do. I want to be with you too, but seriously, I need some time to adapt to this. Slow down."

Hamuko nodded, incapable to hold back an annoyed sigh. She sincerely hated being reprimanded. "I'm going to Escapade tonight. If I don't come back before the Dark Hour and I get eaten by a stray shadow because I'm too drunk and lonely to fight because you weren't there with me 'cause you 'needed time', it's your entire fault."

"I think I'll learn to live with it." Minato shook his head and laughed at the lame attempt at a guilt trip.

"Well, that's nice. Then gimme a ring when you stop being a jerk." The brunette stormed off. Seconds later, she walked back towards him. "I forgot my lunch." After buying a few sandwiches she headed back to class.

"_You have upset two girls within five minutes. Good job, Minato_."

* * *

><p>"Good afternoon, Minato-chan!" No matter how many times Minato had heard that suffix added to his name since he met Bunkichi, it still sounded horrible to him. "It's been a long time!"<p>

"Indeed it has. I've been a bit busy, sorry."

"No need to apologize!" The old man laughed. "Say, who's that girl you've brought with you?"

"M-my name is Chihiro Fushimi." Chihiro bowed down.

"Dear." Mitsuko spoke in her usual soft voice. "She's a usual customer."

"Oh. Then I hope you find some book you like, Chihiro-chan!"

Minato asked Chihiro if she needed help finding a specific manga, but the girl refused help and practically ignored him. He guessed that he might as well entail conversation with the shop owners. "So, have you found out anything else about what plans the school has with the persimmon tree?"

"They really are going to cut it… I understand their reasoning, but… But if that tree is removed I feel like the memory of my son will vanish with it…"

"I'm doing my best to see what we can do to stop it. Don't worry; they will not lay a finger on that tree." He hadn't actually moved a finger to bother finding out about how to do this or anything, at all. Saying such empty words made him feel miserable, but alas, he couldn't let a chance to level up a social link go.

"Thank you so much for worrying, Minato-chan…" Bunkichi seemed to be in the verge of tears. "Just in case, we went to the school to say goodbye… But that only reminded us of our son's death. But I know that with your help everything will be alright."

"Indeed. We'll achieve it." Unlike his words, Minato's smile wasn't void of meaning or a lie. When Bunkichi mirrored his expression, the bluenet couldn't help but to feel closer to the old couple, and all the more miserable for never doing any of the things he promised. Anyhow, the Hierophant Social Link reached level 6, and that's what mattered.

"Ah! I finally found it!" Chihiro ran towards Minato and the owners of Bookworms. "I'd like to purchase this."

"Magical With Detective?" Minato refrained from making any comment about how bad he had heard it was.

As usual, Bunkichi didn't let the bluenet leave the store without stuffing some food into his pocket and commenting how much they appreciated his visits. "_Fried bread? Huh… Maybe I can tell Hamuko I bought it and give it to her. Yeah, food will make her happier than a bouquet of flowers or some other stupid expensive stuff._"

"Sorry to have had you waiting, Minato-san. I was so busy searching through the books... I'm sorry if I ignored you, Minato-san..."

"Don't worry. I always enjoy my conversations with Bunkichi-san and Mitsuko-san."

"Oh… I'm glad to hear that. Still... I'm sorry I took so long... This place has so many interesting books, I was having trouble deciding. ...Do you read much, Minato-san?"

"I'm sincerely not much of a reader." Minato noticed that Chihiro seemed disappointed. "However, I really enjoy reading manga from time to time."

"Really? I love manga!" The shy girl seemed really happy. "My bookshelf is full of girls' manga." She laughed. The bluenet observed that when she laughed, she had a really nice smile, and considered that she seemed a shoujo manga protagonist herself. "I tend to get frustrated when the main character can't ask out the guy she likes, because I can relate to her..."

"You too?" Minato let out a tired sigh which Chihiro misunderstood.

"...Oh, I'm sorry!" She held the book close to herself and stepped back.

"Sorry for what?"

"You probably find hanging out with a nerd like me very boring, don't you?"

Too tired to even do an effort to speak up his mind and tell her that he simply was surrounded of nerds, he let his inner flirt take the lead.

"I love hanging out with you. You're a really interesting person."

"Y-You really think so?" Chihiro's eyes were almost gleaming. "I-I'm glad to hear that. I've been worried about it for a while... T-Today, I-I was able to, um, by myself with you, Minato-san. Th-That's a big step for me... Thank you."

Minato could feel Chihiro's gratefulness. Consequently, the Justice Social Link reached level 2.

"_Well, apparently Chihiro thinks as me as a friendly guy. Nothing more. NOT that I want anything else. No seriously. Two girls is enough trouble. …And now I talk to myself_."

Once it got dark, they parted ways and Minato went back to the dorm. Right before arriving, however, he received a call. It was Elisabeth. She said her usual "the barricade is gone" line and then hung up.

"Good evening." The bluenet closed the door behind him as he put his mobile phone back in his pocket.

"Hi." Fuuka greeted him. "How was your day?"

"_Boring_." "Good." He walked towards the sofa and slumped on it. "So, I heard you will be our new mission control."

"Yeah, I will be substituting for Mitsuru-senpai from now on. I-I hope I'll be helpful."

"I'm sure you won't disappoint." Minato gave her a smile.

The boy with indigo hair turned on the television and decided to distract himself watching a news report about a famous inn in the countryside, in a town called Inaba. There were some really nice shots of their hot springs, which sincerely made Minato wish there was such a beautiful place in the city. As the hours went by, all the S.E.E.S. members arrived to the dorm. All but one.

"Hey Minato." Akihiko's voice got Minato's attention. "Have you seen Hamuko-chan around?"

"No, sorry Senpai. Have you tried asking Junpei?"

"Yeah, neither he nor Yukari knows either. Err… _Mitsuru_ was getting worried…" Something told Minato that the red head wasn't the worried one. "Are you sure you don't know?"

"Now I think about it… I might have a clue of where she is." The blue haired boy got up from the sofa and headed out. "If I'm not back before the Dark Hour hits, I'll be fighting stray shadows."

* * *

><p>The fact that stroboscopic lights were the only source of illumination in Escapade didn't make Minato's search precisely easy. The loud music playing all over the place prevented him from calling out Hamuko's name –well, that and his dignity.<p>

"Excuse me." He spoke to the bartender. "Have you seen a really drunk girl around?"

"Yah. I'm seeing many right now. Lookin' for anyone special?"

"The girl I'm looking for is about my age… She has brown hair and red eyes. Um… She's pretty good looking and might have been wearing a similar uniform to mine."

"Nope. Sorry, kid. Try taking a look from the stairs leading to the V.I.P. zone."

Minato followed the barman's advice and climbed up the metallic staircase which leaded to the floor where the V.I.P. room was placed. The clanking caused by his steps came to a halt when he considered he was high enough to take a good look at the whole club. Still no trace of Hamuko. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad...

"Hey, y'dumbass!"

Minato turned around his head towards the entrance of the V.I.P. zone. It had mostly the same decoration as the rest of the club, with indigo ceramic tiles covering the walls and beautiful patterns adorning the carpet covering the ground. The only difference was the presence of two leather sofas and two tables besides them, arranged neatly in the darkest zones of the room, probably to allow the business men that hanged out in the club every so often to 'get comfy' with their dance partners… Or to act as a bed for an old man completely surrounded by empty liquor bottles. Judging by his shaved head and his clothes, it was a monk. For some reason beyond his comprehension, the monk seemed to belong to the Yakuza. Must have been the cigar.

"Are you talking to me?"

"No, I'm talkin' to that oni next to ya! 'Course I'm!" The drunkard smashed an empty glass against the table in front of his sofa. "Stop creepin' around and bring me something to drink, c'mon!"

That man stunk like alcohol, but it seemed more like "Eau de Social Link" to Minato. He knew that the perfect gateway to initiate that Social Link would be complying and buying something to get a load on, and then maybe rant for hours or drink together or something. However, and as much as it hurt him, he had something more urgent to do.

"Maybe another day." The bluenet ran downstairs and out of the club while the old monk yelled at him. He stopped running right after having left Escapade and began looking around the main hall desperately. "_She might be just safe, and I missed her when she went back to the dorm. But maybe she's completely hammered and in some old creep's car, too drunk to know what she's doing. Or even worse…_"

"Minato?" That voice… "Hey, such a coincidence… Man, what's with that face?"

Instead of an answer, Hamuko received a rather rib-crushing hug. Well, she wasn't going to be the one to oppose to one of those.

"Y-You're fine, right? You aren't hurt or anything, are you?"

"Well it's kinda difficult to breath like this but… No?"

Minato pulled away and raised his hand. "Okay, how many fingers do I have?"

"Five! No wait, ten! …Twenty counting the toes?" Hamuko shot an eyebrow up. "Is this a trick question?"

"You really are fine…" He hugged her yet again, only to release her shortly after. "You had me worried, goddamn it!"

"Dude, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not! Where the hell were you?"

"Wasting my shadow killer allowance in Game Panic, **dad**." She rolled her eyes. "Now, where were you and why do you smell like alcohol?"

"I was in Escapade looking for you! …Do I really smell like alcohol?"

"Why…? OH. Oh man, don't tell me you took what I said this morning seriously?"

"Of course I did!" Minato was positively shocked to hear her laughing.

"Aw man, and then you say I'm gullible. I was just kidding; I mean, you think you're so important I would try to get myself killed just 'cause you aren't around? You think I have sawdust inside my head or what?"

"…Don't make me answer that." The bluenet rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. "C'mon, we're going home, everyone's worried for you."

"Nooope." She smiled. "I mean, since you're here…We can go in and check out that guy everyone is talking about."

"…What guy?"

"Well, you see, I found Rio when heading back to class and she told me about an old monk in Escapade who gets hammered on sake and begins ranting. Sounds fun, so I wanted to check it out."

All the Social Link steal alerts rang. "It's too late for that! You can do that tomorrow!"

"But I wanna see it now!"

"Hamuko, I… I don't want to get executed." He clasped her hand. "We're leaving."

"What? No!" She pulled in the other direction, but the boy overpowered her. "Hey man, don't drag me!"

"You keep dragging me everywhere."

"But I do it more nicely!" She kept trying to pry her hand from his grasp quite fruitlessly. By the time he managed to cross the entrance of Paulownia, she had given up on trying to escape and was instead merrily walking, obligating him to keep their hands joined. "You know you're just making me veeeery suspicious and I'm gonna come back tomorrow to check on that guy, right?"

"No you won't. I saw him first."

"I swear I woulda cracked up had you said 'He's mine, bitch!'"

"…Huh." Minato didn't get the reference, so he decided to ignore that phrase. "…Anyway, I gave up on starting his Social Link because I was looking for you. It'd be very impolite for you to steal it…"

"You… Did?" Hamuko stopped walking and looked at him intently. "You didn't start a Social Link because you were worried about me? W-why?" Her cheeks turned a nice shade of pink, which she badly tried to disguise with fake anger. "I can care for myself!"

"I don't doubt you do… But I guess I have a Link bias for a certain brunette." Minato let go of her hand so he could take his own to her face. He began caressing her cheek as he flashed her a warm smile.

"Oh. It's Chihiro-san, isn't it?" She folded her arms and glanced away.

"Hamu-?"

"I'm kidding, silly." They joined hands again as they walked towards Port Island Station. "…I know it's Yukari."

* * *

><p>"<em>Will Black Condor survive the ultra strike? Tune in next week to find out!<em>" A static fading noise followed that sentence. It was the noise of an annoyed Hamuko turning off the TV in Minato's room.

"Don't you just hate cliff-hangers?" Hamuko made a ball out of the empty fried bread bag and threw it accurately into Minato's trash can. Then, she sighed and plopped down on his bed.

"It wouldn't be as amusing if you could know the whole story on a single episode. As much as the audience refuses to admit so, they love to get interrupted."

"Watchers like getting interrupted? That's… Sick."

Minato decided that it wasn't worthy explaining that that was not what he meant. "Well, I think I'm going to play some Innocent Sin Online. I bet you have better things to do than…"

"Can I see you play? I want to meet your internet girlfriend!" The girl grabbed Minato's laptop and initiated the game client as he sat besides her.

"She's not my… Well I'm not too sure." Minato wrote in the password and logged in. He taught Hamuko some of the controls and let her roam around the dungeons completely void of players until Maya logged on.

"Hai hai Tatsu!"

"She's called Maya… And you're Tatsuya…" Hamuko's eyes lit up. She began typing on the keyboard at a high speed. "Hai im not tatsu ima friend of his ^_^ omfg dont tell me ur a fan of Jungian archetype 2! I luv dat game! OwO"

"Yessss! highfive! ^o^/ omg so ur one of tatsus RL friends? Can u tell me bout him? XDDD"

"My inner Japanese teacher is cringing." Minato muttered as the girls kept their leet chatter. "Hey, what are you telling her? Come on, I want to talk to her."

"Alright, alright…" Hamuko handed him the laptop. "Why do you get all the fun Social Links…?"

"Sorry, that was Hamuko." Minato typed. "She lives with me."

"Hamuko! one of my students is called dat =D"

"Argh, there are more people called Hamuko around? I thought my name was special!"

"Don't worry; you are still very 'special'."

"Aw thanks-" The brunette noticed what Minato was implying and smacked his arm. "Prick."

With Hamuko in the room, Minato and Maya didn't really get to talk about anything special and spent instead most of the time level grinding. After a while, Hamuko voiced her opinion on the game. Minato almost fell on his face after hearing that the MMORPG was just as boring as him. Once Maya logged off, the Fools left the game as well.

"Do you want to do something today?" Hamuko took Minato's hand and smiled. He parted his lips to speak but the red eyed girl hushed him by placing a finger over his mouth. "It's Sunday, so you can't complain about girls at school seeing us together!"

"I… Wasn't going to. I was about to say that I'm fine with whatever you want to do."

"Ooh, really?"

"…On a second thought…" Minato discreetly hopped away from Hamuko.

"Why do I still scare you?" Hamuko rested her elbows on her knees as she balanced her chin on her hands. "We've been together for two months."

"Six days."

"No, no, I'm pretty sure we've been together in this dorm for two months." Even though the grin etched on her face came up as mocking or playful, it was actually massively affective. Those were the kind of things which made Minato's heart melt… "I've been keeping an eye on you since the day we met, you know?"

"Likewise." The bluenet wrapped his arms around the other Fool and pressed her against himself, just to feel her close to him.

"I thought you weren't interested in** girls** back then... Or wait, no, it was the opposite." Hamuko giggled against Minato's T-shirt while he glared at her for bringing up that infamous incident. "So, are you buying the 'two months together' excuse?" She tilted her head up and gave him an Eskimo kiss, earning her a weird look from the receiver which only increased her sheepish laughter.

"… I only count time from the egregious discovery of Topsicles onwards. You'll have to wait some more." Minato got up from his bed and opened the door of his room, motioning Hamuko to leave.

"…How long is some more?" Hamuko exited the room. She rested a forearm on the doorframe and leaned in, blocking the path out for Minato. "Would Tanabata be too soon?"

That question made Minato choke on his spit. "I-it's too soon to think about that…"

"But, c'mon. Tanabata. _**Tanabata**_." She drawled the festivity's name the second time, trying to get the point across. "It's about star-crossed lovers, and you and I are like the epitome of people who shouldn't have anything together! We're um… Persona-crossed lovers? I bet that we can even find Orihime and Hikoboshi as Personas or something!"

"I'll err… Give it some thought."

"Please, do." Hamuko finally moved away from the door leading to Minato's room. "It'd mean a lot for me."

They left the dorm in silence and began walking around Iwatodai. "Hey Hamuko. Not to pry but… I'm not the first guy you've asked to do what you said before, am I?"

"…" A really awkward silence ensued while the brunette looked for a way to beat around the bush. "Eheheh… Eh… Huh… _Maybe_. B-but, no one's ever meant so much to me as you do!" She stared at Minato expectantly while he glanced away. "Oh hey, do you want some gyudon? We both could use some gyudon! There's nothing like gyudon. I'll pay for it!"

They didn't do much that afternoon other than having a lot of steak bowls to avoid rather awkward subjects.

* * *

><p><strong>From now on when Hamuko has to talk about her life before <strong>**arriving to Iwatodai, she'll refer to gyudon. It's her new leitmotif. **

**I've been thinking this for a while, but… If they weren't the Fools because of the nature of the wild card and all that crap, Minato would probably be the Emperor and Hamuko the Moon. Seriously, it's the best fit.**


	29. Your affection

**Author note: maaaan, it's been like... Since April since I last heard that song! So I was thinking of a title and it just came up 8D Now I love this song.**

**This is funny because I wrote this chapter while listening to metal :u "Own Little World" and "Switch Back" from Dead Rising 2? They're more inspirational than you'd ever think!**

**Oh also. I'm switching on "Anonymous Reviews" as something experimental. I'll switch it off if it turns out I receive more trolling than actual reviews.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>The Fools were walking together towards the practice fields. Minato was going to practice; Hamuko was trying to come up with some new excuse as for why she couldn't go to practice that day –she had her reservations about outright saying 'I'm gonna go have dinner with Akihiko-senpai!' Before arriving to the gym, where they would have to part ways, the brunette stopped to ponder about the presence of a cartel planted right in the middle of the entrance to the small clearing in which the persimmon tree was planted.<p>

"Future emplacement of the auditorium for the music club…? Huh, so they're going to cut that tree to make space?"

"It's quite a pity they're going to remove it." Minato received a curious look, so he deduced that Hamuko wasn't very aware of the meaning that tree had. "It was planted in memory of the Bookworms' owners' deceased son, who was a teacher here. Mitsuko-san is very affected because she thinks they are taking away the last memory they had of their son."

"Oh my…" Hamuko looked at the tree with sad eyes. "You aren't going to let them get away with it, are you? C'mon Minato, what's your plan to save this tree?"

"Plan? Uh… Pray that they will change their opinion?"

The brunette gapped. "You… Aren't gonna do anything about it?" She sounded enraged, but Minato didn't seem very affected. "How can you be so… Argh!"

"Adjective of the day." Minato shook his head patiently. "Hamuko, I know you want to play hero and save the old couple's feelings and what not, but, be realistic. There really isn't anything I can do."

"But…" She casted her eyes down. "…Oh hey, WAIT!" A smile appeared on her face. "Maybe you can't do something, but there's a chance I can!" She yelled triumphantly as she ran back towards the school building. "Stupidly powerful Student Council, GO! …After hanging out with Senpai."

Minato saw Hamuko run off, completely forgetting that she was supposed to tell Rio an excuse. "…Whatever."

Once again, nothing much happened during practice. Minato's guess was that he would have to wait until Kazushi's knee just gave up working and was reduced to nothing but dust so their friendship would grow –it probably wouldn't be much longer until that, so the blue haired boy decided to focus his efforts in another Social Link nearby.

"Hey… Yuko…" Minato's whispers startled the Track Team manager; however, she refused to meet his eyes, focused instead on glaring at a blank piece of paper she was holding. "…Do you need help with that?"

"I don't know. Aren't you too busy to be with me?" Yuko growled something under her breath which Minato didn't quite catch.

"Not at all. I'm here at your whole and only disposition." He bowed down ceremonially.

"My only disposition?" She finally lifted her gaze from the sheet. "And what about Hamuko-san's?"

Minato's expression didn't change a tiny bit. "What do you mean?"

"You know it perfectly!" Yuko yelled. "Do you think I haven't noticed how close you two are? You two are always together, and you don't even use honorifics!"

"You are really mistaken, Yuko. Hamuko and I are best friends for each other. Nothing more." …That was kind of true.

"How can I believe it?"

"She's going out with Akihiko-senpai." There was indeed some rumor about that going around. Or was it about her going out with Junpei? "If you don't believe me, I think that there's a high chance we'll find them together if we go to Iwatodai ." Yuko still seemed doubtful. "Seriously Yuko… I'd never do anything to upset you."

Minato proved once again how great of a liar he was by achieving that Yuko's gaze softened. "…But why have you been acting so…?"

"Huh? Have I been acting in any special way?"

"…Um… I guess that you're a timid boy after all…" She seemed thoughtful. "But, if we're together, you have to spend more time with me! You can't just kiss me and leave me, Minato!"

"Nothing like that will happen again. I promise I'll be right there whenever you need me. In fact, I'll be right there tomorrow, helping you with the kids." He clasped her hands. "I won't let you down again."

"…Alright." A little smile crept onto her face. "BUT, you have to do this for me." She shoved the paper into Minato's hands. "You have to write a challenge letter for the sixth graders. …I tried writing it myself, but… It didn't sound very impressive."

"You don't need an impressive letter to win. Those kids already have the best coach they could ever get."

"Hmph… Still, write it, okay? I wouldn't want to get laughed at by some sixth graders…" Minato considered the afternoon a full victory. He had obtained Yuko's forgiveness and it had cost him a lot less than he expected. However, he felt like a horrible person for cheating on her, overall knowing that poor Yuko had already been through that before. Or wait, was he cheating on Hamuko? …Polygamy is complicated. "Hey, you'd better don't break your promise, you hear me?"

After that, Minato decided to go back to the dorm.

"Good evening!"

Right after him, someone got into the dorm. It was Hamuko… Clinging to Akihiko. He wouldn't accept it because Hamuko would probably get mad, but it hurt him to see her so close to someone other than him.

"C'mon Senpai, tell me!"

"D-damn it, stop asking already, I won't tell you!"

"Buh…" The brunette released Akihiko's arm and folded her own ones, frustrated. "Oh hey, Minato. I hadn't seen you!"

"Yeah, I noticed…" He cleared his throat. "May I ask what's that he refuses to answer?"

"What type of girl he likes. …Maybe he doesn't like girls?" Hamuko giggled. "Nah, seriously, you guys are just soooo boring! The only funny guy around is Jun-kun!"

"You'll end up surrendering to my charm, Hamu-chan!" Junpei shouted from the sofa.

"…Yeah, maybe later."

* * *

><p>Once the afternoon ended, the Fools took the monorail Paulownia. Minato only needed the last payment of that night to finally pay the beginning of his Social Link… He wouldn't have to stay up late serving coffee to anyone ever again... Or until he needed more money.<p>

"But Minato, Minato, what will you do when you leave?" Hamuko shouted at the bathroom door behind which the bluenet was changing clothes. "Wander around on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights? Get a job in V-Blue? Sell your body?"

"No, that's what you'd do." The door opened and Minato stepped out. "I'll keep coming here, except that without this stupid uniform." He smoothed out the wrinkles of his jacket while he glanced away, trying not to let Hamuko see his amused look. "You're going to miss seeing me with this on, aren't you?"

"What? Minato, please! …If anything I'd want to see you without it."

"…Maybe next time I'm feeling sore." Minato walked towards the kitchen alongside a very giggly Hamuko. "Alright, Kokku-san, we're ready to take some orders."

"Take two cups of Pheromone Coffee and a piece of chocolate cake to table three, Arisato-san."

Table three. That meant the third table from the door. One was empty; there was a guy in a really formal attire drinking coffee calmly at table two. Table three? That was the place where Junpei usually sat when he tagged along with the Fools every time he wanted coffee –that was the euphemism Junpei used to refer to staring at Hamuko all night long, stripping her in his mind. It was just as awful as it sounded.

This time, however, Junpei didn't seem to be alone. There was someone next to him. Someone with brown hair, wearing the short sleeved shirt which came with the Gekkoukan High uniform, who had her face buried in the menu…

"Stupei, why did you order coffee for me too?"

"_NO_." Minato tried to run into the kitchen but crashed against Hamuko in the way. "YOU!"

"ME!" The brunette had to fumble to prevent the tray with chocolate cups she was carrying from falling. "Man, I know you can't bear being a moment away from me, but you can wait until we're in your room to tackle me to the ground, right?"

"W-what? Uh, whatever!" He pointed towards table three. "WHY are they here?"

"Who's here…?" Hamuko squinted as she looked in the direction Minato was pointing. Junpei and Yukari were sitting at the table he was signaling, bickering like an old marriage. "Oh, hey Yuka-" In the three weeks that it had taken Yukari to accept an invitation to the café, many things had changed –namely, the relationship upgrade between the Fools. Hence, what back in the day would have been the perfect way to mock Minato now was a source of mixed feelings. Yukari… Seeing Minato like that? How would she feel? What if she liked him like that? "What if"s began filling Hamuko's mind and before she could have given it some more –rational- thought, she found herself trading trays with Minato. "…Take this to table eight."

Hamuko strolled around the tables, the layers of her skirt moving around with the sway of her hips, all while being carefully studied by Junpei –who was on his best behavior because Yukari was around. Seriously, he usually was… Happier to see her. The popular brunette next to him had eyes wide as saucers. Maybe Junpei had said something inappropriate? "Your order!"

"Thanks Hamu-"

"HAMUKO?" Yukari's volume control had exploded. "OH MY GOD. WHY are you wearing THAT?"

"Waitresses wear this." The red eyed girl blinked, surprised. "I thought you knew I worked here."

"…So that's why Junpei-kun and Minato-kun are always—UGH. I don't want to know!"

"Whoa, whoa, Yuka-tan, don't have a cow!"

"…Have some cake!" Oh, the unbearable puns. "So, uh, yeah, just eat! There's positively nothing else which could interest you in here! AT. ALL." Hamuko glared at Junpei, and the boy answered with a confused look, unaware that the joke, being three weeks late, stopped being funny.

"…What?" The brunette with a pink cardigan tied around her waist had a really priceless look on her face. "…Whatever. But seriously, Hamuko, UGH…"

"Yeah, yeah, this is outrageous and blah, blah, blah. I have more tables to serve, so just enjoy the food!" Hamuko was about to walk away when Yukari's voice stopped her.

"…Is that Minato-kun? In a butler outfit, no less." There weren't enough words in the dictionary to express Hamuko's feelings at that precise moment. Yukari summed hers up with a headshaking. "…Are you two so desperate to get some money?"

"He is. I do it for fun!" Hamuko's words prompted yet another face palm from Yukari. Hamuko decided to just go on with her job, since, anyway, they had already seen Minato and it didn't prompt anything other than awkwardness in their dorm mate.

"_Yukari thinks that this job is ridiculous_." The brunette muttered to Minato once both coincided in the kitchen.

"_She's not the only one_."

"_Everyone is a critic when they don't have to wear a maid outfit_!" Hamuko shook her head and walked out of the kitchen.

Yukari and Junpei had left hours before the Fools' shift ended, as there was no way they were staying there just to wait for them. Oh well, at least Yukari left a good tip, probably out of sheer pity.

Eventually, they got out of Paulownia, marking Minato's definite end to his working days –all the waitresses complained that he had no heart for leaving Hamuko like that. Mimi began some rumor about the Fools having split up, quickly stopped by the brunette, who claimed there was nothing to begin with. The following evening Minato would be able to pay the shady business guy in Paulownia –or flip him off, if he dared ask for more money.

"I really don't see why you like working here. I mean, getting Pheromone Coffee freebies is nice, but… But why? Do you enjoy hanging around in a maid outfit?" Seeing how much she loved putting on weird disguises she found in Tartarus, that wouldn't have been too farfetched.

"Attention." Hamuko whispered with a sad smile. "Not the customers', though. I mean the waitresses. They all care a lot for me."

"…They feel like a family?" Minato could read in Hamuko's face that he had just hit the nail. He had a hunch he had just found a key piece to explain her behavior.

They arrived to Port Island Station and found out that the usual train schedule had been cancelled. The monorail had experienced some trouble and it would arrive at twelve o'clock. That meant they'd have to wait an hour a whole hour, thanks to the extra hour that was about to begin. They decided to sit on a bench and wait patiently.

"What do you remember of your parents, Hamuko?"

"Huh? Where did that come from? …Do we have to talk about depressing stuff now?"

"I just want to learn more about you. Nothing wrong with sharing past experiences, right?"

"…You quitted being a waiter to become a psychologist?" Hamuko snorted. "I don't remember anything."

"Nothing at all?"

"No. It's like they were never there to begin with. I don't remember anything from before the accident which killed them, and I don't have clear memories of some months after it. Trauma or something." The brunette hugged her knees. Minato surrounded her with an arm, and she decided to curl up against him.

"After it, it was all going to a shelter, saying something you shouldn't and getting sent back to the orphanage, wasn't it?" Minato's voice had a hint of sorrow.

"You know where I'm coming from, huh?" Hamuko sighed against the boy's shirt and then fell silent. She felt Minato stroking her hair softly, and such an unexpected gesture from the boy made her feel a lot better. "The people from the shelters weren't my parents, I felt lonely. And no matter how much trouble I caused to get looked at, I still felt lonely. As I grew, that problem grew with me, and I felt lonelier, no matter how many boys I got." She did her best not to sound affected, but as usual her lies didn't get anywhere. "I'm still trying to decide if I'm a closet emo, an attention whore or just a slut like everyone says."

"I think you're just a big child looking for a person that really makes you feel beloved."

She seemed rather surprised to hear that. And kind of annoyed at being called a child. "What are you, Frog? N-no wait, that wasn't the name… Freddie? Fraud?" Hamuko didn't seem to be able to get Freud's name right. "…A-anyway, you really think that's it?"

"Well, it could be the reason; affection is very important."

"…Then, do you know anyone who could give me some of that?"

"I guess that I could try." He rested a knee on the bench to face her properly as he shortened the distance between them. He gazed her intently as he spoke. "I… Love you."

"…You make it sound so weird." Hamuko giggled softly. She closed the distance between their faces and kissed him lovingly. They parted to breath, and when their lips touched again, Minato's eyes widened as Hamuko began licking his lower lip softly, trying to get him to open his mouth. As her tongue gained entrance, Minato discovered that the awkwardness of turning even 'making out' into a competition was worthy just to see the reactions he could get from the other Fool.

Only the limited capability of their lungs managed to stop their private battle. "W-wow… That was pretty… Good."

"Well, it wasn't too bad…" She grinned sheepishly at Minato's offended face.

"Hey, it's the first time I do something like this. I just need a bit of practice, that's all!" He folded his arms and mumbled something. "…So? Do you feel any different? Because err... I feel kind of-"

"Too much information." Hamuko got up from the bench and walked a few steps away while Minato shouted that that was not what he meant. As she heard the noise of steps following her, she turned around. "Hey, Minato…" A coy smile and a faint blush appeared on her face. "…I don't feel so lonely when you're with me."

Minato smiled wryly. "How many guys have you told that before?"

"None." She rested her head against Minato's chest and let him wrap her arms around her. They simply hugged each other silently until the Dark Hour came to an end.

* * *

><p>Nothing much happened that day. For some reason, Hamuko felt a tad awkward around Minato, and avoided him all morning. When school ended, she decided to head to the Health Committee –at own will, for once. Few people showed up, so Saori and Hamuko began talking about random things.<p>

"…And then Ms. Kanou began talking about how everyone was head over heels for her."

"Wow, is that how that teacher is? Heh, I didn't know at all." Saori laughed. "I learn so much when I talk to you... I never get to hear all these rumors that go around the school..."

"H-Hey, Saori-san." A boy came into the nurse office and walked towards Saori. He had a smirk on his face.

"Oh, umm... Takaoka-kun. How can I help you?"

"Uh, would you be interested in going out for karaoke?"

"...Okay?" Saori and Hamuko exchanged confused glances.

"Seriously?" Takaoka seemed delighted. "Then, how about today?"

"I still have some things to do there today, so..."

"Aww, I'll wait around. Let's go once you're free."

"Oh... Okay then."

"Well, I'll be waiting in the classroom." The boy walked away.

"...That was sudden." Saori commented. "It surprised me."

"Well, he didn't look bad, so I guess it's a good surprise, eh?"

"Yeah, but… I don't really know him much. But if he really wants to go out with me, then..."

"Hey, you don't have to hang out with him if you don't want to, you know?" Hamuko was surprised to hear her talking about hanging out like it was an obligation.

"No, it's okay." Saori laughed merrily. "You see… I don't really have any opinions of my own. If there's someone willing to take the lead, I'll gladly follow... I don't need someone... I just want to be needed by someone else. If I can find someone who needs me, I'd love that person with every fiber of my being." The older girl smiled. "...Do you think it's wrong to think that way?

"No, I… I think it's actually an interesting way to think." Hamuko was positively surprised. It was completely the opposite of how she understood relationships.

"Really? Heh... I'm happy to hear that." After that, Hamuko felt she understood Saori better. The Hermit Social Link reached level 4. "Oh, it's almost time... I should get going. I did promise after all..."

Meanwhile, in the racing tracks field, Minato assisted Yuko while she shouted commands to the kids so they would have it easier running. After the previous night, he **really** didn't want to be there. He didn't have any feelings for Yuko, other than those the mysterious flirt inside him imposed every so often. But, alas… A Social Link is a Social Link, so he had to be there… And furthermore, the kids had decided to do the race the following day, so Yuko wouldn't allow him to leave them.

"I really like this letter, Minato! You must have put a lot of effort writing it!"

"Yeah, indeed." He had written it five minutes before the school day ended.

Yuko went back to coaching. "Since you can only train here for a little while, you'll have to practice on your own if you want to win! Repeat after me: 'I can win!'"

"I can win!" The kids seemed all fired up.

"Don't give in to fear!"

Once it got dark, the kids left the training fields and went home.

"I'm a little worried…" Yuko confessed as they walked home. "What's your honest opinion? Can they win?

"…Do you believe in them?"

"O-of course!"

"Then they're going to win for sure."

"You're right… After all, they learned from us! They're going to win, I have to believe it!" Yuko's enthusiasm was almost contagious. Strength Social Link level 6!

"They have the Gekkoukan High's Track Team's star and the best coach in the world… They **can't** fail."

"You sure are modest… But yeah, indeed!" A smile appeared on Yuko's face. "Thanks for sticking to your promise." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"It's the least I could do…" Indeed it was. Minato made up some excuse related to having a lot of homework and headed to the dorm.

"Hey Minato!" Hamuko shouted as he opened the main door. "You're late! We gotta go to—oh. Right. You don't have to come with me anymore…"

"Well, actually, I have to go see that guy, so…"

Hamuko was surprisingly silent all the way to Paulownia. Minato was too busy counting his money, so he really didn't notice. They parted ways when she headed to Chagall, while Minato walked to the old business man who usually walked around Game Panic.

"Well, hello young man!" The shady man greeted him. "How are you doing? Do you have my money ready?" Minato nodded and gave him the forty thousand yen he wanted. "My foolish little apprentice... Have you not yet realized that you are being deceived?" No, no way! Who would have thought? "Everything I've said has clearly been suspicious!" The shady business man sighed. "Ignorance should be a crime. Sure, you have some positive qualities, but if you remain so naive, everyone will take advantage of you." He looked at him with determination. "...Stick with me, and I'll show you how to be a winner! In fact, I'll give you my autograph so you don't feel bad for my little test. It's always a pleasure to meet a fan…"

"Uh, a fan? …Who are you, again?"

"...Don't you have a television? Are you living in the stone ages? ...How barbaric!" The man shook his head, incensed. "I'm sure you've seen the home-shopping program called "Tanaka's Amazing Commodities"... Allow me to introduce myself..." He handed the bluenet a business card.

"President and Executive Producer Tanaka…"

"That's right! I'm Tanaka. Surely you've heard the name." Oh yeah, that one program Minato watched like… Once. "I'm afraid I cannot return the 40,000 yen you gave me, but I've autographed my business card for you. Hold on to that... It'll be worth a pretty penny. Tootaloo." Tanaka walked away, looking rather exasperated. He began muttering to himself something about Minato being a brat. Well, not that he cared, but apparently his very presence enervating Tanaka. "...Hey! G-Go away! You're making me nervous! Shoo, shoo!" The president sighed. "...D-did you overhear me talking to myself? You'll forget it ever happened if you know what's good for you. I belong to a powerful talent agency. I'm practically a celebrity. I have an image to maintain... Don't even think about telling someone 'He took my money' or 'He called me a little brat'! Capiche?" For some reason, this man reminded Minato of his time in Fukuoka.

"A reputation to maintain? You're not doing a very good job, then…" Minato commented as he glared at Tanaka.

The business man's forehead began sweating. He did his best to sound relaxed, though. "...Silly me! I've let you in on my secret, haven't I? Tee hee hee." He clenched his teeth. "Don't tell anyone, okay? Please! I'll lick your shoes clean if you want me to!"

"_I'd prefer to get my money back_." "Yeah, okay, whatever."

"S-Seriously? You promise? I'll make you swallow a thousand needles if you're lying!" Tanaka seemed pretty serious when he said that. "A verbal agreement is considered a contract, and I'll sue your pants off if your breach ours! I've got your adorable little face etched into my memory." Well uh… They had become acquaintances. …Or something. A card appeared in Minato's voice. A picture of a woman and a man with a goat skull floating above them. The Devil Social Link had been established…

"…_Where did I get into_?" Minato was panicking, but he wouldn't let Tanaka know.

"You're a diamond in the rough, my boy. All you need is a little polishing, and you'll sparkle. I usually take my breaks here. I'd be happy to mold your young mind whenever you wish."

After that, Minato rushed into Chagall Café.

"Hey Minato, how did it go?"

"Ah, fine, I just made a deal with the Devil… Hey, uh, I'd like to order a chocolate cup, please."

"…Chocolate? You want chocolate?" …As usual, Hamuko was completely missing the point.

* * *

><p><strong>If you expected a detailed make-out scene, I suggest you go check out another fic 8D Also, I think that that scene seems a little rushed or something.<br>**


	30. Indecent proposal

**Author note****: okay for all my dear, desperate to see some ship tease, folks, Shirakawa doesn't take place until chapter 39 or 40. So you'll just have to wait. Also, on September 15****th ****I'm going back to school -11****th**** grade already! (sleep well knowing that you're asking a 15 years old to write lemons) so there might be a considerable speed decrease on chapters coming out, like once a week instead of two or three chapters every week. Or maybe not. Who knows?**

**Oh also, this chapter was going to be uploaded yesterday, but there was a problem with electricity and my computer decided to die. Oh well.**

**Guess which is the song below, I dare you.**

* * *

><p>As usual, the Fools decided to walk together to school. However, instead of talking about whatever was going on in their lives, they were in their own worlds, listening to music. Wearing headphones was a weird thing for Hamuko, and even more around Minato. They were usually a signal that something was wrong…<p>

"Another wooooorld! It may rain aaaaalways!" …Or that the latest great J-Pop hit was out.

"Hamuko…"

"I don't wanna cryyyyy; you're alive by my siiiiiiide!"

"Seriously…"

"Even if I seeeeeeeeee all tragedy or darkneeeeeeess! I promise you my dreaaaam…"

"Hamuko." Minato pulled the headphones off Hamuko's head.

"Taaaaaake you in sunshine…" In that moment the brunette noticed that there was no longer music playing. "Hey! Gimme that!"

"No offense, but you're trilling rather than singing. And butchering English while you're it."

"Nonsense! I sing just like Risette!" Hamuko puffed up her cheeks. "C'mon, check it out!"

Minato put on the red headphones reluctantly. "I'll give you that…. You two sound just as annoying." He returned the device to it's owner and laughed as he shook a fringe of indigo hair away from his face. "There's no voice like mine."

"Well then, I'd love to hear you sing some time, _**darling**_." There was something in the way she said the last word which made Minato shiver.

"...Sorry, could you say that again?"

"What, 'darling'?"

"No, the way you said it before… It sounded really…"

"Oh, you mean _**this**_?" Hamuko smirked as Minato nodded. "Well sorry, but apparently all I can do is TRILL." She put a hand on her hip and poked Minato's chest with the other. "No sexy voice for you until you admit that I'm a good singer."

"I'm never gonna hear it again, then."

While the Fools were busy giving each other the silent treatment, two loud students began talking about cultural school clubs. Apparently, Art, Music and Photography were opened for applications.

"Music, huh?" Minato muttered, thoughtful.

"Wait, lemme guess; you're not only a great singer but a greeeat musician as well." Hamuko shot an eyebrow up.

"Well, I have some notions of piano." The bluenet smiled proudly. "Not much, though, so I'm not too sure they'll let me play it…"

"I'm sure they will. …I mean, I don't know if you can really sing, but you do look like **capable** hands…" Hamuko winked at him.

"Uhh… Was that sarcastic?"

The girl began laughing as Minato stared at her confused, unaware of what she was implying.

* * *

><p>The most remarkable event in the morning was Integrative Learning –also known as Magic- class with Edogawa. The lesson was about the relation between religions and magic. In other words: naptime!<p>

* * *

><p>"<em>Alright, today it's Wednesday, so I can go to practice, hang out with Kenji, visit the old couple… Or check out the clubs, but…<em>" Minato was wandering around the corridors of the second floor, trying to decide how to spend the afternoon that had just begun efficiently. "_Chihiro will go to the Student Council, Hamuko has decided to go there as well today, so we can't visit Maiko… Oh, there was also Nozomi…_" A strange smell interrupted Minato's train of thought. "_What the hell is that…?_"

The source of the smell was a bento box with what seemed to have been rice balls in another life. A familiar girl with cyan hair was looking at it with a sad face.

"Fuuka-san?" Minato walked towards his dorm mate. He noticed that he had been disregarding her since she arrived, but now, upon close inspection, he perceived the usual feeling he got from Social Links.

"O-oh, Minato-san… Um… Are you free right now? It'd be nice if you were hungry, too..." Apparently, Fuuka was asking him to try her food.

"Err…" He knew that accepting would grant him a Social Link. He knew how important Social Links were. "I…" He knew he didn't have guts to cause himself food poisoning at own will. "I'm sorry, I'm going to Hagakure go have some ramen with a classmate. Maybe another day." Fuuka seemed a tad disappointed as the bluenet walked away. Kenji was delighted to hear that Minato wanted to hang out.

The surprise of the afternoon was that they ended up in Wild Duck and not in Hagakure. Most of their conversation –or rather Kenji's monologue- could be summed up with the words "EMIRI EMIRI EMIRI".

"But seriously, Minato! I was just so lucky! Everyone loves her looks, but I made her my girl before the others had a chance!" Kenji chuckled. "Good looking people are meant to be together!"

"You only chose her for her looks?" Minato asked a very stupid question. By what he had heard from Hamuko, Ms. Kanou was as deep and profound as a puddle.

"Well, no… I mean, she IS sexy but she's also sweet and cute, and…" The brunet suddenly frowned. "Anyway, look who's asking! I mean, c'mon man, why did you choose Hamuko-chan?"

"Huh? What do you mean, I don't have anything with—Ah, there's no point in lying to you. You're the one with the untellable secret romance, after all." The bluenet sighed. "Why did I choose her…? Um… Because… I… Like her?"

"That's not a valid reason, man! See? You are only with her 'cause she's cute."

"That's not it. I just can't tell you why I like her. It's… I really can't tell you that, sorry."

"…OH." Kenji laughed awkwardly. "Man, that's gross."

"…" Minato decided that explaining that that wasn't it either was not even worth it.

"Tch, look at the time..." Kenji muttered, trying to change the subject. "I haven't seen my favourite TV show in weeks... Well, I guess that's because I've got something better going on in real life." He then proceeded to rant endlessly about the greatness of Ms. Kanou… Until Minato got fed up and decided to talk about his own rather complicate love life –with a strict order of not telling anyone about Yuko and Hamuko- prompting Kenji to eventually leave without much of an explanation after paying his part.

"Oh, hey Minato!" …And, that was Hamuko greeting him as he got out of Wild Duck. "I was on my way to the dorm and I just saw Kenji-kun. He gave me a weird look and mumbled something about you... Do you know anything about this?"

"Nope."

"…He must have had too much ramen." Hamuko nodded to herself while Minato did his best not to laugh. "Anyway man, I already began working on my plan!" She glared at the bluenet, seeing that he had no idea of what she was talking about. "My plan to save the old couple's tree! Now, if only the Student Council wasn't so busy with the smoker thing… I mean, seriously, how the hell are we supposed to find a guy smoking with only a cigarette as a proof? Does that teacher think we're the Konan Police Department or something?" Hamuko ranted to herself, seemingly annoyed. "Oh, I also checked the new quests in the Velvet Room. We need five Bronze Figurines, three Snake Scales, the Third Old Document aaaand… Theo says Elisabeth wants to spend an afternoon in Iwatodai, all together, as soon as possible."

Minato sighed. "They want us to babysit them **again**?"

"Aw, I'm sure it'll be fun!" She smiled. "If we take them out on Sunday, we can go watch a film afterwards, just like last time."

"Well, uh… It's been a while since we last watched a film together…" Minato had forgotten the reason behind that. "Is there any film you want to watch?"

"The film is what matters the least, Minato…" …He remembered the reason why he had vowed not to go to the cinema with her ever again.

* * *

><p>The Fools told Fuuka that they wanted to go to Tartarus that night, saying that they were pretty sure that they could continue their advance. They gathered the whole group and decided that, until they had more money, people would take turns to accompany the Fools in their explorations. That meant that they were going to leave Fuuka in the first floor –as she wasn't cut for battle- along with Junpei, who volunteered to stay down with her, protecting her from any danger that might approach –or as Hamuko explained, he wanted to win points with Fuuka.<p>

Once they got to the fortieth floor of the Tower of Demise and discovered that the barricade was gone, Mitsuru's scepticism was something unavoidable.

"Did that mysterious Persona of yours tell you about this event too?"

"…Yeah."

"And, when did it tell you exactly? We haven't been to Tartarus since the last full moon."

"…" Minato and Hamuko exchanged troubled glances. "…Last night. When we came back late. We found a shadow near Port Island... And when we tried to fight it, that Persona appeared and then turned the shadow into a bloody mess. …It told us about this and then disappeared."

"I see…" Mitsuru was the only person in existence who Minato couldn't lie perfectly to. She was just too… Overwhelming. "Could you describe the appearance of that Persona?"

"I-I…"

"_Sorry to interrupt you…_" Fuuka's voice echoed timidly in their minds. "_But you shouldn't stay too long in the same floor. I-it could be dangerous._" Well, that was an opportune reminder.

The exploration was fairly easy thanks to Minato's Oberon and his attack 'Holy Arrow', which kept charming enemies every so often. This prompted quite a few jokes among the other S.E.E.S. members when he managed to charm a Steel Gigas –a shadow that looked like a big, bulky wrestler wearing nothing but underwear and boots.

They managed to defeat a few Lustful Snakes in the way up, from which they got the Snake Scales that the assistants wanted.

Once in the forty-seventh floor, and thanks to Fuuka's excellent support –which was much more accurate than Mitsuru's, but a bit slower due to the fact it was her first night in Tartarus- they knew when they'd find the next Tartarus guardian, and decided to take a break before facing it. They went to the first floor using an access point, and invited Junpei to come along while Yukari decided to stay with Fuuka. Before going back to the attack, the Fools decided to stop by the Velvet Room.

"So, we can really go with my brother to Iwatodai? I'm looking forward to explore more of your world!" Elisabeth was bouncing happily, while Igor and Minato stared at her silently.

"Err… Please, can we go back to the Persona Fusions list?"

Minato inspected a few of the triangle fusion combinations belonging to higher levels, which the boy couldn't reach yet. He made a mental note to try some once he became stronger.

"What can I obtain if I fuse these three together?" Minato pointed at a few cards he'd left over the table in front of him.

"Incubus." Elisabeth handed him a greyish card with that Persona.

"What?" His eyes scanned the item. The shadowy image of a red demon with a rather suggestive posture. "Incubus…?"

"I think it fits you." Elisabeth's words got a rather awkward look from Minato in response.

"…Do you really think that I have such awful things in my mind?"

"I shall remind you that Personas are indeed facets of you." Igor spoke up. "They are nothing but masks you wear to face the hardships of life. This, like all the other Personas you will get in the future, are powerful aspects you use subconsciously. Please, abstain from calling them 'awful things' only because you do not appreciate them. Have I made myself clear?" After Igor's little lecture, and fusing a Persona named Gurr, Minato decided to rejoin the exploration group, now with a few things to cogitate over.

"Hey, Hamu-chan." Junpei muttered. "Why do you guys go to that side of the first floor from time to time?"

"Err…" She couldn't answer that there was a magical blue door which only they could see. "There's… Good feng shui. Or something. The golden clock near there helps us focus."

The Golden Beetles where normal beetle-like shadows with a big crown on their backs and golden coloration, as their name suggested.

"These guys look kinda tough." Hamuko clenched her evoker.

They were not. A quick analysis provided by Fuuka informed them that the shadows were weak to electricity. Minato and Akihiko took advantage of this and spammed them with zio spells, ending their existence in barely a pair of minutes. They didn't even let the rest of the group have a part in the battle.

"Well…" Akihiko glanced at the other S.E.E.S. members. "That was… Easy."

"Let's call it a night, shall we?"

"What? Man! C'mon, I didn't get to do anything!" Junpei shouted as everyone got into the Access Point. "You gotta be kidding me! This was the shittiest Tartarus exploration ever!"

"Yep, we know."

* * *

><p>"The Kirijo company was in the news again yesterday…"<p>

Minato turned his head towards a couple of students talking by the school gates.

"Kirijo? The Student Council President? You know, the Kirijo Company built this school. I wonder how a company that big was contracted to build a school..." Great question. Too bad the school ring had its own thoughts about letting Minato 'overhear' conversations.

* * *

><p>"Alright, so what film are we going to watch on Sunday?"<p>

"Didn't you say you didn't care about the film?"

"Well, yes." Hamuko shrugged. "But I was thinking that maybe we should go watch some horror film. Not gory like the last time, but actually scary. You know why, right?"

"…Because saying you're scared is a good excuse to get close to me?"

"Aww, look at that! My Minato-chan's learning tricks!" Hamuko patted Minato's head like he was a dog, earning a deadly glare from the boy.

"Hey there!" …And that was Yuko running into Minato's class before lunch break came to an end. "My neighbor told me that he and his friends would come by to visit us this afternoon. You'll be there with me to hear the news, right?"

"Yeah, of course." After hearing that, the team manager went back to her own class.

* * *

><p>Once the afternoon classes ended, Minato headed to the practice field with Yuko, while Hamuko went to the laboratory corridor in the first floor to check out the cultural clubs.<p>

"_All the cool things are full… Is that Minato's sig in the Music Club list? …It's almost unreadable. Fuuka's name is there too…_" Hamuko sighed. "_Let's see uh… Cooking Club? Hey! Fuuka's name again—and no one else's… Hmm… I guess that I could eat whatever I prepare there instead of having to buy dinner and make Fuuka some company at the same time…_" She took an ink pen placed next to the club application form and wrote down her name. Afterwards, she headed to the Home EC room.

"Hey Fuuka-chan!" Hamuko shouted as she got into the classroom.

"Oh! Hamuko-chan…" Fuuka muttered, startled. "You're here to join the Cooking Club?"

"Yep!" The brunette smiled as she approached her dorm mate. "So, what's **cooking**?"

"Um… Well… I finished this before you arrived…" Fuuka pushed a bento box slowly towards Hamuko. "…Could you try it?"

Like Minato the day before, Hamuko regretted opening the box after a rather unsavory smell came from it. "…Is that curry?"

"…It's actually mitarashi dango."

"…Oh." Hamuko laughed awkwardly. "W-well, what matters is the flavor, right?" She took a deep breath and decided to try one of the –melted- dumplings. …It tasted as bad as hideous it looked. Hamuko needed a few seconds of silence to make sure she kept her cool. "It has an… Interesting flavor."

"You really think so?" The teal haired girl seemed really happy. "W-well, if you join the Cooking Club you could… Help me improve, because cook books don't make much sense to me. Oh! And you could try my creations! I'm sure cooking for someone would inspire me to try harder!"

"Oh heeey I have an idea!" Hamuko grinned. "What about we use Minato as our tester? I'm err… Sure he'd love to act as a gourmet!"

"Great idea!" Fuuka was beaming. "Well then! We meet on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Let's work hard at it!" A card with the picture of a man wearing a top-hat's silhouette appeared in her mind. The letters B and J appeared in it. The Priestess Social Link had been established. "Oh, there are some remnants of the ingredients that I couldn't fit inside the box… Would you like to cook something?"

Hamuko decided that she'd pretend to be a bad cooker just so Fuuka wouldn't feel bad. She cooked something vaguely edible, which Fuuka suggested could be used as dog food –not in an insulting way, but actually as something which was in her recipe book. Nice.

As Hamuko walked out of school, she saw Minato and Yuko talking with some kids. Apparently they were thanking them for something.

"It was a tie! They're gonna let us use the playground now! We even became friends! They said we're pretty fast for fourth graders, and told us we could play with them sometime!"

"I knew you guys could do it! I-I wasn't worried at all, because you trained so hard!" Yuko glanced at Minato. He was chuckling.

"Thanks, um... B-Big Sis!" The boy with the yellow shirt smiled.

"You guys don't have to call me that if you don't want to. Just call me 'Coach'!" Yuko seemed delighted.

The kids began muttering about something and then they turned towards Yuko. "One... Two... Three! Good luck with your boyfriend!" And then they ran away.

"My boyfriend..." The team manager stared at Minato intently, red tinting her cheeks. "Why does this seem like... The end of some cheesy made-for-TV movie?"

"Who knows, maybe it is."

"Uh-oh!" The girl chuckled. "Well, there they go..."

"Isn't it nice that this is over already?"

"Yeah, I was really worried that someone would find out we've been using the track field without permission." Yuko seemed amused. "To be honest, I was almost too lazy to help them. But, not that they're not around, it feels kinda lonely. Teaching those kids how to race... It was the first time I really put my heart into something. Maybe I was meant to take care of people..."

"That's because you're still the best coach ever." Minato winked at her.

"...Hey! By the way... I wanna thank you, Minato..." Yuko's cheeks were pink yet again, and she stuttered a bit. "Maybe we should have a little party... You know, to celebrate our first attempt at coaching..."

"Sure, sounds like a great idea."

"I can't wait!" She seemed really excited. "A restaurant would be expensive, and I'd rather not have it at the dorm with all those people around..." Her smile became much more confident. "How 'bout we have it at my house?"

"Your… House?" Minato's eyes widened. "You mean-?"

"…Well, we'll talk more about the party tomorrow!" Yuko ran away, leaving the bluenet kind of dumbstruck.

* * *

><p>Minato slumped on the sofa as he arrived to the dorm. Yukari and Junpei greeted him lazily, while Akihiko grunted something while slurping noodles.<p>

"What's up, Minato?" Hamuko walked into the lounge after finding a safe place in the refrigerator where she could keep her 'dog food'.

"I…" He glanced around. "Can we speak somewhere else?"

Hamuko nodded and they both walked upstairs, they got into Minato's room –the boy was kind of reluctant to let Hamuko in her room at night after what happened the last time, though.

"I need some advice, Hamuko."

"From me?"

"Is there any other Hamuko in this room?"

"Alright, alright, I'm listening."

Minato cleared his throat. "So, imagine that -this is just an IF- a girl invited me to her room… And I really didn't want to go there… How would you refuse her if you were me and IF this was a real situation?"

"If you don't want to spend Tanabata with me you just have to say it..." Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows, concerned.

"No, no! That's not it! Of course I want to do that with you!"

"…You do?" Hamuko's smile lit up. "Woo!" She threw her arms around Minato's neck but suddenly stopped. "Wait, who asked you to her room then? Yuko? …Damn, and you said I was going fast…"

Minato nodded, aggravated. "I… Don't want to be with her."

"Then?"

"I can't control myself around female Social Links!"

"So, you were serious about that thing you told me in the roof?" Hamuko was shocked. "It wasn't a cheap lie?"

"Of course not!" The bluenet seemed angry. "I love you! I only want to be with you!"

The girl's face went red as a tomato. "T-then… Uuh … I-I don't know… Just say no?"

"If only I could do that…"

"You'll work out something…" She casted her eyes down. "_Or so_ _I hope_…"

Minato decided that maybe it was best to change the subject. "Aww, look at that! My Hamuko-chan is all embarrassed!"

"Don't quote me…" She hid her face in the junction between his neck and his shoulder.

"Hamuko…?"

"Hmm?"

"…Get out of my room."

"Aw, but I want to make you embarrassed, _**darling**_."

…It had been quite a while since Minato last pushed Hamuko out of his room.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes I am enough of a troll to make a shitty exploration scene because I was annoyed at people telling me when <strong>**the characters should go there. You mad? |V  
><strong>


	31. Our song

**Author note: Wow, I hadn't written such a short chapter in 35 days! **

**Just 'dull' is not enough for this chapter. I'll make it up with next one, okay? Because you know. Double date and cinema.**

* * *

><p>Spending lunch break on the roof was always funnier than in class. There was no one who would interrupt the Fools' stupid discussions, which ended with them throwing food at the other more often than not –even though Hamuko complained that that wasn't what normal people used the roof for. Then again, they were far from normal.<p>

"Well, that was some way of wasting crab bread…" Minato complained after they had trashed their lunch on each other. "And I still think that the Law path of Bizarre Space is the best."

"Go Chaos forever!" Hamuko grumbled as she looked into the bag to see if there was some food left. "Man, I'm going to starve…"

"Nah, I'm sure you can live through an afternoon without food."

"Buh, nooo…" She smirked at Minato. "Heeey, what about I eat you?"

"…E-eat me?" The bluenet's cheeks went crimson red.

"What…?" Hamuko's eyes widened. "EW! How can you be such a pervert?"

"Y-you're the one that makes cannibal commentaries sound suggestive!"

"Well, you…You're the one who kicked me out of his room yesterday! And I'm gonna starve to death today because of you! You have no rights to misunderstand my words!"

"…You are getting worse and worse at guilt trips." Minato chuckled. "I recall telling you that I'd invite you somewhere when I had paid that one Social Link… We could go to Chagall this evening or something. Just so you see that I **always** stick to my word." He meant he stuck to his promises for as long as they didn't involve putting effort into doing things.

"Ooh, free night for me? Oh! How 'bout we go to the karaoke?" Hamuko asked excitedly.

"Karaoke?" He hadn't gone there in months. "Sure. I guess they have food there… Will I have to listen to your trills?"

"Yesss!" The girl threw her arms up, triumphant. "My lame guilt trips still work!"

"Wha-? No way! I'm doing this because I'm a nice guy… And I don't want you to eat me!"

"You sure you don't?"

Minato had long given up on trying to understand Hamuko's words…

* * *

><p>Once the school day was over, Minato asked Kenji to go to Hagakure and ask him for advice on his problem with Yuko… Only to be answered with a rant about Emiri, his future, and his future with Emiri. Oh well, at least the Magician Social Link reached level 6. All fine.<p>

Hamuko decided to walk home with Akihiko after the boy asked her to do so. She felt a "bit" bad about not having showed up to practice in weeks, but apparently Rio had already accepted that Hamuko liking showing up whenever. It was kind of painful to see Rio so down…

"And then Yukari slapped Junpei-kun and he fell on his back… Oh! We have already arrived to the dorm!" Hamuko turned to the boy who was walking next to her. He hadn't spoken a word during all the way to the dorm. "Senpai, you okay?"

"Eh? Uh, sorry…" Akihiko seemed apologetic for some reason. "I was thinking about something…"

"What is it?"

"Uh… You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but… What were you doing in Minato's room yesterday?"

"E-EH?" Of course, everyone probably saw them walking upstairs together. "W-we were just talking…" For some reason, remembering the moment he told her how he felt made her feel warmth in her cheeks –she couldn't allow herself to let Akihiko see her blush in the middle of such a talk.

"Hamuko-chan, please, be frank… Are you going out with Minato?"

"No." Well. That was the truth. And for some reason, Akihiko seemed relieved to hear it. "Uh… Why?"

"I… Had heard some rumors… And you two are always so… And it's not rare to see you both in his room… And Junpei said…" The older boy didn't seem capable to get to the point. "S-sorry, I shouldn't have confronted you about it… But I don't like rumors, you know?" He scratched the back of his head and glanced away, not wanting to meet Hamuko's eyes.

"It's alright, Senpai..." For some reason, Hamuko didn't like where the conversation was going at all. "Hey, what about we go to the Sweet Shop in the strip mall and forget about all this?"

"Sweets, huh?" Aki seemed much cheerier. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea… Sweets might be a nice change."

"…_It seems like Senpai is interested in me._" She didn't quite understand how, but the Star Social Link reached level 4.

"Well, shall we go?"

She was about to take Aki's arm when she remembered something. "…Oh, sorry! We'll go there next time, okay? I forgot I had some plans today!"

"With who?"

Akihiko's question made Hamuko flinch. "With uh… Junpei-kun! Eh… See you later, Senpai!" She ran off before Akihiko couldn't say anything. As she headed towards Iwatodai Station, she quickly looked for Junpei's number phone in her contact list. "Jun-kun? Hey, where are you at? …Game Panic? Awesome! Don't go back to the dorm until I show up there later tonight, okay? Oh! And if Akihiko-senpai asks you about me when you get to the dorm, tell him you've been with me all evening! …Err I'll tell you why later… Aw, just do it! …Really? Thanks a lot, man! See you later!"

* * *

><p>Once in Paulownia Mall, Hamuko didn't have to look very hard for the male Fool. He was sitting on a bench by Chagall Café.<p>

"Minato?"

The boy looked kind of… Twitchy. "H-Hey."

"Did I make you wait too long?"

"Nah!" He stood up from the bench where he was waiting.

"Why are you…?"

"I h-had fourteen cups of Pheromone Coffee t-this afternoon!"

"Whoa! Man, that has to be like, a world record!" Hamuko smiled deviously. "…You know, normal people simply wear nicer clothes when they want to impress their dates."

"That wasn't m-my purpose. I was just drinking coffee because I was bored."

"Oh, really? Well then, I don't know if this is the effect of the Pheromone Coffee or not, but lemme tell you that you look _unnaturally_ sexy tonight."

"…!" Minato smirked. "I know I do." Yup. Pheromone Coffee all the way.

* * *

><p>Minato had problems deciding whether the karaoke night was being great or a pain. Laughing at each other's perfomances was awesome; being so high in caffeine that he couldn't doze off for a second was not. Bearing an awful amount of songs sung by his dear Risette-wannabe was not a great point either. Receiving a kiss after each song as an apology made it totally worth it, though.<p>

"Aren't you tired yet?" The effect of the caffeine was leaving Minato's body, and he really wanted to just go back to the dorm and sleep.

"Oh… Just one more song, okay?" She flipped the pages of the book which contained the names of all the available songs. "Kimi no Kioku by… Yumi Kawamura! …I love her songs, but I had never heard of this one before."

"It's my favorite song." Minato explained, a nostalgic smile decorating his face. "It's a sad, yet incredibly beautiful song about coping with the death of someone you love which made her famous ten years ago…"

The little detail of the number of years told Hamuko a lot about why he would like a song with that theme. "Could you… Sing it for me?" She handed him the microphone, a pleading look on her face.

"…" The bluenet glanced away, seemingly uncomfortable with that request. "…Only if you sing it with me." After receiving a determined nod as an answer, Minato stood up and grabbed the microphone. "_Voices of the wind_…"

The song was rather long, as it took over five minutes to end. Just as Minato had said, it was a gorgeous song, and a big tear jerker.

"…_I will never leave you._" As the last notes of the song played in the speakers of the karaoke box, Minato left his microphone on a sofa and sighed. "Well, did you like the song?"

He was answered with some sobs.

"H-Hamuko! What's wrong?"

"The song was really… Pretty…" Hamuko rubbed her eyes, doing her best not to cry. "Huh… It has to be the most upbeat song about the death of a lover to ever be made."

"Probably. However, I can't help but loving it."

"Yeah, it's great…" The brunette sighed. "Alright, I'm naming this our song!"

"You what?"

"Your favorite song, my favorite song… Our song. Like… Our theme song, you get it?"

Minato gave her a weird look. "…Whatever. Let's go back."

After a quick visit to the amusement arcade to pick Junpei up, and an even quicker explanation of why that had been necessary, they went together to the dorm.

* * *

><p>Minato and Hamuko were walking together to school that Saturday morning. The girl only stopped humming songs from the previous karaoke night when they came across two loud students gossiping about Mitsuru.<p>

"Oh, my teacher told me about Mitsuru Kirijo, the Student Council President. She's going overseas after she graduates. Probably so she can run the Kirijo Company later... She's so different from us... The funny thing is, I hear she still lives in the dorms. I wonder why... Maybe her parents were strict when she was growing up."

"…You think that's the reason Senpai is like that?"

"Nope."

* * *

><p>Lunch break had just started and every S.E.E.S. member was going to leave classroom to go buy lunch when Mitsuru barged into the classroom.<p>

"Mind if I interrupt?" That question arrived a bit late. "I was just told by the Chairman that he'll be stopping by this evening. When you get back, come to the 4th floor meeting room."

"Oh, um... Okay." Yukari muttered.

"I'll see you all later." And with that, Mitsuru left.

"I think we should go back early today." Minato suggested. Everyone seemed to agree.

* * *

><p>Once the school day was over, the Fools decided to go back together, seeing that everyone had apparently left on a rush or something.<p>

Upon arriving to the dorm's front door, they found Fuuka and Yukari playing with a grey Shiba Inu with a white urajiro and crimson red eyes.

"Koro-chan, give me your paw!" Fuuka commanded.

The dog barked in response and raised a paw.

"Ooh, he did it!" Yukari exclaimed, surprised. "What a smart dog."

"B'awww!" Hamuko yelled, startling the other two girls and Minato. "That dog is SO cute!"

"Can I pet him?" The bluenet's request surprised everyone yet again.

"Oh, of course!" Fuuka moved away from the dog. "And yes, he really is cute… Koro-chan, go say hi! You can do that, right?"

The dog barked yet again and walked towards the Fools. He nuzzled Hamuko's hand and barked happily at Minato.

"His name's Koromaru." The girl from 2-E explained. "I've seen him sitting by the steps of the shrine."

While everyone was praising Koromaru, a woman giving an Akita dog a walk passed by them.

"Oh... This dog still goes on walks all by himself?" She spoke up.

"Whaddya mean?" Yukari gave the woman a confused look.

"He used to belong to the priest at the Naganaki Shrine. Every afternoon, the two of them went this way for a walk." The passerby explained.

"That explains it..."

"Well, until the priest passed away."

"He passed away...?" Fuuka seemed really worried.

"Oh, you haven't heard the story?" The woman seemed all too eager to gossip. "It was about six months ago... The priest was hit by a car while walking his dog. He didn't survive. Ever since then, that dog sits patiently by the site of the accident. And he goes for a walk everyday, just like when his owner was still alive..." The woman kept ranting for a while. "...Oh shoot, I have to get going! My son will be back soon!" She left with her dog and there was a short silence.

"Aww, you're such a loyal dog!" Yukari shouted all of a sudden. "Good boy!"

"He's like Hachiko!" Hamuko replied as she crouched down to pet Koro's head. "_Wait, this feeling…_"

"...Huh?"

"What's wrong, Fuuka?"

"...Oh, nothing... Sorry." Fuuka shook her head. "Wait, isn't the Chairman coming today? Then, we should go get ready."

"Yeah." Yukari patted the dog's head. "See you later, Koro-chan."

As the afternoon was about to end, Ikutsuki arrived to the dorm. Everyone gathered in the Command Room.

"Hello, everyone. I wanted to let you know how my research has been going. This concerns those Shadows that have been appearing during full moons. I want you to listen closely; it might be hard to follow." Ikutsuki made a small pause. "Shadows can be divided into 12 categories, according to their characteristics. This, we've known for a while. It's like their class or order."

"_We have?_"

"_He means the Arcana thing, Hamuko._"

"_Oh, okay!_"

"...Now, I've classified the special Shadows we've seen so far, and... It's simply fascinating! Those four Shadows belonged to Categories I through IV, in order of their appearance! They may have looked different than the more common ones, but the classification scheme still applies."

"Is that something we should be excited about?" Junpei voiced everyone's thoughts.

"Oh, I get it... There's 12 in all… Eight we haven't seen yet."

"That's exactly right, Fuuka! You're quite sharp." The Chairman's words make Fuuka blush slightly.

"Oh, uh, okay... But, what are they after?"

"...That's a good question, and that's what we haven't figured out yet: their motive. They don't kill their prey; they feed on their minds. It can be considered predation, but is it really? Is there an underlying intent behind their behavior? The purpose of the Shadows as a whole... That's what we need to consider."

"...This is interesting." Akihiko smirked. "But, no matter what, we still have to beat the rest of 'em."

"...I agree." Mitsuru nodded. "That's about all we can do at this point."

"Eight more, huh? Lucky us." Yukari was in full optimism mode.

"According to the data, each one has been stronger than the last, so we better start training harder..." …Fuuka didn't seem too positive either.

"We'll manage. We've got plenty of time." And then there was Aki who was on full idealistic mode. Time? They had all the time in the world, right? Well, or at least until they were forced to leave Port Island to go to college…

"What about Tartarus? Why does it even exist...?"

Yukari's question apparently startled Mitsuru.

Well, with that talk, the S.E.E.S. finally told the Fools something they hadn't figured out already and everyone discovered a new common goal: destroying all Full Moon shadows. Eight more to be exact. Hoo boy…

* * *

><p><strong>The first 15 times I listened to Kimi no Kioku I cried. Just by reading the translation. And seeing me cry is rare as hell *A*<strong>

**And then I played The Answer and cried with Brand New Days. All fine.**


	32. Sightseeing in Iwatodai

**Author note: one day I'll write a big FAQ chapter when this fic is over and go all okay! No more answering questions, go there! Until then…**

**Q. No lemons? I want lemons. Write lemons!**

**A. No.**

**Q. BUT—**

**A. No. **

**I hope I have made myself clear. I don't write smut. I don't want to be the cliché fan girl who writes fanfic—I mean, I don't want to be more of a cliché :U **

**Q. So will the Fools go back to fighting? **

**A. This chapter kinda maybe really hints at the answer. And if it doesn't, let me spoil it for you: yes. Accumulative tension, remember? They'll be back sooner than you'd ever expect. Or maybe not. Who knows, man.**

**On another note, guys, I LOVE reviews, and I really thank them, but I don't like being given orders. I go through that enough in real life. I mean, I appreciate receiving suggestions and I usually follow them, adapting details of my story so that more people is happy with it, but, seriously, don't go all "DO THIS" or "DON'T DO THAT" because I write for myself. You'll be getting on my bad side and there's a chance I'll do right the opposite you said just to make you angry :I I'll have free time until Wednesday, I can allow myself to do that.**

* * *

><p>"<em>Next episode: Remember it's important to believe in yourself! And now an announcement from-<em>"

Hamuko glared at the switched off TV. "I can't believe I waited a whole week for that crap."

"That's the problem of weekly shows." Minato cracked his knuckles as he got up from bed. "Well… I think we have a busy day ahead of us… We'd better get going."

Taking the monorail to go to Paulownia and then take it again to go back to Iwatodai felt rather dumb for the Fools –well, or at least for Minato, as he didn't have a Glasses Wipe from Ikutsuki to give to his assistant. Mainly because Hamuko conveniently forgot to mention he needed one-, but their assistants completely loved it. They kept pointing at things in the way, and making way too loud comments about the greatness of the metallic snake that transported people inside its empty stomach while following a never ending path.

"Here we are. Iwatodai Station."

Minato and Hamuko walked down the stairs that connected the train platform with the outside while the siblings in blue stared down at the up escalator, curiosity obvious in their eyes. Elisabeth decided to run down it merrily, only to discover that she couldn't reach the Fools as much as she tried since she kept being dragged up by the moving steps.

"Elisabeth-san, that's not how you-"

Hamuko put a hand over Minato's mouth. "Keep going, Elisabeth-san! You can do it!"

In a last attempt, she finally jumped off the escalator and landed besides the –really amused- female Fool. Hamuko tried to high-five her, but the Velvet Room assistant didn't seem to comprehend the gesture.

"Flowing stairs that must be mastered by those who would try to pass…" Elisabeth spoke with a dreamy tune as she tried to catch her breath. "So this is an 'escalator'… It looks simple, but one false step, and challengers will be mired in an exhausting ordeal." She turned towards her brother. "Your turn, Theodore!"

"I-it… Seems dangerous…" Theo mumbled as he looked down at the rest of the group. "B-but I shouldn't have any problems riding something like this, should I?" The man seemed to have his feet glued to the ground, so Hamuko decided to run back upstairs to help him go down –through the up escalator, yes.

"Here, just follow my steps. I'll make sure it's safe!"

"Oh no! I can't allow you to do that!" Theo took Hamuko's hand. "I'll go ahead… Please, follow me."

"_Warning_." A feminine voice coming from some speakers claimed as they were about to walk into the escalator. "_Please, refrain from going up the down escalator and vice versa. Thank you._"

"Oh well, darn." The brunette sighed. "Guess we'll have to take the down escalator."

"…This is rather… Slow." Both of them got off the escalator without any problem. "HAH! Child's play!"

"Your escalator master skills are truly impressing, Theodore!" Elisabeth applauded, seemingly impressed.

"Uh… Theodore-san, I believe you can let go of Hamuko's hand now."

"Oh, indeed." Theo freed his guest's hand at Minato's request. Hamuko raised an eyebrow at the bluenet.

"What's this?" Theo's sister yelled suddenly. "Watch your step, everyone! There's a pitfall just ahead!"

"…Where?"

"It's in the center of this fenced-off area!" Elisabeth ran towards a zone with a few construction fences. …A sewer entrance, apparently. "It's marked with eye-catching signs, which state in bold print: 'Do Not Enter'!"

"…Perhaps because entrance is not permitted?" Theo asked with curiosity.

"Not quite so, Theo!" The female assistant nodded knowingly to herself. "Humans frequently crave that which is forbidden to them… This is a crafty snare, that goes against the common notion that pitfalls must be hidden… A stairway that tests one's wits, and a pitfall that tests one's inner strength…" Her smile lit up. "Human authorities have a great deal to contend with in their quest to defend the town's law and order… I'm very moved by their plight."

"…Wow. We're smarter than we knew!" Hamuko's words prompted the standard face palm reaction in Minato.

"Let's continue forth, our thoughts dedicated to the unsung heroes who love this town so very much…"

"Whatever…" With that they walked towards the Iwatodai Strip Mall.

"So this is a strip mall... A lively place indeed." Theo glanced around with a happy look. Suddenly his expression changed drastically. "This smell... No, no, don't tell me..."

"This fragrant aroma… It can't be…" Elisabeth's expression was the complete opposite of her brother's, cheerful instead of horrified like his. The siblings ran towards the Octopia store, and muttered something to the cook.

"Whoa!" The woman in the store shouted. "You can figure out our secret ingredient just by its smell! …Oh, I guess you don't wear those funky clothes for nothing…" She folded her arms and glanced away. "Well, there ain't a law against takoyaki shops cooking stuff besides octopus… How 'bout it? Wanna buy one? It'll make you smile so wide, your cheeks will fall off!"

"Cuisine so luscious that makes one's cheeks fall off…!" Minato's assistant smiled. "…Such a result would cause havoc in reality, but I'd definitely like to experience this."

"But sister!" The other Velvet Room denizen complained. "I do not want to lose my cheeks!"

"Aw, c'mon!" Hamuko took out her purse. "I bet you're looking forward to see what happens!"

"I have never seen a person lose his or her cheeks!" Elisabeth motioned Hamuko to save her money, as she brought out her own –bulging- wallet. "This must mean that the ordinary citizen cannot easily buy these, Hamuko-sama." She noticed a cartel with prices. "Oh… Upon closer inspection, one package is only 400 yen…" She seemed suddenly hesitant. "W-Well then, three packages, please."

"S-sister! What about me?"

"Don't worry Theo, we'll share mine!" Theo seemed to love Hamuko's idea. Everyone sat on the benches by the store and began eating calmly.

"Ninety-seven degrees Fahrenheit." Theo announced while he reluctantly put one of the takoyaki balls in his mouth.

"This distinct texture… The firm chewy outer skin… There's no doubt about it. I must say, I'm surprise to come across this used as an ingredient in food…" Elisabeth muttered as she chewed her takoyaki.

"'There are things your kind is better off not knowing.' So I've been taught, which means... I mustn't... But using THAT for cooking... It's apparent now why one's cheeks might fall off..." Theodore shivered, earning a weird look from the Fools.

"The human mind… It is cursed to forever harbour whatever knowledge it gains, whether good or ill… Forgive my reticence, but… Indeed, as I told Theodore, there are things your kind is better off not knowing." In other words, the assistants needed some brain bleach. And the Fools would probably need too, if they knew, so they decided not to pry.

"So how are everyone's cheeks?" Minato asked jokingly.

"…!" The male assistant pinched his cheeks. He then proceeded to pinch Hamuko's while the bluenet laughed at the scene. "They seem to be in no danger. Thank goodness…"

"Thanks…?" Hamuko glanced at Minato with an awkward expression.

"If anything were to happen to you... You are, after all, a valued guest." Theo smiled flirtatiously as he took a hand to his guest's cheek and began stroking it. "...That hurt, didn't it? I'm so sorry."

"…" Minato looked away, trying to hide the frown on his face without much result.

"Err…" Hamuko moved her face away from her assistant's hand. "Theo, I think the cook's trying to get your attention."

The boy walked towards the store, leaving the Fools to their contest of stares… While Elisabeth waved her hand happily at some cat walking by. Theodore came back with a little takoyaki-shaped phone strap.

"Well now, isn't this charming?" He moved the strap in front of her face, in a pendulum movement. "Would this be considered... A souvenir of my time with you?"

"Maybe?" Hamuko shrugged, not sure of what he meant exactly. "It's a cool phone strap, I wish I had one like that."

"How unfortunate..." Theo grinned. "I've acquired something precious to me. It's your fault, you realize. That's why I won't let you have this."

Minato was getting sick of the way Theodore looked at Hamuko. "Do you want to visit the restaurants or something?" That question was his best try at passively separating the two.

"Oh, indeed! I wish to try all of the dining establishments around!" Elisabeth tapped her chin with a finger. "Hmm… My first priority is to visit something called a 'manga café' and obtain the foodstuff known as a 'smooooothie bar'." She said the last two words with a really weird drawl. Weird, yet attractive. "This 'smooooothie bar' allows for an infinite combination of flavors by mixing various ingredients…" She began walking upstairs. "Just thinking about it gives me a sort of electric tingle across my tongue."

By the time lunch time ended, Elisabeth was ranting happily about the diverse flavors of each of the meals they tried, Hamuko seemed the happiest person on earth, Minato could barely eat, and Theo seemed really disappointed because their time there had almost come to an end.

"It seems we have exhausted the culinary possibilities of this area." Elisabeth announced after they left Hagakure. "Oh my… Are you feeling well?"

"I'm just a bit full…" Minato sighed. "I'll be better in five minutes, really."

"Oh! So that's why you haven't eaten much since our seventh meal…"

"Yeah, I found that weird too." Hamuko nodded to herself. "Hey, I'm still up for some more snacks! Want to have some coffee in Paulownia before you leave? Wait, I'll go check the monorail schedule!"

As the girl ran to cross the road which separated the group from Iwatodai Station, a car's horn got everyone's attention.

"HAMU-" Before Minato could do anything, Hamuko got pulled back to the sidewalk by Theodore.

"It's dangerous to stand in place like that!" The man in blue scolded her. "Honestly... I can't turn my back on you for even an instant. Here, let us go back. Give me your hand." Saying that the girl got dragged like a child all the way back to the Velvet Room wouldn't be too wrong.

* * *

><p>"That stupid Theodore I swear…" Hamuko shook her hand trying to ease the slight pain she felt around her wrist. "I could have left the road by myself, geez! That car wasn't even going fast!" She released an annoyed sigh and turned her head to Minato. "Aren't you going to say anything?"<p>

"...I told you that babysitting wasn't fun."

"Well, it was fun most of the day, okay? Save for the car thing and your…"

"My what?"

"…You know perfectly what I'm talking about!"

"Do you sincerely expect me to be all happy while that guy is pawing you?"

"Pawing me?" Hamuko yelled back. "Do I ever say anything about you doing things with Yuko?"

"Yes, yes you do!"

"…!" The brunette had no retort prepared. Maybe because something told her that the boy was completely right, even though she didn't want to accept this.

They walked silently and slowly towards Port Island Station, trying to avoid topics which they didn't want to discuss, deciding that maybe contained anger was the best way to deal with them –obviously it was not, but each to their own. By the time they arrived to the cinema, the tension between them hadn't eased at all.

"Two tickets for Soul Hackers, please…" That was the latest film of the book of the spin off of the videogame of the book that the cinema had received. And the only scary film, so…

The cinema had three things Hamuko liked a lot: popcorn, comfortable seats and Minato. Wait, that order was wrong… It was actually Minato, popcorn and comfortable seats. Popcorn had nothing to do on the bluenet.

Halfway through the trailers, their hands found each other's on the armrest. "Minato…" She whispered as the boy took his hand away. After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted that way in front of you. Don't be mad, please…"

Minato turned her face towards her and looked at her, surprised. Was Hamuko assuming her fault for once? "It's alright… I guess that being jealous of a guy from the Velvet Room is kind of lame…"

"Yeah, kinda." Hamuko smiled affectively. "You… You mean a lot to me... Theo doesn't. …You know that I love you, don't you?" That phrase coming from any other person would have meant a lot, but Minato knew he had to take those words with a grain of salt when they came from the brunette.

"…Man, what's with all this Americanization of everything?" He changed the subject completely to test something.

"You say it for that trailer of Call of Service 4?" Indeed, any other person would have got mad at getting a topic change when telling someone they loved him or her. Hamuko didn't because she didn't really get how important that phrase was. It was just like saying another 'you look handsome' or 'that shirt suits you'. Oh well, what matters is the thought, right? "Oh hey, the film's starting." As she said this, the lights began fading out. "So…"

…Fifteen minutes into the film, right after the first jump scare, both Fools had already lost track of the plot, busy with other activities of a higher rating, which were alternated with short periods of wondering what the hell was happening on the giant screen, leading back to locking their lips together. It's not like either teen was going to complain about missing out the film, but…

"_Hey, keep it down back there! I wanna hear the film, not you two_!"

"_Get lost! We're doing important things!_" Hamuko retorted, hands still entangled on Minato's hair. "_Where were we?_"

"W-wait…" Minato pushed the brunette aside. "That voice…" Shock was obvious Minato's voice.

"…That voice!" His exclamation was followed by a general 'GAH!' and a few hushes from the whole room.

"_What are you doing here, Kenji?_"

"_I'm watching a film! This is a cinema, you guys!_"

"_Shouldn't you be with Ms. Kanou or something?_" The brunette was really flustered.

"_Unlike you two, Emiri and I know how to give each other some space! You guys, seriously…_" Kenji walked away and sat down a line nearer to the screen.

"…"

"…"

"…_Uh... Popcorn?_"

"_Yes, please._"

Well, that was some way of ending an afternoon. And an unwanted Aesop: Next time it could be a girl. Better stay home and watch TV with Junpei and Fuuka.

* * *

><p>As the evening arrived, Minato got up from the sofa and headed to the door.<p>

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Escapade."

"Aw, and you won't invite me to go with you?" Hamuko complained jokingly.

"I'm going to see the monk. I hope you'll be polite enough to let me go listen to his preaching **alone**."

"Uh… Y-yeah of course. He's all yours man." The brunette raised her hands defensively. "No need to get angry."

Minato closed the door behind him and left without any other words.

"Uh… Is there something wrong?" Fuuka asked timidly. Hamuko only shrugged in response and went back to watching TV.

* * *

><p>As Minato had guessed, the monk was completely inebriated in the V.I.P. zone of Escapade. Once again, he mistook the boy for a waiter, but he was ready for this.<p>

"I hope you like brandy."

"Brandy? Aw yeah, you know where it's at!" The monk took a big gulp from the bottle Minato had given him. "You look awfully young, kid. You still in high school?" Before the bluenet could answer, the monk kept ranting to himself. "What're the employees here thinkin', lettin' you in...? Well, since ya got me a drink, I'll pretend I'm your parent so ya don't get thrown outta here."

"Uh, that won't be-"

"...Well? C'mon, kid, sit down. Havin' to look up at ya is strainin' my neck."

Minato obeyed and sat down next to the monk, at a reasonable distance.

"So, you wanted to see where adults spend their time, eh?"

"I've already been here a bunch of times."

" What? You shouldn't even be allowed to be here! Damn kids, trying to rush things… Actin' like an adult only makes ya look more like a kid!"

"It's kind of ironic a hammered monk with a cigar is saying that." Minato was already beginning to hate this Social Link.

"Ahaha! You've got balls, kid! That'll do you good!" The monk drank again from the bottle. "You're nothin' like those punks I see runnin' 'round town these days. Can't say the same for my son, though, heh... Always bein' taken in by the police for questioning..." He casted his eyes down, thoughtful or maybe nostalgic. Or maybe just plain sick from so much alcohol. "...I'm gonna remember your face, kid. And next time you come in here, I'm gonna have you thrown out. Got it?"

Minato heard the typical voices in his head telling him that the Tower Social Link had been established. You know, in case the picture of a tower being attacked by a lightning didn't tell him.

"Well, when you've had your fill, go home... And don't come back."

* * *

><p>The next day, Minato decided to go to school with Yukari and talk about the shadows, and the twelve Arcanas and all that stuff...<p>

* * *

><p>"Oh, Hamuko-chan, are you coming to the Cooking Club after school?"<p>

"Sorry, Fuuka-chan, I'm kinda busy but…"

"Oh, that's alright! Cooking Club is not mandatory. Just come by whenever you have some time. Just go to 2-E to tell me, alright?"

"_Awesome! Senpai-day, go!_" As Hamuko headed back to class, she stumbled upon Minato. "Hi."

"Hey."

"Um… Wanna go to class together?"

"Sure."

* * *

><p>During the afternoon they had class with Mrs. Terauchi. Frankly, no one was too sure about what she taught, since all her classes ended up being about her life. For example, that day she taught them that octopi was considered a 'devilfish' in many European countries. Junpei was asked about which of a series of sea animals -a manta ray, a squid or a jellyfish- wasn't a devilfish.<p>

"_Hey, Hamu-chan, which one is it?_"

"_Eh…?_"

"_Jellyfish_." Minato answered in her place.

Junpei repeated Minato's answer and was congratulated by the teacher, who explained that jellyfish couldn't be a devilfish because it was a dessert. 'Jelly, geddit?' …Hamuko felt kind of ridiculous when she noticed she was the only one laughing.

* * *

><p>"So Minato, I was thinking…" Yuko muttered as she and the bluenet headed to practice. "Are you free tomorrow?"<p>

"Free?"

"For the party."

"O-oh yeaaah, the party…"

"…What's wrong? You don't think it's a good idea?"

"_EXACTLY._" "Uh, no! That's not it! Tomorrow is fine!"

And when Minato thought that the afternoon had just gone down the sewer…

"KAZUSHI!" Oh, how delightful the coach's furious yells sounded.

"Wh-What is it, Coach?" Kazushi ran towards the coach. "You have a scary look on your face...""

"...What do you think you're doing?" Scary was an understatement.

"J-Just practicing, Coach..."

"...That's enough practicing for you. Come to the Nurse's Office. The rest of you, get back to work!"

The Track Team members looked at each other, confused. "The Nurse's Office...?"

"Kazushi, did something happen?"

"Yeah, right...!" Kazushi ran after the coach.

"...I knew it." Yuko stated. "He's such a bad liar. You can totally tell he's favoring his one knee. I know you have something to do with this, Minato! Sorry, but follow me."

Yuko dragged Minato all the way to the Nurse Office.

"I just spoke to your mom about your knee." The coach informed Kazushi.

"You're throwing caution to the wind, young man..." …Mr. Edogawa and his wise words.

"That blabbermouth!" Kaz surely loved his mother.

"I want you to quit before things get any worse, okay?"

"P-Please, I need to practice..."

"Kaz..." Yuko sounded really concerned. Or maybe there was more than concern?

"Yuko! Minato too?"

" Take some time off, Kaz." The team manager's suggestion sounded more like an order. "Practice can wait until you're fully healed."

"No! I don't have time!"

"Huh? What's your hurry? Don't be so rash!"

"Minato, you've been hanging around with Kazushi lately, right? You must know something..."

Minato just stared back at the coach, trying to decide what the best option was. "So you see, Kazushi wants to be the very best because that's my aim too and…"

"W-wait, I don't want you to lie for me! Or… If you're gonna do it at least think of a deeper excuse…" The boy looked rather guilty. "Anyway, I don't want you to get dragged into this... So I'll come clean."

"_Wow. He's trying to protect me._" Minato thought, quite shocked. "_Even though I've been doing nothing but helping him hurt himself he's trying to protect me…_" With that, Chariot Social Link reached level 8 and was, once again, the Social Link with the highest level.

"To tell you the truth, I..." Kazushi gave everyone a brief explanation of his true aims. "...So, that's the gist of it. I need to practice! I have to win or else..."

"I know how you feel, Kazushi, but..." The Coach mumbled.

"So, that's why." One of the team members spoke.

"I don't mind if he competes at regionals." Another member commented. "If it's just the individual competition, then I don't have to worry about him bringing us down."

"...Why are you here?" The Coach had voiced Kazushi, Yuko and Minato's thoughts.

"I'm worried about Kazushi..." The boy spoke yet again.

"Guys..."

The coach took a deep breath. "...I'll let you keep training for now, and we'll see how things go... But if I tell you to stop, I'm sorry, but you'll have to listen. And, I want you to go home today. Your mother will be upset if I let you stay."

"S-Sorry, Coach." Kazushi bowed. "Everyone... I..."

"...We're done here; now, get back to training, everyone."

Minato walked away, going over and over on his mind about the fact that a Social Link wanted to protect him after being a jerk.

* * *

><p>As he walked through the Iwatodai Strip Mall, he heard some familiar voices coming from the floor where Hagakure, Wakatsu and the Sweet Shop were placed. Akihiko and Hamuko's… And someone else's too, but he didn't have a clue of who did those belong to. Maybe he could identify them better if he went upstairs discreetly.<p>

"Say, why're you here with Junpei's girlfriend?" A heavily made up girl yelled. Apparently, Hamuko had got some trouble just by going to the Sweet Shop with Akihiko. …She had never gone there with Minato. "Like, stop stealing all the single guys when you've already got one for yourself!"

"I'm not Junpei's girlfriend." Hamuko answered calmly. "And I don't steal guys."

"Liar! You're totally a slut and a cheater!" A girl with buns shouted. "I know you're Minato's bitch!"

Screw being discreet. Minato ran upstairs and confronted the girls. "What have you just called her?"

"Minato?"

"O-oh sorry! She didn't know that you… Ahaha…" The girls exchanged scared glances. "Eh… We're kinda in a hurry! We'll talk to you another day, Senpai!" And with that they ran away.

"…" Minato could feel Hamuko's glare.

"Were you spying on me? Seriously, Minato…!" She shouted.

"I just defended you from-"

"HEY YOU." Akihiko joined Hamuko in the yelling trend, and added a grab-by-the-collar threat to it. "Don't you dare bother her, you hear me? She doesn't want anything with you!" He shook his shoulders angrily. "Just because you're our leader I won't let you stalk her or go around saying that she's your girlfriend when she's not, understood?"

"W-What the hell? I-I was just going by!"

"S-Senpai! Stop!" The brunette pulled Akihiko away. "I-it's alright! It was just a misunderstanding!"

Akihiko turned his face to Hamuko and then to Minato. He then proceeded to leave Minato back on the ground carefully. "...Let's go, Hamuko." …When had he dropped the honorific?

Akihiko grabbed Hamuko's hand and took her away, while the girl looked back mouthing 'sorry' a lot of times. Minato saw them off, unable to do anything but asking himself what had just happened.

Once they arrived to the dorm, the older boy freed Hamuko's hand. She could only wonder why every silver haired boy she knew liked to drag her around.

"...Oh, sorry. Did I hurt your hand?" Akihiko asked with a concerned voice. "...Sorry about what happened back there.

"…" The girl glanced away, a tad disturbed. "…It wasn't your fault." It was indeed hers for not thinking about the relation between her words and the people next to her before speaking, but she wasn't going to tell Akihiko that.

"...I'm glad to hear you say that." The silver haired boy seemed relieved. "All this about me showing off and taking someone's girlfriend... There are people in my class saying things about me, too... And then there's Minato saying that you're together…" Apparently, Akihiko had completely misunderstood who was the source of the rumours…

"Uh… I don't think it was him who said that." Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows. "NEVER do something like that again, Senpai."

"Sorry..." There was an awkward silence. "…Aside from that, I had fun today. That cake we had was tasty; it's nice to have sweet things once in a while."

"Yeah, sweet stuff is great…"

"Hey, Fuuka-chan told me you had joined the Cooking Club…" Aki smiled. "Maybe you could make me something sweet sometime. Like... Pancakes sound good."

"…" There was no way Hamuko was going to cook something for a guy who dragged her around and attacked her friends out of... Jealousy or whatever, she wasn't sure of what the hell that had been.

"...I like pancakes." He didn't seem to understand her silence. "Ha-ha, does that seem like the kind of food I wouldn't like?"

The Star Social Link reached level 5. _"…I don't feel closer to him at all…_"

"Now, let's go home."

"You go ahead, Senpai. I'll wait here to make sure Minato is okay."

"You sure…? …Alright." The boy walked into the dorm, while Hamuko decided to sit on the stairs leading to the dorm and wait. The bluenet eventually appeared and Hamuko embraced him while apologizing once and again. She only got pushed away.

"I don't want to get beaten." Minato stated as he got in the dorm, ignoring Hamuko's begs not to get mad and Junpei's babbles about the machine in the Command Room not working again.

Going on the same wagon to Paulownia as Minato was nothing short of awkward. The fact that he didn't show up to the café as usual that night after achieving rank 2 of the Devil Social Link was sad as well.

When she got out of job late that night and had to wait in Port Island Station for the Dark Hour to end, Hamuko could have sworn she heard a shot and a cry of pain breaking the endless silence of the hidden hour. Her fear of the Reaper breaking out of Tartarus disappeared when she noticed three figures walking away from the back alleys of Port Island Station. She assumed that she had just failed to prevent a shadow attack and decided to block that out of her mind in order not to choke on paranoia that night. This could have been prevented by being more careful around Akihiko but...

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter has so many mood whisplashes that it hurts. Also, poor Minato ;A;<strong>


	33. Thinking it over

**Author note: I'm uploading at past midnight, so if this chapter doesn't make sense at some point, you guys know the reason. I'll make sure to read it over tomorrow -YAWN- Well woops, seems I need another little FAQ thing! **

**Q. Regarding Aki's behavior last chapter…**

**A. That wasn't jealous Aki. That was big bro instinct Aki, who is almost worse. He thought Minato was harassing Hamuko or something, and decided to intervene. I mean, come on. They've tried to kill each other in the past. Wouldn't you be a little worried about it happening again?**

**In a fair world in which everything was pretty and fine for Minato, Aki would have done that to Hamuko to make her stop trying to harass Minato like, three weeks after the Fools met. **

**Q. Minato does something good, then something bad happens?**

**A. It's like inversed karma :I My life experience has taught me that the better person you are, the more problems you get. Therefore, my fic runs on the same principle. **

* * *

><p>"A shadow snuck up on me while I was distracted, so what?"<p>

"So this." Minato clenched Hamuko's forearm, which was full of scratches, earning a gasp from the girl. "Seriously, what the hell were you thinking going out during the Dark Hour by yourself?"

When the girl arrived back to the dorm at half past twelve, she didn't have any better idea than to head to Minato's room and whine to him about how a shadow had surprised her in the station, right after she saw those three things off.

"Well, uh…"

"Right, you probably weren't thinking as usual." The boy released a tired sigh. "Stop moving already or you'll put on the bandages by yourself!"

"I don't need bandages! The Dark Hour ended before that shadow could do anything serious!" Hamuko shook her arms trying to prove her point. "I'm more worried about what I saw!"

"If that's the case why didn't you just go to Mitsuru's room and woke her up?"

"…Because this was a good excuse to see you."

"You see me every day."

"…Minato! … It's not my fault Senpai thought you were harassing me!"

"Then, whose is it? I almost got beaten by the **boxing** **champion** of Gekkoukan High just because **you** said I was spying on you!" Minato rubbed his temples. "Look, I know you either don't listen to half of my words or have a very selective memory, whatever, hell if I care, but… We've already gone through this. You're gonna get me problems one way or another if you don't think through the things you do and say when I'm near. I'm gonna get beaten by girls, I'm gonna get beaten by boys, and you're just gonna keep acting like a ditz."

"…But-" She sobbed.

"Crying is not gonna mend this, Hamuko."

"T-then what is? Just tell me! I want to be with you whenever I want! I don't wanna hide when there are other people around!"

"Gee, then, I don't know. Get me an insurance policy or something, maybe I can make profit of all this."

There was a thick silence while Minato kept applying the bandages. Healing would have been a much better option, but summoning a persona in a room without waking up every single dorm member was kind of difficult.

"…See? This is exactly why I didn't want anything to change."

"Nothing changed. And that's exactly the problem." Minato sighed. "…This kind of things has happened other times, right? That's why you don't want me to be your boyfriend." He got a nod in response. "Look. You're not mature enough to be in a relationship and assume that your actions have consequences. That's why you think that not getting in serious relationships is going to be easier. It's not. You're just bringing trouble to everyone else involved, as they expect you're gonna be exclusive to them."

"I just don't see what's so bad in being 'more than friends', sorry…" Hamuko casted her eyes down. "I… I don't want anyone to be mad… What do I do?"

"I can't tell you, Hamuko. You'll have to figure that by yourself." The silence between the two grew denser and awkward. "This is the part when our Link reverses, isn't it?"

"N-no." The brunette nodded to herself, determined. "I'm gonna think of something! I'm gonna get a solution and make you proud of me! And I won't rest until I have achieved that!"

"That's going to be difficult." Minato scratched the back of his head. "Good luck. Try not to wake up Senpai in the way to your room, okay?"

* * *

><p>Two loud students were gossiping by the school gates.<p>

"Have you heard of this revenge request website?"

"Revenge request? What's that?"

"You can write the person's name you want to get revenge on, and bam! Mission accomplished. They say it's guaranteed successful, and completely anonymous."

"Seriously? Give me the URL, quick!"

"Well, it's just a rumor... I mean I don't know the details, but I heard that a guy got killed yesterday..." Those words attracted Minato's attention. "Why are you so desperate?"

"Huh? I'm not... I'm not thinking about revenge at all."

* * *

><p>Hamuko had been quiet all day long. When Junpei asked her if she wanted to hang out later that day, she answered saying that she had to think. When Yukari tried to tell her the latest news about the revenge website, she said that she had better things to worry about. And when Ms. Miyahara found her completely zoned out, she answered something about how she shouldn't have skipped lunch break to think.<p>

Only Minato understood this behavior, and, knowing how much of a birdbrain the girl was, he couldn't help but appreciate the effort. All in all, she probably was doing it for the selfish reason of not wanting to be left alone, but the slim chance that she really wanted to be with him and was trying to understand how to solve a really difficult situation resulted rather heartwarming.

"…_Maybe I should give her a hint_."

Minato was going to tell Hamuko all she needed to know. That she only needed one guy, and that was him; forget Akihiko!… Social Links were Social Links, but they couldn't rely on them like they trusted each other… When he got intercepted by another girl.

"Yuko?" He asked, startled, earning Hamuko's attention.

"Well, are you ready for the party?"

"I… I…" His eyes met Yuko's. She was staring at him intently. "…Yeah."

Hamuko's face met her desk as Minato walked away with Yuko. If she had achieved any resolve during her meditation, she had just thrown it away. She got up and walked outside the classroom, decided to spend the afternoon with the first person she found. …It just happened to be Bebe.

* * *

><p>So, apparently, when Yuko said 'party' she actually meant 'party'. As in, having a snack in her room. "<em>Gee, who would have thought? …Then maybe when Hamuko speaks about spending Tanabata together she's just talking about star-gazing while sharing some sweets. …No, okay, that's rather unlikely.<em>" Minato sighed to himself. He noticed Yuko was looking at him and raised an eyebrow in response.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stare..." Yuko giggled as her face went red. "I just noticed that you have such long eyelashes." The blush increased. "H-How 'bout we change topics... I have a question for you! Do you like kids, Minato?"

"Kids huh? …They're a bit noisy, but I can stand them."

"I see…" Yuko didn't seem to like the answer too much. "Can I ask you one more question? Before we call it a night...?" No. No way. Minato just wanted to leave. "Let's say you get married and have a kid. Would you want it to be a boy or a girl?"

That shouted 'trick question' and 'not very subtle invitation'. "I'm fine with anything you want." …And that sounded worse spoken than in his mind.

"Oh! Then I'd like to have a girl! But, I wouldn't want the baby to take after me, since I'm a little rough around the edges. I'd want the baby to look like you, Minato, since you're-" The blush on Yuko's face proved that she had just realized where the conversation was going. "...Uh, I... I didn't mean to imply..."

Minato smiled, relieved to see that the girl didn't really want anything with him yet. That meant we had more time to work out how to tell her he wasn't interested in her and he only thought of her as a friend –curious euphemism for 'tool to get power'-even though he kissed her. …It'd be difficult to find a way to say that even with all the time in the world. Oh well, the Strength Social Link reached level 8 and that was all that mattered.

Apparently, Yuko misunderstood his expression. "P-Please don't get the wrong idea! It was something I saw on TV last night! There was this show about predicting what a baby will look like by combining two people's pictures! That's the only reason I brought it up! I don't want you to misunderstand! Um... H-Hey! It's getting late! Let's call it a night, okay?" …Yuko practically kicked him out of her house. And the boy couldn't be happier about it.

* * *

><p>"Good evening!" Minato exclaimed cheerfully as he ran into the dorm.<p>

"S'up, dude? You seem to be in a good mood, man!" Junpei gave him a curious look when the boy began chuckling.

Seeing that Akihiko wasn't around, Minato walked into the kitchen to meet Hamuko. She was absentmindedly playing with a little knit rabbit doll placed on the table while having some noodles. Judging by the poor quality of the knitting, she probably had done it herself or it'd been a gift.

"Are you still thinking?"

"I gave up on that a while ago." She sighed and glanced away. "So partying with Yuko, huh?"

"She kicked me out of her house."

"Oh?" Hamuko couldn't disguise the interest in her voice.

"I didn't even have time to finish my glass of soda."

"You managed to ditch her?"

"More like… She didn't want anything with me yet." Minato scratched the back of his head. "I'm not gonna complain, of course. I just thought I'd tell you."

"Oh… Well, thanks…" Hamuko's eyes travelled from the little rabbit to Minato. Her gaze met his and she felt warmth in her cheeks. Before she knew, she was curling a messy strand of hair and giggling like a schoolgirl. "You see, I had an idea this afternoon… It's pretty crazy…" A few more giggles escaped her lips. "I… I'm not even sure about how I came up with it, but it just hit me…" The strand of hair was forgotten, replaced instead by her bushy ponytail. "I thought that **maybe**…"

The rattling of the main door being opened and the deep voiced salutation that followed it made Minato run away. A soft 'thonk' could be heard as Hamuko's forehead kissed a table yet again.

"Hey, Hamuko." Akihiko greeted her. "I've been having ramen with my friend Shinji, I thought about asking you to come, but-"

"…I have to go to work." The girl left without even saying goodbye.

* * *

><p>"Hey, is it just me, or has Yuka-tan been acting weird lately?"<p>

"Has she?" Minato asked without much interest. …He wasn't even sure about why he had agreed to go to school with Junpei.

"Oh right, you've been too busy with Hamu-chan to notice." Junpei nodded knowingly to himself. "Well, she's been thinking way too hard about Tartarus n' stuff…"

"I see… Maybe we should go to Tartarus soon, then..."

* * *

><p>That afternoon, Kenji and Minato decided to go to Wild Duck together. Minato began narrating the latest events in his intricate love life, much to Kenji's dismay.<p>

"I can't eat..." Kenji left his BicWuck burger on the table.

"Are you that sick of listening to my problems?"

"No—Well, yes! But, dude, listen to this..." Kenji ran a hair through his hair. "I've got a serious problem... I saw a magazine on Emiri's coffee table. Guess what it was called..."

"Well, you wouldn't be asking me if it was something normal and you're with Ms. Kanou because she acts cute or something, so… Enlighten me."

"Bride-To-Be Magazine, dude!" The brunet exclaimed. "Freaking Bride-To-Be!" He let out a tired sigh. "When I saw the magazine, I began to think... And I finally made up my mind, man. As soon as I graduate, I'm gonna marry Emiri!"

Minato chocked on his WuckFlurry.

"So, Whaddya think, Minato?"

"You're going too fast. WAY too fast."

"What?" Kenji yelled. "I'm gonna marry her eventually, so what's the difference? Why should I wait? I'm seriously in love with Emiri, and I'm gonna marry her!" Apparently, the boy forgot how to switch on his indoors voice. "Then, Emiri Kanou will be known as Emiri Tomochika! And I'll make her the happiest wife ever!"

All the people in Wild Duck began staring at Kenji and murmuring.

The boy began gasping. "I wanted your support, dude..."

"Uh… You totally have it, man." Whatever to get that Social Link going. Reaching level 7 was great. Still… Friends were a lifelong thing. Did that mean he'd have to worry about Social Links forever?

"We should get going... Hey, I wonder how many more times I'll be able to walk home with you like this..."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the Student Council Room… Hamuko was bored to death, Hidetoshi was nowhere to be found, and Mitsuru-senpai was taking forever to consider whether to support Hamuko or not on her crusade to save a tree…<p>

"Is Odagiri absent today?" The red head finally asked.

"Um... No..." Chihiro answered timidly. "I think he's busy..."

"Busy doing what?"

"...Busy playing Private DICK." Another Council Member answered. Even though that was a good one, Hamuko glared at him.

"Oh... You mean what Fushimi was telling me about earlier... I see." Mitsuru nodded to herself. "Well, his intentions are good, so you can't really blame him. But, I understand how you feel. ...You can go if you'd like. I don't mind. Sorry for all the drama." Hamuko was about to leave when Mitsuru pronounced her last name. "Seikatsu, can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Yes, Senpai?"

"I'm afraid the computer in the Command Room is malfunctioning again. Arisato and you did an excellent job repairing it the last time; would you please take a look at it once you arrive to the dorm?"

"Um… Sure, Senpai."

While she was walking downstairs, Hamuko heard some yelling coming from near 1-F.

"So where's your EVIDENCE, smart guy?" A punk shouted.

"There's no need for evidence." Oh hey, Hidetoshi! "I know all about you. You were arrested for beating up a guy in the park who snitched on you, right?" Hidetoshi walked towards the student with a smug grin on his face.

"Whoa! He's at it AGAIN!" A female student sighed. "That's the third person today he's accused..."

"My boyfriend was so pissed he was accused, too." Another girl replied. "This guy's asking for it."

"Keeping quiet will do you no good. ...If it's not you, then give me some names. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. You have my word as a member of the Disciplinary Committee."

"Shut up, asshole..." The punk raised his fist in the air, decided to hit the Disciplinary Committee president.

"W-WAIT!" Hamuko shouted as she ran into the scene. She was too late, though; the punk punched Hidetoshi, sending him to the ground, and then walked nonchalantly. …God, how much that reminded her of what happened with Akihiko and Minato.

"Tch...! Don't think I'll just let that go!" The boy yelled at his aggressor. He then turned towards Hamuko, having just noticed her. "Hamuko-kun..." Hidetoshi got up from the ground and dusted his shirt calmly. "You look like you want to say something..."

"I-I'm sorry I didn't arrive on time!" Hamuko bowed quickly as she apologized.

"It's alright. This is just part of my job." Well, he took seriously his committee president status… "If we let people get away with breaking the rules, things will only get worse. One day, it'll spiral out of control, and there will be nothing we can do. So, we should deal with the problem now, while we still can." He sighed. "...I know what people think of me. But those who carry out justice have always clashed with others. History has proven this to be true." And now he thought he was Napoleon or something. Oh right. **Emperor**. Wow! Something finally made sense! "So, let this serve as a warning to other offenders. You're a sensible person... You understand, right?"

The last phrase proved that Hidetoshi didn't know Hamuko at all… But oh well. At least she understood him better. The Emperor Social Link reached level 4.

"I'm gonna get back to business. You should go home before it gets dark." He didn't need to repeat that.

* * *

><p>When Hamuko opened the door to the dorm, she found everyone in the lounge except Mitsuru and Yukari. Minato was on the armchair, glaring at his MP3 while covertly sitting as far as he could from Akihiko, who was right on the opposite armchair, fixing his boxing gloves. Fuuka was typing something on her laptop while Junpei tried to convince her to play some MMORPG.<p>

"Minato." Hamuko called softly as she leaned over the armchair. "Mitsuru-senpai says you have to help me with the computer in the Command Room."

He looked up lazily. If there weren't so many people around –and specially a guy with silver hair- he would have closed the painfully short distance between their faces. "Can't you do it alone?"

"Being alone isn't fun." She tugged at his hand.

"I'll go with you!" Akihiko suggested eagerly.

"I asked Minato, not you. I don't like bullies like you!" Hamuko pulled the bluenet up from his seat. "If you **ever** dare threat him again, uh… Well… You'll have a problem with me! Understood?" This made both boys and Junpei gape, albeit for obviously different reasons –Fuuka didn't hear any of the exchange because she was wearing headphones. The Fools left the lounge under Akihiko's still shocked gaze.

As they walked upstairs, Minato couldn't prevent himself from laughing. "I can't believe you said that!"

"**I** can't believe I said that!" Hamuko covered her face with her hands and sighed. "Now Senpai is gonna be mad at me and it's going to all awkward and stuff around him!"

The bluenet stopped his laughter. "Why did you do such a thing?"

"I-I'm not sure…" She stuttered. "…I was trying to show you that I prefer him being mad over you being mad. Or… Something like that." She kicked the ground softly. "D-Did I do it wrong? Are you still mad?"

The feeling of his lips clashing against hers was as good of an answer as any, if not better.

"Erm…" Hamuko broke the kiss. "We have to check on the computer of the fourth floor or Senpai will get angry…"

Minato nodded and kept on walking. "…Is that what you came up with yesterday?"

"Uh-huh. But I already knew you're very important." She kept her gaze on the ground. "Now I just have to work out what that means."

"I look forward to that." The boy with indigo hair smiled. "Just tell me if you need any hints, though."

"Nope, I won't! I told you I'd do this alone!" Hamuko nodded proudly to herself. "I'll let you know as soon as I come up with something, alright?"

Once in the Command Room, they repeated the process used a month previously: random buttons spam until a recording began playing.

"_06/14/2009 16:17:49 Beginning playback_."

"That looks like Junpei's room."

"How do you know what Jun-kun's room looks like?"

"…Those posters and the lame state of the room just shout 'Junpei'."

The room remained empty until Mitsuru and Officer Kurosawa suddenly walked in.

"_This way, Officer_." The red head motioned him to enter the room. "_By the time I realized the door was halfway open, his room was already in this state. I've left the place untouched, as you requested_."

Kurosawa took a look around. _"...Whose room is this?_"

"_Junpei Iori. A junior. I've been attempting to reach him on his cell phone, but he hasn't responded in the last 30 minutes_."

The Officer didn't seem very amused.

"_It was careless of me to let my guard down... This dorm has been attacked in the past... Security is everyone's concern, but if anything happens to him, its ultimately my responsibility..._"

"_...I hate to say it, Miss Kirijo, but this is most likely—"_

"_Huh...? Mitsuru-senpai?_" A familiar voice asked.

Junpei walked in. "_Wh-What the hell? Kurosawa-san? What's going on here?_"

"_Iori? Where were you? I've been trying to contact you_!"

"_Huh? Oh, uh... It was hot, and the AC was busted, so I went to the manga cafe and fell asleep..._"

Mitsuru sighed. "_Well... I'm just glad you're safe. But if it wasn't an attack, then it must have been theft... Why would the burglar target this room...?"_

"_Theft?_" Junpei shouted.

"_What else could it be? Someone clearly tore through the room looking for something. Vandalizing a school dorm... When I find out who did this, I'll see to it that he or she is executed_."

The Fools gave each other a meaningful glance.

"_...Well, son, sounds like you've got a death sentence." Kurosawa remarked. "How about it, Iori? Was this room, in fact, vandalized?_"

"_Uh... Heh heh... Well..._" The boy lowered the brim of his cap. "_My room always looks like this..._"

"_Wh-What_?" Mitsuru yelled. "_B-But... You can't possibly live here in this state, can you? A-And... The door was open._"

"_Oh, right... I wanted to air the place out while I was gone. No one we don't know ever comes around, so..._"

Mitsuru's face was sincerely priceless.

"_I think this case is closed. May I return to my duties, Miss Kirijo?_"

"_Oh... Yes... I'm... Sorry you had to see something so disgraceful..._" She glanced away while Kurosawa left. "_I apologize for all this... It seems my upbringing may have been more sheltered than I realized..._" She left as well.

"_C'mon, at least yell at me or something?_" Junpei shouted. "_What's the deal with you calling the police over a messy room, anyway? What did I do to deserve this?" _Realization suddenly hit him. "_Hey, wait... That fortune I drew on the way back... It was "Worst Luck"..._"

The recording ended there.

"Mitsuru-senpai… Worries about everyone?"

"Hoo boy." Hamuko laughed. "She'd better not see my room."

"Huh? Last time I was there it looked pretty neat."

"Do you remember the requests' deadline? Well, let's say there was just soooo much to order after that that I didn't know where to start…" She rubbed the back of her head as she grinned. "…So, I didn't."

"…Remind me not to go to your room ever again."

"Oh well." She shrugged. "I can always use your room if mine gets too messy."

"…Remind me not to let you go to my room until you've ordered yours."

Minato and Hamuko left the Command Room and headed decided to make a stop at Hamuko's room before going back to the lounge. Messy was indeed an understatement.

"So can I sleep in your room, then?" She asked jokingly.

"…Uh… Well, technically you can, because it wouldn't be the first time you do that, but… You know I still… Wouldn't like getting beaten by Senpai… If they found you in my room… But then again…" Minato kept mumbling. "…Y-You can wait thirteen days more, right?"

"What? W-Whoa there." Hamuko raised her hands up. "Don't tell me you've been counting the days remaining until Tanabata!"

"N-no! I did no such thing!"

"Oh, Minato… Who woulda thought?"

"N-NO, seriously! Maybe YOU have been counting them!"

"Naaaaaah… Well, maybe."

The night went on peacefully… After the Fools managed to escape the boys' awkward looks by going to Paulownia to work.

* * *

><p><strong>Sleep. Please. I need sleep. No more writing at ten to 1 am<strong>


	34. More than meets the eye

**Author note: NO AUTHOR NOTE BECAUSE I MUST RUN TO SCHOOL I'M LATE!**

* * *

><p>The Fools decided to call that Thursday a 'clubs day'. Minato decided to show up to Music Club and Hamuko went to the Cooking Club.<p>

Hamuko and Fuuka were taking a look at the ingredients that the cyan haired girl had brought. Maybe her cooking skills left a lot to wish, but she knew how to pick quality ingredients.

"Have you decided what to make today? If you haven't, then would you like to make this with me?" Fuuka pointed to a page on her recipe book. "Look on this page... 'Chocolate truffles'! Don't they look good?"

"_Truffles, huh? I wonder if Minato…_" Hamuko smiled to herself. "Alright, let's do this!"

The recipe was really easy to follow, so the brunette didn't even bother pretending to be a bad cook.

"Um, one teaspoon of liqueur..." Fuuka muttered to herself. "...That doesn't seem like enough. Dissolve 200 grams of milk chocolate in hot water... Am I supposed to put hot water in it, or it into the water?"

Hamuko couldn't help but stare at her dorm mate's weird methods. "Err… Do you need help? I could give you a hand with… That."

"Oh, no, it's okay. I should be able to do this... Thanks, though." Well, she seemed to be having fun cooking in her own bizarre way.

Both of them had fun messing with the ingredients and trying to decipher some complicate culinary terms that appeared on the book.

Hamuko finished her batch of truffles; as expected, they came out pretty well. So well that, even though her common sense told her to keep them to herself, she decided that they would serve better as a gift.

"Yes, I'm done!" The other girl exclaimed not much later. "This is much more fun when there's two people here. Thanks, Hamuko-chan!" Fuuka began laughing cheerfully, so Hamuko couldn't help but to feel closer to her. Priestess Social Link, level 2! "How does this look? It's a little odd-shaped..."

Fuuka handed a plate to Hamuko with a big ball of some black molten substance the size of an apple. It looked rather… Unappetizing.

"Um… That's some big truffle." The brunette did her best to smile, while trying to ignore the sour smell coming from the chocolate. "U-um… Why is it so black?"

"I thought that a teaspoon of liqueur wasn't enough, so I used a cup of it. Look, see?" Fuuka showed proudly a bottle labelled with the word 'vinegar'.

"Um… Fuuka-chan…" Hamuko kept forcing a smile. "That's not liquor."

"Huh? Oh, you're right... It says "rice vinegar"... I didn't notice at all..." She sighed. "...I'm hopeless, aren't I... I just want to help everyone, even outside of battle... So I thought that they might like having some homemade food or sweets when they're tired..."

"Everyone would love something like that! You just need a bit of practice!"

"You're right! I have to try harder so that I can get better at this." Fuuka seemed really determined. "Plus, now that you're helping me out, I want to succeed even more... I'll try harder next time!"

"That's the spirit!" Hamuko gave her a thumbs-up. They were gathering the remnants of the ingredients to take them back to the dorm, when… "Hey, can you hear that?"

"Yeah, it sounds like a piano. It's probably coming from the music room. I'm in the Music Club as well as this, you know?"

"Oh yeah… Wait, piano?"

Hamuko rushed out of the Home Economics Room. There were a few students surrounding the door leading to the Music Room. Their expressions were of pure awe. The girl had to push her way in to see anything –even though the beautiful music was what should have interested her the most.

Minato was pressing the piano keys delicately, staring down at them with a content smile. The great flow of his movements showed that he probably knew the song by heart –which was confirmed by the fact that he wasn't looking at any notes.

"What song do you think he's playing?" One student asked.

"Uh, I don't know… But, it's sounds so beautiful…" Another replied with a sigh.

"It's called Kimi no Kioku." Hamuko announced with a big smile etched on her face. Apparently, Minato heard her, as he turned his face towards her and flashed her a smile of his own.

"Ah! Look! He's smiling at us!" The girls squealed. Hah, Minato was getting fan girls…

Fuuka managed to reach Hamuko as the song was about to end. The brunette apologised once and again for having left her alone to tidy everything, but the teal haired girl didn't seem bothered.

Minato stood up and walked towards a brown haired boy with glasses and a really dumb smile on his face. "How was it, Hiragana-senpai?"

"It was great!" The boy congratulated him. "We had never had any professional musicians in this club before! I mean, I'm a novice and I'm the leader!" He kept praising Minato, but the bluenet didn't hear him –voices on his head were informing him that he had established the Fortune Social Link, represented by a roulette. "In case you didn't know, the Music Club meets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. You're not required to attend every day, just try to come as much as you can, alright?"

"I will do my best." Minato bowed ceremonially and then walked out of the room.

"That was amazing, Minato-san!" Fuuka exclaimed happily. "I guess we'll see each other in the Music Club!"

"Indeed." After saying goodbye to the other members, he walked away with Hamuko. "…Did you like the song?"

"I loved it. But, didn't you say you only had some notions?" She inquired, suspicious.

"I do. I just have played that song a lot of times. …It's the first time I play it for a girl though…"

"…_I was totally right_." She hummed happily.

"About what?"

"I'll… Tell you one day." As they left school behind, she linked her hand with his. They kept walking like that all the way to Port Island Station.

"Hey Hamuko, what's in that bento box?"

"Huh?" She looked down at the box where she had put the truffles. "Oh! I had completely forgotten about that… Um… I'll tell you… In your room."

* * *

><p>Sneaking into Minato's room had been kind of difficult, seeing that practically everyone was in the dorm that evening, but they still managed to do so undiscovered by telling Mitsuru that they were going to the Command Room to finish repairing the computer.<p>

"Alright, close your eyes and say 'aaaaah'."

"…Tell me what's in first."

"No, it's a surprise!"

"Huh… Aaah." Hamuko shoved a truffle into Minato's mouth. "…Oh hey, it's food!" The brunette didn't know what to make out of that comment. "Did you cook this chocolate?"

"Yup!" She smiled. "I was **this** near of bringing Fuuka's food too to scare you, but... I decided against it."

"Thanks for not trying to kill me." He gulped. "So, aren't you going to eat any?"

"Oh, right!" She took one and began munching it happily. "Ha ha, aren't these truffles awesome?"

"They are almost as sweet as you." These words prompted some giggles from the brunette. Minato only stared at Hamuko while she kept enjoying the chocolate.

"…What?" Hamuko asked once she noticed he was ogling her through half lidded eyes.

"…You've got some chocolate on your face."

"Oh!" She exclaimed as she dumbly looked down at her nose. "Where? I can't see it…"

Busy as she was trying to look at her own face, she didn't see Minato discreetly getting nearer. By the time she noticed, the boy was smirking an inch away from her lips. "Just here."

Hamuko turned her face away, completely flustered. "Man, that's **old**!" She embraced the bento box. "Sorry Minato, but you can't make me choose between chocolate and you…" She snuck out her tongue at him as she took the last truffle. "You might lose."

"Oh really?" The bluenet snatched the sweet from her hands. "The chocolate's gone."

"Give it back..."

He ate the truffle and smirked. "Get it back if you can."

"…Someone's feeling brave, eh?"

"It must be the liquor. It's clouding my mind."

"Oh, I see. …Well then, now you have defeated the mighty chocolate, I guess you need a prize…" Hamuko was about to lean in for a kiss when her mobile phone began ringing. "Shoot…" Soul Phrase kept blaring from it insistently as she tried to ignore it.

"...Hamuko."

"Shhh… It'll eventually stop." Indeed it stopped. Only to begin again, suddenly accompanied by Minato's Burn my Dread ringtone. "…Yeah? Oh, Theo…"

"Elisabeth-san? Uh-huh… I see… Yeah… Okay, thank you. Bye." He hung up.

"People gone missing in Tartarus?"

"…Yeah."

"We can't let normal people suffer the Dark Hour! We gotta go to the police office and check out who's gone missing recently… Later?"

"Well uh… Sure… But we should go back to the lounge. Mitsuru-senpai must be wondering why we're taking so long to mend the computer."

Hamuko sighed. "Man… It's like the Universe doesn't want us to be together!"

"The Universe, a creepy guy with a long nose, deity-like monsters, our Social Links…"

"Yeah uh… I got it; no one wants us together."

"I want us together. And I'm the leader here, so…"

"I want us together too." She smirked. "And sorry, I think you got that wrong… You mean, I'm the leader of S.E.E.S.…"

"No, sorry, I'm the guy."

"Hahaha no."

They walked downstairs shouting at each other about who was the boss in the place, until Mitsuru kindly reminded them that she was the actual leader of the dorm.

"So you see..." Minato spoke to Mitsuru. "That one Persona of ours uh... Appeared in the Command Room!" He decided to ignore the skeptic look she was giving him. "And it told us that apparently there's someone trapped in Tartarus... Somewhere in the second block. A quick stop in Paulownia's Police Station should help confirm whether this is true or not."

"..." The red head raised an unbelieving eyebrow. "...All right, I guess we can always just train there in case it's not true."

There were a bunch of photographs of missing people in the Police Station. Apparently, among the recently disappeared without trace were: Ayako Yoshimoto, Kenjiro Tsutsumi and Yoshimi Miyama.

To increase the odds of finding anyone, they decided to begin again from the start of the second floor, much to everyone's dismay. Fortunately, thanks to their levels of strength, they had no problems slashing their way through enemies as they ran upstairs, searching carefully every corner to see if they found anyone –they also ran like idiots every time a sound remotely similar to rattling chains startled them. Minutes passed and there was no trace of the victims; the only bright side was that they managed to gather a few Bronze Figurines from the Bronze Dices.

They were going to take a little break upon arriving to the forty sixth floor, but Fuuka's voice made them change their opinion. "_I can sense someone in this floor!_" She shouted in their minds. "_Please, find them_!"

"Seems you were right, yet again..." Mitsuru muttered, suspicion incredibly obvious in her voice. "...I believe you should make an effort to summon that Persona in front of everyone some time..."

"Uh yeah, but first things first..." The Fools ran away after shouting at everyone to split up.

After running around the floor for a while, they found a woman sitting on a corner, clutching her head while babbling incomprehensible things.

"_Is that one of the ones who went missing_?" Fuuka asked.

"Not sure, but we can't advance with her in this state!" Hamuko yelled at no one.

"_Then please, bring her to the entrance inmediately!_"

They decided to follow Fuuka's orders and run to the nearest Access Point, which was placed on the forty seventh floor, old home of the Golden Beetles. Once in the entrance, everyone was more calmed and could try to assist the woman better.

"It's a good thing you were able to find the missing person." The teal haired girl smiled relieved. "Senpai and I will make sure she's safe while you go on with the exploration."

"Yeah, leave it to us..." Aki let out a tired sigh.

...It was all too obvious that the Fools had left Akihiko down on purpose, and they felt incredibly bad about it. But it was better to feel bad, than to let a stupid fight get in the way of the exploration.

Back again in the forty seventh floor, they kept their pace of exploration, finding as well a few chests on the way –one of them contained a 'Beam Naginata'. Needless to say, Hamuko was euphoric with that new weapon. Needless to say as well that by the time everyone reached the next floor, they were already sick of hearing her imitate light saber noises.

Yet another person was present in the forty eight floor, it was a man in a similar situation to the woman; however, the way to an Access Point was a bit more crowded than usual with shadows –especially Lustful Snakes and Steel Gigas, two of the more powerful shadows around. This was a real pain, as they could do nothing but run from them all over the place, incapable to both fight and assure the safety of the man they were trying to protect.

Once they reached the entrance, they were all simply too exhausted to continue.

"B-but there might be another person there!" Hamuko complained as everyone began walking out of Tartarus.

"I know, but the Dark Hour is about to end. We can't just go in there." Minato surrounded Hamuko with an arm. "Don't worry, we'll come back as soon as we can to get them, alright?"

"Huh..."

The Tower of Demise shrank back into a simple high school as they walked away.

* * *

><p>"Hey, did you hear about all those people who were found unconscious recently?" Two girls were talking by the school gates.<p>

"I guess they were all in pairs."

"What, like they were attempting a double suicide?"

"I don't know. But if I could pass out with someone I liked, I wouldn't mind being unconscious!"

"I would mind!"

"…Double suicide?" Hamuko muttered to himself. "How crazy is that?"

"…You know that that's pretty much the basis of Fusion Spells, don't you?" Minato remarked dryly.

"B-but we know that the guns don't work! It's not the same!"

* * *

><p>"So today is Friday, huh?" Hamuko asked for the twentieth time that day after the bell rang, marking the end of the school day.<p>

"What's on your mind?" The bluenet finally asked, tired of answering the same once and again.

"…I always used to hang out with Senpai on Friday."

"Then go get him." Minato pointed lazily to the door.

"W-what? But…! He's probably mad at me! I can't just go there and ask him to hang out like that!"

"Well, then apologize for telling him off."

"But, I don't feel sorry for that! I did it to make you happy!"

"And hey, I'm very happy you did it." The bluenet sighed. "Of course, I'm still mad at him for threatening me. If it was about me, you wouldn't even have to speak to him, but… 'The powers that be' want us to be friends with everyone." Minato received a troubled look from Hamuko. "Look… You don't have to be sincere when you apologize. Just say 'sorry'. It doesn't have to be true! Just lie! I do that all the time!"

"I-I can't do that!" Hamuko seemed offended. "I can't lie like you do! _I'm not a manipulative bastard_…"

"Sorry, what? I didn't catch the last part."

"Uh… I was s-saying that I'm not a great liar like you!"

"…That was pretty self-demonstrating." Minato rubbed the back of his head. "…Come on, just go there and talk to him. I'm sure you can improvise something."

"…Alright." Hamuko nodded with determination. "…Aren't you going to give me a 'good luck' kiss?"

"Uh… You're going to try to make up with a guy who tried to beat me…" He patted her shoulder. "I think that's enough."

"…" She headed towards the clubs corridor, leaving Minato to go to practice by himself. A trail of squealing fan girls was always the best indicator that Akihiko was near. "Senpai?" Hamuko asked timidly.

"Hamuko…" A certain exasperation was obvious in his voice. "What do you want?"

"I…" Hamuko could feel the intense glares coming from the fan girls. "…Can we speak somewhere else?" Both S.E.E.S. members walked together towards Paulownia, doing their best to stay away from any curious looks. "W-well, you see…"

"Noooo! I want a milkshake!" A child shouted.

"Err… I wanted to say that I'm…"

"You already said you wanted to have juice! You can't have both!"

The mother kept arguing loudly with her son, interrupting Hamuko every time she tried to speak.

"Excuse me!" She raised her voice at the woman. "Could you please tone it down?"

"Huh? Oh my, I'm so sorry... See? This pretty young lady is angry because you're being a bad boy! I'm really very sorry..."

"Huh...? Oh, no, don't be..." Akihiko replied, surprised, in Hamuko's place.

The boy kept shouting, so the family decided to leave, embarrassed.

"...He was full of energy."

"He's just a child. And a very annoying one." Hamuko puffed up her cheeks.

"He reminds me of someone." Akihiko laughed, but he suddenly fell silent. "Hamuko... Did you really mean what you said the other day?"

She stared at the boy for a few seconds. "…Yes." She nodded seriously. "If you mess with my friends, you mess with me. And if you mess with Minato…" She casted her eyes down. "I'm not sure, but you're about to get in big trouble."

"I… Can relate to wanting to protect others…" Akihiko seemed upset. "B-but why are you and him so close? You've tried to kill each other more than once in the past, and you still try to fight every time we find a card in Tartarus! You shouldn't even be allowed near each other!"

"…I know." A small smile appeared on Hamuko's face. "But the urge to fight him every time I'm with him only makes me wish to get stronger to be able to be his… **Friend**." For some reason beyond her comprehension, that word suddenly felt a bit inappropriate to describe her opinion of Minato.

"I see… So it's like a challenge to yourself…" The silver haired boy was far from the truth, but Hamuko decided to let him think whatever he was happy with. "I'm sorry for having been so rough with him. Sometimes people tell me that I'm a weird guy, or that I act kind of strange... Normally, I wouldn't let that kind of thing get to me... But back in the day..." He casted his eyes down. "They'd say I was like that because I didn't have parents." …He was an orphan? "It's not like I could do anything about that... That's why... I wanted to show them that they were wrong. Rumours are really bad..."

"Senpai…"

"Oh, did I worry you...?" He smiled gently. "That doesn't matter now. That all happened back when I was a kid anyway... I mean, the orphanage wasn't all bad, either." He sighed. "I don't think I ever told you. I don't have any parents. My sister and I grew up in an orphanage. ...My sister's long gone too." Aki seemed to choke a bit while saying that. "...That reminds me, you don't have parents either…" For a second, his eyes seemed to lit up ever so slightly.

Hamuko glanced away. "…Could you please not remind me of that?"

"Ah, sorry... You see, I… I think I can depend on you to understand me. I wanted you to know why I'm so protective of you…"

"Yeah, I see…" She turned her face towards Akihiko's, meeting his eyes. "We're on the same boat, huh…?" Her red eyes lingered fixed on his for a few seconds. _"…Senpai is a really nice boy, after all…_" With that, the Star Social Link reached level 6.

"Anyway… I'm sorry for talking about that sort of thing. We should start heading back." After that, they went back to the dorm.

* * *

><p>"Hey there!" Hamuko exclaimed as Akihiko and she got in the dorm. Minato grumbled something similar to a 'hi' from the sofa and then rolled on his back. The others were nowhere to be found. "Did you have a tiring day at practice?"<p>

"Yeah… Kazushi is gone now… So all the weight of the competition is on my shoulders… That means I have to train even harder…" He yawned softly. Minato stared at Akihiko as the older boy walked into the kitchen. "_So, how did it go?_"

"_Awesome!_" The brunette replied cheerfully. She glanced at the kitchen entrance and then quickly landed a kiss on Minato's lips. "_Thanks for encouraging me._"

"_Hey, it's always a pleasure to turn a naïve girl into a compulsive liar._"

"_Naïve?_ _And there I thought that I was the one corrupting you all along…_"

She leaned in again towards the laying boy, but put her mouth next to his ear instead of on his lips. She whispered something to him which made the temperature of his body raise considerably. Before Minato could muster up some courage to answer, Aki came back and Hamuko rushed away from the bluenet, not so much at own will but as to avoid conflict, as Minato had explained to her.

As the afternoon progressed, the S.E.E.S. members arrived to the dorm, and once it got late, everyone decided to go to bed.

"_Hey Hamuko_." Minato whispered as they followed everyone upstairs. _"...Yes_."

A devilish smile appeared on Hamuko's face. "_See you later, then_."

* * *

><p><strong>The title makes reference to Aki. Also, what did she tell Minato? Dun dun dun *3* Keep tuned to find out.<strong>


	35. Doubts

**Author note: enjoying the fun, happy month full of ship tease and few preoccupations? The highest you are, the more painful the fall, they say. **

**Oh but no, ignore me. Also, sorry for being late rather late. Updates are gonna take this standard length from now on (because you know. School and two comics :) and furthermore this chapter was kinda difficult to write because it was pretty decisive for a series of events aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand… Yeah. **

* * *

><p>A perfect, sunny, blazing hot late June day accompanied the Fools as they walked silently to school. How inopportune. And wasn't that Junpei running towards them right now? Awesome.<p>

"Hey guys." He greeted as he caught up with them. Then, he began staring at them. "…So, why are you wearing scarves?"

The Fools exchanged a meaningful glance. "We're uh…" Minato lowered the red cloth wrapping his neck. "…Making a bet to see who can stand heat the longest time."

An awkward silence ensued. "…You hafta think of a better excuse." He laughed nervously. "Hey, at least you're getting better at sneakin' into others' rooms! I didn't even hear ya last night! …Not sure that's a good thing, though." Junpei began walking faster. "Well, I'd better leave ya guys alone to think… See ya!"

Minato glared at Hamuko as their dorm mate ran away. "I. Hate. You."

"My scarf says you don't." Hamuko shrugged. "It wasn't my fault. I only wanted to go to your room so you could help me change the bandage on my arm but..."

"See? That's what I hate of you. You can't take anything seriously. If that's why you wanted to go to my room, you should have said that instead of 'can I go to your room tonight?' damn it…"

"Not like you gave me a chance to explain myself." She frowned slightly. "And well… I don't think you complained when you were doing **this** to me… And I'm sure you weren't complaining when I did **that** to you…"

"Hamuko, you're making it sound out of place. Kissing isn't 'doing **this** and **that**'."

"It isn't?" The brunette asked surprised. "…Oh crap, that explains many things."

"…" Minato preferred not to ask. "Anyway, you'd better pray that no one begins prying about this. For your own good."

"What? You brought this on yourself! C'mon, you pretty much _assaulted_ me when I stepped into your room. …_I was almost afraid you'd_…"

"S-shut up! It was your fault for not speaking clearer!" Minato grunted, knowing fully well that Hamuko was only speaking truths. "…By the way, you promised **you**'d be gentle and try not to leave a mark."

"Uh, well… It seems that trying to teach me how to lie… Came back to **bite** you!" She stared expectantly at the other Fool. No response.

* * *

><p>A little piece of paper fell on Minato's table during Ms. Toriumi's class.<p>

"Its hot in here ="

"Don't you dare take off that scarf." Another note replied.

"Sorry cant read ur calligraphy ~(^_^);"

"BEAR THE HEAT LIKE A GROWN UP."

"Wat do bears hafta do with grown ups? °_° Ima take this out k?"

"DON'T!" Minato exclaimed as he leaned over his table. Suddenly all the eyes were on him.

"Well, despite Minato-san's opposition, page sixty eight will be part of the exam contents." Ms. Toriumi glared at the bluenet. "...Why are you two wearing scarves?"

Everyone began muttering about them. Even more so Junpei, who was grinning dumbly at them while giving them a thumbs-up.

"It's to hide an uh... An allergic reaction! It's a pretty nasty neck swelling caused by... Food poisoning..." Minato prayed to whatever deity was listening that his teacher wouldn't see through him.

"Wait, food poisoning? Was it anything from the fridge?" Yukari asked concerned. "...I had some soup and I feel just fine."

"We had some food cooked by Fuuka-san." Minato caught a flinch on Yukari's face; apparently, she had also been a tester at some point.

"Oh oh! I had some too!" Junpei yelled happily. "Can't... Breathe... Must... Get outta class... Augh..."

"I don't see a scarf or any kind of reaction on you, Junpei-san." The teacher raised an eyebrow. "People should eat more cake. I'm yet to see anyone getting a bad reaction to a delicious slice of cake." She sighed. "If the swelling gets worse, get rid of those scarves and go see Edogawa-san."

"I don't think that'll be happening any time soon, Sensei…" Hamuko muttered nonchalantly, earning a deadly glare from Minato.

* * *

><p>"So scarves, huh?" Kenji laughed at Minato.<p>

"Go eat some cake, Kenji…" Minato retorted.

"Yeah, that's what Kenji does best, isn't it?" Some guy from the class commented as he chuckled loudly.

"Kenji the cake eater!" Another student replied. "So how's it going with Ms. Kanou, man?"

"Wha—How did you-?" The brunet yelled, shocked.

"We heard about what you said in Wuck, man!" The first boy laughed again. "Everyone knows about that rumor!"

"I think that even Mr. Ekoda found out and they told Ms Kanou too!"

"Didn't she want to transfer to Kyushu or something?"

"W-WHAT?" Kenji was completely terrified. "N-No! That can't be…!" The boy ran away, closely followed by Minato.

"Are you okay?" The bluenet asked to his friend once he got tired of running around and settled at the school gardens.

"Of course I'm not!" He shouted. "D-Dude! I-I don't know what to do...! The whole school knows about me and Emiri! It's a huge scandal..." There was a slight chance the brunet was taking all out of context… "Emiri is being transferred to a school in Kyushu... Wh-What should I do, dude?"

For once, just for once, Minato tried to inspire some common sense in his friend. "Stay here. Get another woman. Preferably more related to your age group."

"W-WHAT?" Kenji stomped the ground. "There's no way I'm getting another woman! Emiri is special to me!"

"Then, why is she transferring?"

He looked down. "She's… Probably only doing this to protect me. She wants to protect me, alright?" Seeing that his friend was on the verge of tears, Minato patted his shoulder softly. "I can't just sit here and do nothing... I gotta think of a plan... I need your help, dude..."

"I'll help you come up with something." He wouldn't. He knew that like a busy father doing empty promises to his son, he'd forget to stick to his word. "Everything will be alright." He really wanted so. The Magician Social Link reached level 8, and he knew it didn't mean anything. In a way, it was rather soul crushing.

"...Thanks, dude. See you on Monday..." And with that, Kenji left. Minato sighed under his scarf and decided to hang around Paulownia for a while before going back to the dorm.

* * *

><p>"Hey there!" Hamuko yelled as Minato strolled into the dorm. She then went back to chattering with Fuuka about the greatness of scarves –and how much they sucked when cooking- while having what looked remotely similar to sweet potatoes. Well, seeing how the teal haired girl refused to wear a summer uniform, it wasn't weird that she accepted their bizarre outfits.<p>

Minato slumped down on the armchair in front of the TV and watched lazily an interview with an albino boy, only two or three years younger than himself, who explained the hardships that came with having parents who kept moving throughout the country. The bluenet didn't know if it was the dumb bowl cut on the boy's hair, or the fact that his behavior reminded him of his own –before arriving to Iwatodai, of course- but that white haired ninth grader caused some sympathy on him.

"Well, time to go to Escapade." Minato announced once the news report came to an end. "…Does anyone want to come?"

"Oh, you don't mind?" Hamuko raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think I'm going to speak to the monk all night." He spoke casually, like he didn't mean Hamuko, just so Fuuka –who seemed to be the only one in the dorm who didn't have any kind of suspicions on them- didn't know what was going on.

"I think I'll stay here." Fuuka answered timidly. "Have fun."

"Oh wait, before that!" The bluenet spoke all of a sudden. "Would you happen to know where to find a Christmas Star?" …After discovering that a Christmas Star was a plant, the Fools took the monorail.

Minato talked about Kenji all the way to Paulownia. To the point he was beginning to worry Hamuko.

"Seriously, I miss when Kenji asked trivial questions like, what I liked of you…"

"You guys speak about that kind of things?" The slightest hint of curiosity shone in her red eyes.

"Uh, yeah… Hadn't I told you? …I guess we spoke about other Social Links more often before…"

There was a short silence. "What do you like of me?"

"_What?_"

"There must be something you find attractive in me." Hamuko stared at him intently, arching her eyebrows to show concern. "I know you think I'm very annoying as a whole, so there must be a reason you let me be around you. Don't bother saying that it's my personality; I'll know it's a lie."

"Err…" Minato was mentally cursing his luck for bringing up such a difficult conversation topic. "O-Of course, you have a lot of good points."

"Like?"

"Um…" Trying to think of something, the bluenet began staring at her rather indiscreetly. Her body -which only the crazy teenager metabolism could keep fit, considering her eating habits- was definitely a big point, but he shouldn't tell her that. Going up from there, he found a red scarf similar to the one he was wearing, hiding the only proof that the previous night had been lots of fun, and above it, her face. She was… A rodent. Hamuko reminded him invariably of a famous hamster or a squirrel –and the red eyes didn't help to that association. Whoever called her **Ham**uko after the adoption had a horrible sense of humor.

"Minato." She called softly, some exasperation obvious in her voice.

"…I like your hair clips?"

"…Really?"

Minato was about to go look for shelter in another wagon.

"I like them too!" Hamuko exclaimed cheerfully. She then proceeded to explain how long she spent every day making sure her hairstyle looked messy but was actually very cared for. Well, that had been SOME luck. "Well, so what do you think I like of you?"

Minato shot an eyebrow up. "Knowing you?" He snorted. "About everything there's to be _liked_."

"You said that 'like' like..." Much to his dismay, Hamuko understood the pun in the last word and slapped him. So much for trying to avoid one of those with the previous question…

* * *

><p>"Alright, so you sure you don't mind being alone?"<p>

"I'll be just fine!" Hamuko folded her arms and glanced away.

Minato walked up to the V.I.P. zone. "Good evening, old man!" He yelled to the old drunkard. "How is it going?"

"Huh, what are ya doin' here again, kid?" The monk asked as he bit slightly his cigar.

"Oh, just visiting." He plopped down next to the monk, without waiting for the invitation and filled a glass of vodka for himself.

"Damn kid, can't you show some respect?" Despite his words, he seemed rather amused.

"It'd be certainly easier if I even knew the name of the person I'm talking to."

"Call me Mutatsu!" He said proudly. "That's my Buddhist name! And don't forget to put 'san' at the end."

"Nice to meet you, Mutatsu-san. I'm Minato."

"Bleh, who asked ya?" Mutatsu laughed happily as he took a glop from one of the many liquor glasses scattered on the table in front of them. "So kid, what's with wearin' a scarf in June?"

"What's with wearing monk clothes in a club?" He retorted, tired of giving explanations for that day.

Mutatsu laughed out again. "Damn kid… You're a smartass, ya know…?" Despite the monk had nothing but insults for Minato, the bluenet detected some underlying kindness –underlying like, twenty miles underground. Anyway, the Social Link reached level 2 in a record time, and that was enough. "C'mon, get outta here and never come back…"

"You know I'll come again." Minato walked downstairs happily while the old man shouted something unintelligible at him.

Back at ground level, he didn't need to look for Hamuko too hard. The girl was dancing happily to a Lotus Juice song which was being played by a group of musicians coming all the way from Sumaru City. If Minato remembered correctly, the song was called 'Unbreakable Tie' or something like that.

"Dancing to **that** song?" The bluenet whispered on Hamuko's ear as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "How drunk are you?"

"Not enough to forget that I'm mad at you." She tried to free herself from his grasp quite fruitlessly. "Not funny."

"You do unfunny jokes about me all the time."

"..." Hamuko sighed, simply giving up on trying to escape his hug. "This old Lotus Juice music is kinda creepy but… They make it sound cool. I wonder why these guys aren't more famous."

"It's probably because they're lacking a decent guitarist."

"Yeah, maybe." Her eyes lingered on the ground, or rather, on his arm.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Uh… Y-Yeah, it's just that it's hot in here with the scarf on, you hugging me and all that. …I'm gonna bring something to drink, okay?" Hamuko finally pushed him away and rushed towards the bar. "_Stupid stupid stupid! I can't back down like that every time __**he**__ shows some initiative… However, I have my reasons to be scared of him… Ugh, c'mon what am I thinking? This is Minato we're talking about. He's as dangerous as a puppy… A puppy with sharp teeth, but a puppy nonetheless. Of course, puppies grow up and turn into dogs. Unless they belong to a small breed. But Minato is taller than me, so… Wait, what was I thinking about? Uh… I'm getting a headache…_"

"Hi." Minato waved at her as she came back.

"Hey pu—Minato!" She laughed as he shot an eyebrow up. "So, did you bring me anything to drink?"

"You were the one who was going to bring some drinks."

"Oh, that's right… Uh, I forgot, sorry" The brunette rubbed the back of her head. "So… I didn't tell you what I liked of you before you did one of those jokes of yours, did I?"

"Not really…" Minato muttered as he subconsciously took a hand to his right cheek.

"Well um… I like you because you're not like the others."

"…That's kind of cliché, isn't it?" He smiled awkwardly.

"It's not! I really think you're different! Look uh… You're not like Senpai. He's like a big teddy bear with boxing gloves." Hamuko decided that metaphors weren't her thing. "And then you have Junpei. …You know how he is. Well. You aren't like them. So I like you more than them. It's difficult to explain. Are you following what I say?"

Minato nodded slowly. "…Are you sure you aren't drunk?"

"No. Not enough." And with that she left again.

The bluenet would forever remember that night for Hamuko's incessant rant about puppies and other diverse nonsense he had to endure while carrying her back to the dorm.

"Yanno what? I think men're like teddy bears…" Hamuko muttered. "Yar like… Different… 'Cause yar a deadly-katana-wielding-emo teddy bear! That'sh shoooo hot… But kinda scary too. Yar not gonna kill me, riiiight?"

"No, I'm not going to kill you." He answered with utmost patience as she embraced him stronger.

"Yaaaaay. Oh! Oh! No more surprise tacklesh in your room, 'kay? That wash pretty freaky. There'sh only liiiike… Sheven… Twelve… Nine weeks until Tanabata! Ya can tackle me all ya want then…" She cooed with a slur.

"Good to know?"

Her stream of words came to an end as she finally collapsed in Minato's arms. Once in the dorm, Minato decided to make use of his best shadow hunter skills and walk stealthily all the way to the first floor.

"..." He sighed as he took the pillow of his bed and placed it on the ground. "Good night, Hamuko."

* * *

><p>There's no better alarm clock than a frightened scream at 6 am.<p>

"W-WHY AM I IN YOUR BED?"

"Because there was a higher chance we would be discovered if I took you all the way to the second floor." Minato answered rather calmly. "It'll serve for nothing if you wake up the whole dorm now, though."

Hamuko took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Y-you haven't taken advantage of this, right?"

"Yes, I bought you a brain while you were sleeping." The bluenet yawned. "Hamuko, what the hell's wrong with you lately? It's me, Minato. You know, that one guy you've been harassing for three months? The one guy who hunts shadows with you?"

"Yyyyeah, right… Sorry, I'm just feeling a bit tense lately. I guess it's been a while since we last did some 'sparring'…"

"You feel it too, huh?" He chuckled, earning a weird look from the girl. "I don't really feel like hitting you, though."

"…I think we're talking about different things." Hamuko rolled away from the edge of the bed, but soon she rolled back to her initial position. "You would never hurt me, right?"

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"Just answer…"

"... No, I'd never hurt you at own will. And you should do the same, Ms. Can't-take-a-joke."

"I-I just can't stand that kind of comments when the come from _**you**_, okay?" She pouted slightly as she sat up. "Aren't you a bit uncomfortable down there…?"

"**A bit**."

"It's your bed, man... Feel free to kick me out of it, or…"

Well, she didn't really expect him to push her out of his bed and go back to sleep. …Some things just never change.

* * *

><p>"Hey Jun-kun! You totally hafta check out this manga, man!" Hamuko flipped the pages of a book getting nothing but the pictures. "Oh! Oh! No, check out this one! Jungian Archetype: Revelations! I didn't know there was a manga of that game!"<p>

"H-Hamu-chan, slow down! I wanna read them too!"

"Ahaha, sorry… I had never visited Book-ON before!" She put the book aside. "…It's been a while since I last came to a manga café…"

"It's been a while since ya last hanged out with your old friend Junpei!"

"I've been busy."

"Busy having fun?" The boy asked with a mocking smile as he ran a finger between his cheekbone and his eye, referring to the dark circles under Hamuko's eyes.

"Busy going insane." A small sigh escaped her lips. "Hey, we're still best friends, right?"

"'Course!" Junpei raised his hand to do a high-five, but for once Hamuko didn't answer it. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Ah… No, it's nothing. Some of Minato's paranoia rubbed off me..."

"I'd be surprised if paranoia was the only thing!" A deadly glare made Junpei raise his hands defensively. "Geez, what a mood. You sure you haven't been hangin' out with Yuka-tan instead?"

When Junpei and Hamuko went back to the dorm they found Minato playing Innocent Sin Online –apparently, he reached level 6 of the Hermit Social Link by talking about some jerk teacher called Mr. E. And hey, a history teacher, no less!

The day went on peacefully…

* * *

><p><strong>...And that weird bunch of thoughts attached together is why Hamuko isn't specially fond of thinking things through. <strong>

**Hamuko being scared of not passive! Minato is nothing new, she's been scared of him attacking her or something all fic long. Reread the fic some time to check it out :u All that paranoia? I call for 'remember it, it's gonna be important'.**


	36. A week?

**Author note: hey hey folks! Lots of Social Link stuff below, but there's some other things to mend it. And this is where I go all "Remember that those of you who are subscribed to my deviantArt account, SandraMJ, get to see parts of chapters before they come out!"**

* * *

><p>Hamuko and Yukari were heading to school together that morning.<p>

"Ya know, if the moon thing is true, there'll be another mission in about a week..."

"Oh really? Well, I hope it's less than a week away…"

"Why?" Yukari shot an eyebrow up. "Ooh, don't tell me you've got plans for Tanabata!"

"Maybe!" Hamuko smiled. "What about you? Does the most popular girl in school have a star-crossed lover for herself?"

"What? Nah, I'm too busy for boyfriends…" She let out a sigh. "Hey, I wonder what the shadow will be like this time? I guess we'll have to keep fighting until we defeat all eight that are left. But... What are we gonna do after that?"

"What are we gonna do after that…?" The red eyed girl echoed, having just realized that she had never questioned any of the things S.E.E.S. had told her. "Yeah, I wonder what's going to happen…"

"You know, I think Mitsuru-senpai is hiding something from us..."

Hamuko only nodded silently. Well, she'd feel a LOT better if the Fools weren't the only ones keeping information in S.E.E.S….

* * *

><p>There was nothing like Monday morning class with Mr. Takenozuka. Obviously Hamuko didn't care about the Coriolis Effect, but she couldn't prevent herself from gawking at the teacher every so often; then, she'd come back to her senses and take a look around the class, only to find Minato pretending to be asleep, just so she wouldn't know that he'd been staring at her all class long. Probably this was just the beginning of a longer chain with many girls staring at the startlingly handsome Physics teacher while some jealous boys cursed their lucks… Too bad that entire oh-so-dreamy facade went to hell after he reminded everyone that exams would take place in only two weeks.<p>

* * *

><p>"Let's see! Today is… Monday!" Hamuko spoke to herself, rather than to Minato. "So that means I have to choose between Senpai-day, practice ties, Fuuka's cooker or Bebe…"<p>

"Whatever rhymes with Bebe?"

"Bebe… Bebe…?" She sighed under her scarf. "Man, I can't think. It's too hot with this on…"

"I'm not wearing my scarf any longer; maybe you should do the same." Minato's suggestion prompted a glare from the brunette. "Oh, wait …" A knowing smirk crept onto his lips.

"You jerk! See if you're laughing so much when I get my revenge!" Hamuko poked Minato's chest in an accusatory way. "When I'm done with you, you won't be able to walk for two weeks!" She paused and gave him an awkward look as she realized her little Freudian slip. "Talk!" She yelled. "I meant **talk**! You won't be able to _**talk**_ for two weeks!"

"…" The boy couldn't bring himself to form any coherent word.

Some yelling followed by a bunch of people walking out of the Student Council Room was the cue for Hamuko to leave that incredibly awkward situation. Inside the Student Council Room all she found was Hidetoshi, looking rather aggravated. Once he noticed her, he ran a hand through his hair and chuckled.

"...Hamuko-kun, were you there the whole time?"

"…Sure."

"What do you think about what happened?"

Thinking a bit about the situation, Hamuko concluded that the one guy yelling had probably been Hidetoshi. Why was he yelling? "Um… They just don't understand your… Goal?"

"Exactly..." Hidetoshi nodded to himself. "Don't hold it against them, though... They're like children, Hamuko-kun: they just don't understand." This had to be the first time someone hadn't use the words "child" and "Hamuko" in the same phrase without using the first to describe the later. "Sooner or later, they'll see the light. Then, they'll respect me. I'm not isolating myself; I'm just being aloof. Sooner or later, someone always gets hurt in any relationship." …Old Minato speech? "...I guess I'm preaching to the choir, though. I apologize."

"_Seems like he is trying to be friendly or reasonable or something_." The Emperor Social Link reached level 5.

"...There's no reason to have a meeting if no one's here. Let's go."

Well, that was fast. So fast in fact, that when Hamuko walked out of the room she found Minato, still standing in the way like a rock, unnaturally flushed. She considered briefly taking him to the nurse office, but decided against it –what would she have said about that? Instead, she sent Rio a text message, asking her to go to the tennis practice field -they had been absent from practice long enough! And to apologize for that… She'd give her a little surprise.

"Okay, stop practicing!" Someone interrupted the two juniors while they played tennis by themselves. It was Ms. Kanou, accompanied by a bunch of girls –that is, all the old team members. "I heard you all got into a fight? I can't have this kind of thing going on in my club, you know?" She let out an annoyed sigh. "Who started it? Just hurry up and apologize already."

Rio had gone speechless. She just began staring at her feet, incapable to meet anyone's eyes, and pretty much everyone did the same. This wasn't going how Hamuko expected…

"I don't think anyone in particular started it..." A girl with short hair spoke suddenly, attracting everyone's attentions. "But I do think our attitudes did make things worse."

"..." Rio tilted her head up, looking at the girl with wide eyes.

"I feel like I said too much to you, after we forced you to be our club leader and all..." Another girl with glasses murmured.

"...U-Um..." The captain didn't seem to know what to say. "I also..."

"Well, you guys sort this stuff out." Ms. Kanou ordered. "I'm too busy with the transfer papers to deal with all these stupid fights…" And with that she left.

The club members just began staring at each other awkwardly, incapable to say a word. If there was any moment for Hamuko to use a word of wisdom, it was now.

"Aw, c'mon Rio, just say it!" A word of wisdom or something Minato had taught her, it was the same…

"...Yeah." The black haired girl chuckled. "Um... I'm sorry, everyone. Things were said that shouldn't have been. But more importantly than what happened that day, I feel like I've been forcing my opinions on you all this time..." She spoke softly, but she seemed to be sincere.

"Rio..." The girl with glasses muttered.

"We're supposed to be a team… Sorry."

There was some murmuring among the girl. "...Have you, like, changed?"

"...You think so?" Rio looked in the direction that Ms. Kanou left...

"Well, it's been liiiiiike… Two months." Hamuko shrugged. "A lot has changed in that time…"

"Yeah… And hey, I'm sorry that I said things like relationships were stupid. I didn't understand what I was talking about." A nostalgic sigh escaped her lips. "...It's tough being in love, right Hamuko?"

"Why are you saying my na-?"

"Wait, **WHAT**?" The short haired girl's scream almost sent the brunette to the ground.

"You're in love?"

"Are you serious?"

"Is it that hard to believe...?" Rio furrowed her eyebrows.

"Wait, who's this about? Is he at this school?"

"Huh...?" The captain's face was changing colours quickly.

"Hamuko, you know who it is, right? Tell us!"

"Buh… Secret!"

"Come on, tell us!" Everyone began pestering Hamuko while she did her best to keep them away with her racket.

"I-I'll say it!" Rio's voice got everyone's attention, which only made her stutter even more as her face began resembling a tomato. "Um... It's... K-Kenji..."

"_**KENJI**_?"

All the eyes were on Yuko now.

"Y-Yuko? When did you get here...?"

Before Yuko could explain herself, a girl with buns jumped into the conversation. "I mean, KENJI? Seriously, no way! How in the world did you end up liking Kenji?"

Girlish screams of disbelief ensued.

"Still, getting him to love you would be pretty simple."

"I bet all Rio would have to do is push him around a little!" Yuko explained. "It works with for me with-"

"I-It's okay! I'm not pushing anyone! Or saying anything!" Rio shouted out of her lungs. "...I don't want to do anything to hurt the relationship I have with him right now! We're childhood friends... As long as we stay that way, we'll never have to break up." She casted her eyes down. "...I don't have a chance with him anyway. I'd hate to confess it to him and have to stop being his friend..."

Hamuko's eyes widened. That sounded familiar. Like, _**really**_ familiar. "Rio, I… I know the feeling but…"

"Well... If that's how you feel, then it's none of my business to say otherwise..." The Track Team manager shrugged. "But, seriously, you should take my advice because…"

"Hey, as long as we're all here... Why don't we practice?" Rio interrupted her friend again.

"Hey Rio. If you need any help with Kenji-kun… I'll try to help you more than last time, okay?" Hamuko's grin was a bit forced, but she was totally sincere in wanting to help her friend.

"...I'll think about it." She laughed. "C'mon, let's start off with some running!"

"_Well, everyone's back… Rio seems much happier… And now I won't feel bad about not coming to practice, knowing that she has people around…_" Hamuko smiled to herself as the not-even-creepy-anymore voices informed her that the Chariot Social Link had reached level 7. "_All's well when it ends well!_"

"Let's go. Keep the two lines intact!"

* * *

><p>It had been a while since the Fools last met after practice.<p>

"I'm glad that things went so well." Minato stated once Hamuko finished telling him the latest events of her life.

"…And now we just gotta get Kenji and Rio together!"

The bluenet put a finger over her lips. "Rewind. First off, 'we'? No. You mean 'You'. Second off, we already went over the whole 'helping friends become more than friends'. It didn't turn out well. And furthermore Kenji-"

"But that's because I didn't have a plan back then! And anyway, you just have to be insistent! It worked well with you, didn't it?" She winked at him, catching a hint of a blush in the process. "C'mon. I'll… I'll owe you a favour if you help me."

Minato raised his eyebrows. "What kind of favour?"

"Oh, anything." Hamuko breathed. "You know, homework, dorm chores... Anything."

"So if I help you…"

"I'll even go all the way with you… To the karaoke, to make my threat real."

"Oh, but, I like my voice." Minato snorted. "Alright. If I promise I'll help you you'll let me think of a favour?"

"Y-yes…?" She hadn't seen that coming. She expected a bunch of mangled words and stutters… "…_Sharp teeth, indeed._"

Not much else happened for the rest of the day. Minato only dropped occasional reminders about how he was still thinking for something to ask…

* * *

><p>"…And that's the situation." Hamuko sighed as she finished the explanation. Junpei had caught her sneaking around school the next day, trying to avoid Minato, and pestered her to tell him why. "You're a guy, so you must know Minato better than I do… What do you think he's going to ask for?"<p>

"Uh… I dunno." Junpei shrugged. "A lap dance?"

That answer made her flinch. "You think he'd ask me to do that?"

"I would!"

"…I think I'm gonna ask Kenji."

"Hey, it's Junpei!" A familiar voice yelled. "You going home?"

"Speaking of the devil…!" The brunette exclaimed cheerfully.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't notice you, Hamuko-chan." Kenji got out his phone as he apologized.

"Hey, why are you getting your phone?" Junpei seemed slightly aggravated.

"Hamuko-chan, mind if we take a picture together?"

"Sure! But I have to ask you something after you take it!" She ran towards Kenji and smiled at his phone.

"Thanks! My sister keeps bugging me for pictures from school, but all I have are guys. What'll she say if I don't show her at least one picture of me with a girl?"

Hamuko took his mobile phone to take a look at the photos. "Well, if she likes yaoi, I think she'll say that you have a pretty bromance with Minato…" Indeed, most of the photos were of the bluenet.

While Kenji was busy shouting that there was no such thing happening, Junpei muttered to himself. "…A picture… Wait..." Junpei looked at Kenji. "Could it be you? Is it YOU!

"So you think he'd ask me to buy him something?"

"Yup!" Kenji smiled. "Wait, what were you saying, Junpei?"

"I-I'm gonna tell you this as a friend, got it?" The boy with a baseball cap took a deep breath. "Peeping on girls is a crime!"

"Who's peeping? I just asked Hamuko-chan if it was okay!"

"Not just now!" Junpei yelled. "PE! Pictures! The ones going around!"

"Huh? What're you talking about? I don't know anything."

"...Oh, right. You're only into older women."

"…Yeah, well…" Apparently, Kenji was hurt about something. "That's right! At least I'm proud of who I am!" He nodded to himself. "So, what's this about? Are there pictures of her going around? Then, wouldn't the photography club be your first bunch of suspects?"

"The photography club...! I totally forgot about them... Alright, we'll go check it out. Thanks, Kenji."

"Make sure you smack 'em for me, too."

"Why...?"

Hamuko and Junpei decided to head together to the Photography Club's room together. The girl couldn't prevent herself from stopping in the way to see if Minato was around the music club… No trace of him.

"Hiragana-senpai?" Hamuko asked surprised as she entered the room. "Weren't you in the Music Club?"

"He's in both." Minato stated simply, startling the brunette badly. "Senpai, we need you back at the Music Room. Fuuka-san isn't feeling well so people told me to call you."

"Yes! I'll go as soon as I've assisted them!" Keisuke replied apologetically. "The other club members are out right now... What did you need to ask about?"

"Th-There's supposedly this photo going around." Junpei stuttered. "You know anything about it?

"Going around...?" The older boy frowned slightly as he adopted a thoughtful stance. "What photo is it?"

"It's um…" Hamuko casted her eyes down. "Apparently, it's a picture of me."

"What?" Minato yelled in surprise. "When did that happen?"

"Um… About a month ago? I'm not sure…"

Keisuke quickly explained that he believed none of the club members could do such a thing, and then ran off to see what was wrong. The Fools exchanged meaningful glances before Junpei and Hamuko walked away.

As Minato went back to his club, he heard a bunch of comments about how 'Keisuke was playing doctor' again. "So, how's Fuuka-san?"

"Oh, she'll be fine!" Keisuke replied happily. "What she's suffering from is known as a chronic tension-type headache, most likely a result of stress." She turned to Fuuka. "You must be spending too much time in front of the computer. You should get outside and exercise more. ...That advice must sound funny coming from the leader of the Music Club..."

"Oh, I thought I might have come down with the flu or something..." Fuuka sighed relieved.

"Well, if you're worried about that, I should perform a more detailed examination. Please remove your shirt, open your mouth, and stick out your tongue..."

"U-Uh, that's okay. I'm fine!" Fuuka exclaimed nervously. "Anyways, my dorm is close by and my dorm mate Minato-kun is here."

"You guys are dorm mates? Wow, I can see how Fuuka lives in the dorm. I mean, she's a girl so she knows how to cook and clean... But what about you, Minato-kun? Isn't it hard living on your own?" That had to be the most bashfully stereotypical assumption Minato had heard in a while. And he lived with Hamuko and Junpei. Anyway, apparently the Music Club president was interested in knowing more about him, and that was enough to make the Fortune Social Link reach level 2. "...Oh, sorry, Fuuka-san! I completely forgot about you... Now, regarding your headache, I don't think you should be walking home. Why don't I call you a taxi? On second thought, maybe a limousine would be better... The ride would be much, much smoother..." …Hamuko would really like that guy.

* * *

><p>"Hamuko." Minato said simply as he closed the main door of the dorm. "I've already thought of something."<p>

"Oh, you have?" Hamuko did her best to keep cool. "I can't wait to hear—OH, would you look at that? It's time to go to work!" She ran away before Minato had a chance to say anything.

* * *

><p>If it wasn't because the people in Chagall let Hamuko have enough coffee to keep awake for a week, she probably would have ditched the job long ago, family feeling or not, seeing how late she stopped working every night. As usual, she silently walked upstairs and got in her room, sighing against the door as she kicked away a few text books and clothes scattered all over the ground before getting ready to slip into her pyjamas and call it a night.<p>

The rattling of a door being opened behind her changed her plans completely.

"Sorry, Hamu-" Minato stopped on the threshold as his words halted at the same time. He was having some trouble deciding how he felt about having got in the room while she was still changing clothes –or maybe she was done and she only slept with her undergarments and a shirt on. That he couldn't know, but judging how calmed the girl seemed, there was a high chance it was the later. Then again, it was the same girl who liked wandering around an ominous tower in a chainmail bikini every so often...

She finished pulling down the hem of her –in Minato's opinion, awfully long- pyjama shirt and stared at him with nothing more than a mildly annoyed expression. "Aren't you the one who always complains about breaking into others' rooms…? Why are you…?" Minato didn't seem capable to answer, so she had to work it out by herself. "Oh right, the favour thingy…"

"H-Hamuko, I…"

"I'm NOT going to give you a lap dance!" Hamuko yelled suddenly.

"What?"

"What?"

Minato smacked his right hand against his forehead. "I don't want a lap dance."

"Good, because I'm not going to do anything like that!"

"I wasn't going to ask you for anything of the kind!" A sigh escaped his lips as he sat down on her bed. He motioned Hamuko to go sit next to him, which she did after she managed to avoid nearly falling to the ground –she had stepped on a videogame box. "That sounds rather like something Junpei would ask for, don't you think?"

"Yeeeah…" She glanced away awkwardly, seeing that in fact Junpei wasn't a role model. "Wait, then why are you in my room? Why don't you tell me by phone?"

"There are certain things one must say seeing the other's face."

"Of course. And seeing my underwear was just an extra, wasn't it?"

Minato decided to ignore the inquisitive look that Hamuko was giving him. "Anyway, back on topic… What I wanted you to do is to listen closely…" He couldn't avoid cocking up and eyebrow as he heard the girl sigh in relief. "You're always telling me the most stupid things, but I have to force you to tell me the most important things. You think you can do everything by yourself, but what if the stalker's someone dangerous? I'm not saying Junpei isn't a reliable guy, but…" The bluenet reached out to caress Hamuko's cheek. "You are the person I care the most for. I want you to trust me. I want you to know I'm there when you need me. You're not alone when you're with me, remember…?" He could feel the increasing warmth of her face. "I love you. I really do."

"M-Minato…" She held his hand against her face as if she didn't want to let him go, doing her best to contain a sob. They completely ignored the voices informing them that their Social Link had reached level 5, focused only on their increasingly hungry kiss and each other's warmth.

It was when the Dark Hour hit that the Universe reminded them how much it hated them.

"Hi." Pharos spoke happily as the Fools sat up quickly. Minato adjusted his collar to look barely presentable while Hamuko rolled down her shirt in a crude attempt to cover herself. The boy didn't seem as much bothered as amused by the intense glares that they were giving him. "...Can you guess what I'm going to tell you?"

"Yeah, _**kinda**_." Hamuko huffed.

Pharos began chuckling. "You're used to it by now, huh? ...The next full moon will be in one week. Are you prepared...?" He smiled kindly. "Be careful, okay? I'll come again." And with that he was gone.

"…" Minato sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I guess that means we should be going back to Tartarus soon."

"Uh-huh…" She grimaced as he got up from her bed, murmuring something. "Sleep well…"

"I don't think I'll be able to…" He silently closed the entrance after he left.

"…" Hamuko took a deep breath as she slumped on her bed again, cursing Pharos under her breath. She stared at the ceiling until realization hit her. "…Wait, one week?"

* * *

><p><strong>Don't you just hate how random those level ups seem? Well, they're not :U You just don't know the system!<strong>


	37. It'll be a Star Festival bout

**Author note: Hey folks! I wanted to do some wallpaper involving Hamuko and Minato, but I don't have any ideas :/ SO! If you guys want to see some scene drawn or something (not in the dumb style of those little comics I make, but as in, with some actual effort) just tell me. No I won't draw smut 8U**

* * *

><p>Awkward silence was the only thing that happened between the Fools during that morning and part of the afternoon. Hamuko had decided to throw a silent fit about the complete ruin her one month long plans had become, and Minato knew better than to speak to her for as long as it lasted. He decided to try and break the ice once she went from twitching with rage to just wanting to punch something.<p>

"So uh… Mitsuru-senpai told me that the Chairman has discovered a relation between the proximity of the full moon and the number of Lost…"

"Really?" Hamuko spoke with indifference. "Poor guys."

"And… She also told me that we'd be subject to observation in Tartarus next time we go…"

"Sucks for us..."

"Hamuko…" Minato glanced around before wrapping his arms around her -they were still in school, after all. It was now time to go on full soothing mode. "I'm also sad about the fact that the full moon mission will take place on Tanabata, but don't let it get to you…"

"But… BUT… IT'S SO UNFAIR!" The brunette decided to voice her thoughts and then proceeded to bury her face on his shirt. "I wanted us to spend Tanabata together! It's not asking for so much, geez!"

"Don't worry about that…" He whispered in a husky voice as he stroked her hair softly. "Forget Tanabata, we can sleep together any night you want, my love…"

"What?" Hamuko pulled away, looking rather shocked. "You think that's all I wanted? To sleep with you?"

Minato considered not answering that. "…Did you want anything else?"

"I wanted to spend Tanabata with you! That ain't only sleeping together!" She yelled, furious -she stopped doing so after realizing that their conversation could be heard by people walking around the contiguous corridors. "If _that_ was all I wanted to do with you I'd have asked you to stay yesterday!" A sigh escaped her lips. "I… I wanted to do things like writing wishes on tanzaku and then burn them together during the Festival and later have a walk around the place... You know, just do stuff and have fun together. And when it got late we coulda gone stargazing or something and afterwards… That…" A soft shade of pink tinted her cheeks and she glanced away, embarrassed. "A-anyway, Tanabata isn't any night because it's a special night, and since it's special I wanted to spend it with you because you're special to me, and that makes you special so being with you would have made Tanabata more special than it already is!" She looked at him with glazy eyes. "…That last part didn't make any sense, did it?"

"Not really, but..." A smile appeared on the bluenet's face. "I understand what you're saying."

"R-really?" Hamuko gaped. "That's awesome! I don't get it myself!"

"I'm sure that one day you will... Until then…" He put a hand over his heart. "I _**swear **_that I'll find a way to do something special with you on Tanabata. And I stick to my word."

The Fools would have loved to speak about ruined plans and unlikely promises the entire afternoon, but Minato had promised Kenji that he'd go have some ramen with him and Hamuko was going to arrive late to the Cooking Club.

* * *

><p>Kenji was too silent all the way to Iwatodai. So silent that he couldn't avoid telling everything as soon as they arrived to the station.<p>

"H-Hey, man... I was gonna tell you this when we got to the ramen shop, but now's as good a time as any..." He took a deep breath. "I've decided to go to Kyushu with Emiri, so this'll be my last bowl of ramen, dude."

Minato's eyes widened and he was left speechless. What? Kenji was leaving? …And it had been his fault for leaving him to do the thinking alone? "K-Kenji, you can't-!"

Before he got to finish that phrase, Kenji spoke again. "What the-? Is that Emiri...?"

Minato looked in the direction Kenji was pointing. Near the train platform, Ms. Kanou and a man were speaking –at a really close distance.

"Who's that she's with?"

They weren't too far from the couple, so they could easily hear pieces of their conversation.

"...I didn't think he'd get so..." Ms. Kanou spoke in a low voice. "He's just a kid... He must have misunderstood my... I thought he'd be relieved that I was being transferred... He said he wanted to... The other students are..."

"...It won't be much longer..." The man's voice was rather deep. "I'll pick you up... On our wedding night..."

"I can't wait either..."

Some sobs attracted Minato's attention.

"...I didn't even know she was leaving today..." Kenji seemed about to cry. "I thought we'd be together forever..."

"Kenji…" Minato muttered, furrowing his brows in concern. "It's okay man, don't be sad because she played with you. It's happened to everyone…"

"I don't care about the others!" Kenji yelled. "Why are you trying to make me feel better? I'm an idiot. You should be laughing at me!" Tears began running down his cheeks. "Ugh! I'm such an idiot! A stupid, stupid idiot. I should've known this would happen...!"

"I've been there, man. Really, feelings are a bitch…" Fortunately, it got better for him.

"B-but still…" The brunet cried even more. "Why, Emiri? WHY?"

Under Minato's intent gaze, Kenji dried his tears with the back of his hand and began laughing and sniffing to try and hold back more sobs. "Oh, man... Now my nose is running... Hahaha..." He took a deep breath. "Hey, thanks, Minato... If you weren't here, I'd..."

"Don't say nonsense. You have to face this head on." As he pated Kenji's shoulder, Minato could feel that he had grown much closer to his classmate. The Magician Social Link consequently reached level 9. "Sun will shine again, don't worry."

Kenji nodded slowly. "Y-you know what? I don't feel like ramen anymore… L-Let's go home..."

Minato decided to walk Kenji to his dorm, hesitant to leave his friend in such a state. Despite the brunet kept claiming that he could go alone and was perfectly fine, Minato was sure that deep down he was thanking him for the company.

* * *

><p>"Hey Minato!" Junpei yelled as he peeked from the entrance of the kitchen. "Fuuka-chan and Hamu-chan made cookies!"<p>

"Come get some before Akihiko-senpai and Hamuko eat them all!" Yukari laughed.

"I don't know why, but they taste like sugar pancakes, alright?" The silver haired boy shouted back. ...That was probably Fuuka's doing.

"Um… Sorry, but I'm not feeling hungry." Minato excused himself and walked upstairs.

"Huh…" Hamuko saw him walk upstairs. "What's wrong with him?"

"Maybe he's sad because he can't go to the Star Festival." Akihiko commented offhandedly as he munched a cookie. "Didn't you know that the next full moon will be on July 7th?"

"Yeah, I had heard something about that." The girl did her best not to sound hurt. "I should go see what's wrong with him, but… It's time to go to work…" She took the box with the sugar cookies she had made. "I'm taking this with me. Sorry, everyone!"

* * *

><p>Hamuko made a silent vow not to speak about Minato at work after Mimi tried to act like the cool big sister she never had and give her what she called 'unwanted advice on the most awkward topic ever!' …And that was just what it was. So unwanted and awkward in fact, that Hamuko decided to blame that talk for the little insomnia she had that night –it was better than admitting to herself that she couldn't sleep because she wanted to see Minato cross her door, tell her whatever was on his mind and then finish what they started the night before.<p>

Somewhere in the floor below, a boy with indigo hair was thinking exactly the same. Well, not exactly, he was also regretting not having had dinner before going to bed, but that was secondary.

* * *

><p>"Ah… That last class was so boring…" Hamuko couldn't prevent herself from yawning. "Oh well, lunch break at last!" She revolved the contents of her school bag until she found a perfectly packed bento box which she dropped on poor, zoned out Minato's head.<p>

"Ouch!" He yelped. "What the hell was that for?"

"I saved a few cookies for you yesterday." She pointed to the box which was on the edge of the table. Minato looked at it with disdain. "I know you like chocolate better, but no one says no to home made cookies and lives to tell it!"

"I'm sorry, Hamuko." Minato rescued the package from falling and pushed it back to her. "I really don't feel like eating."

"What's wrong?"

"…" He tilted his head towards Kenji. The brunet was resting his head on his desk, looking incredibly depressed. This contrasted with his usual moronic self, the Kenji who was always doing something dumb with Junpei or telling some stupid joke. "Ms. Kanou was playing with him all along. Apparently she was engaged. We discovered it yesterday as she was about to take the train to leave with her fiancé."

"Oh my gosh…" Hamuko covered her mouth with a hand. "Poor boy… Will he be alright?"

"I don't know. He's completely destroyed." The bluenet slammed his fist against the desk, nearly sending the package to the ground. "I could have prevented this! I should have stopped him from flirting with her when I had the chance!"

"I don't think that'd have changed anything." She replied with a hint of sorrow in her voice. "You'd have probably only managed to upset him."

"Well, yes. But he wouldn't be in that state."

"You don't know that… And anyway, you can't change the past, can you? You'll hafta keep looking forward, and be there for Kenji to help him overcome this." Hamuko punched the air. "I'll be there to help too! Cheer up!"

"…You're right." A smile broke forth in Minato's face. "And there I thought that I was more of the advisor type than you."

"Well… I know a trick or two too!" She snuck her tongue out at him. "So, now you're okay… Are you gonna eat those cookies, or will I have to feed them to you?"

"Well, I wouldn't mind about the later if we weren't in school…"

Before Hamuko could even raise and eyebrow at that comment, Burn my Dread began blaring out from Minato's mobile phone –fortunately, there was no teacher in the room to confiscate it.

"Huh… A message from Yuko. …She wants to go with me to Chagall later…"

"Oh…" Hamuko glanced away. "It's been a while since you two last hanged out together…"

"It's been kind of awkward between us since she kicked me out her house…Well, replace 'kind of' with 'painfully'. I wonder what she wants…"

"_I don't_…"

* * *

><p>It had been a while since Minato last met anyone other than Hamuko at Café Chagall. For some reason he felt that coffee was more enjoyable at night that at that time of the day. Or it could just be the company…<p>

After a few minutes of silence, Yuko finally dared speak. "Um... About last time... C-Can we just forget about that?"

"Sure." Minato replied dryly as he drank some of his cup.

"Oh wow, that was fast…" The bluenette seemed… Disappointed? "…It didn't bother you? I was up all night!"

"_I have that effect on girls._" Minato thought, remembering that some time before the lunch break ended Hamuko had told him a bit about her little insomnia case.

"Maybe my motherly instincts came out after coaching those kids... It's so embarrassing just thinking about it." She chuckled awkwardly. "Do you remember what I told about how Mr. Ekoda reprimanded me about my Classic Literature exam?"

Minato pretended that he knew what she was talking about.

"Back then, I just wanted to graduate and go to a community college... But after coaching those kids, I started to realize something..." Yuko's eyes were gleaming. "I enjoy helping people who are willing to give it their all. Guess what I wanna be.

"…A coach?" The most obvious answer is always the right answer.

"An athletic trainer, if you will!" She chuckled. "You have to monitor each athlete's diet and help them plan their training schedule. I'll go to professional school once I graduate, and work towards earning my certification. Between the general education requirements and the class for my major, it adds up to over 350 hours." She seemed a bit less eager about that. "That's why I'm gonna start studying right away! ...Improving my writing is my first goal!" Well, it seemed as good of a first goal as any. "I learned a lot from those kids. When I first started coaching them, I was thinking about how I would teach my own kids one day... And I didn't have the slightest clue." Yuko linked her hands below her chin and smiled. "Well, that all changed. If you hadn't been there with me, I'm not sure if I would've been able to coach those kids. And I would have never thought about my future, either... So, thank you."

"It was my pleasure to help you all along." Opposite to what happened with Kenji, Minato had managed to make Yuko's life better, and so his Strength Social Link had reached level 9.

"...Well, I have to go. I've gotta study!" She got up from her chair with a wide grin. "Let's meet another day when I'm less busy, alright? ...Wish me luck, Minato."

Proud of having been able to marginally improve someone's life, the boy decided to stay on Chagall a while longer and enjoy some coffee.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at Gekkoukan, Hamuko was wondering why the Student Council Room was empty –or rather, why she bothered showing up to the meetings lately when no one else did. Oh right. Saving trees for Social Links she didn't possess…<p>

"Oh, Hamuko-kun!" Scratch that, apparently there really was someone. And that someone was Hidetoshi, of course. "Sorry, it was a quick meeting. Everyone left already." He snorted. "It's actually kind of nice not having those hyenas around.

"I see… So um, why are you still here?" Dumb question. It was obvious that he lived in that room or something.

"There's something I want to take care of before I go home." Hidetoshi seemed rather troubled. "About the cigarette butt in the boys' bathroom... I have to do something... Soon. ...As you can see, the meeting's over, so you can leave if you want."

"Nah, it's okay. Lemme give you a hand with that! Together we'll find the culprit in no time!"

Hidetoshi seemed really happy to hear that. "Um, before… If you're not in a hurry, can you spare a few minutes?" The strict boy adopted a thoughtful stance. He walked slowly towards a window and looked down at the courtyard. "A man without position, honor, or education... What can he cling to as he struggles through life?"

Philosophy wasn't really Hamuko's thing, so she decided to remain silent at that question. It probably was rhetorical anyway.

"'Sincerity', a man once told me." Hidetoshi rested a hand on the window glass. "...Do you want to know what happened to that man? While gathering information for a story, a TV anchorwoman was injured on the job. The executives for the TV station called it an 'unfortunate accident'. But when a magazine learned they were hiding something, the execs pointed the finger at the script writer. They said it was the writer who had concealed the truth; he was made into a scapegoat. That man is currently serving time for perjury. It was he who taught me the meaning of sincerity." He bit his lower lip. "In today's society, the weak are preyed upon by the strong. You can't survive on sincerity alone!" …A guy who spoke like Minato and had the same power thirst as Minato was telling her as well about the importance of lying. Hamuko could see a pattern somewhere in there. "...As for me, I'd like to build a corporation where everyone is treated fairly. But, to do that, I'd need enough power to make my vision a reality."

"_I guess he's just told me his deep dark secrets…_" Dark secrets or not, the Emperor Social Link reached level 6.

"...Well, seems like we're done here." Never mind the fact that they were going to look into the cigarette business matter. "I'll walk with you to the door."

* * *

><p>When he left Port Island and went back to Iwatodai, Minato found a rather bizarre scene: their dear little Maiko was telling Hamuko off near Octopia. The male Fool considered briefly moving along and leaving the problem to Hamuko, but he eventually decided to go give her a hand.<p>

"…You guys didn't even come to my birthday party!" Maiko yelled as she stomped the ground.

"B-But…!"

"We didn't know where your birthday party took place, Maiko-chan." Minato spoke calmly as he approached the girls, but he managed to startle Hamuko anyway. "We're really sorry…"

"Hmmm… Alright, I forgive you. ...At least Mom and Dad didn't forget about my birthday this year... They remembered!

"That's great!" Hamuko clapped her hands in delight.

"See? They didn't forget."

Maiko seemed euphoric. "And you know what? I got tons of presents! And, I even ate a bunch of cake!" After saying that, her happiness seemed to decay slightly. "...We haven't really eaten together as a family for a while. We used to eat dinner together every night... How come Mom and Dad don't get along anymore?"

"Love is a very complicated thing…" Minato and Hamuko nodded to each other. "So maybe you should ask them."

"You're right! I'll just ask them why they wanted a divorce. If I can get rid of the reason, everything'll be fine, right?" Nice logic. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to get my parents back together! You'll do what you can to help, right?"

"Of course!" One of the teens didn't really mean it. The other was wondering just how many people in Iwatodai expected them to give them a hand. Anyway, Hanged Man Social Link level 4 and what not.

"All right... I'm gonna ask them. Let's play together some other time SOON, okay?"

After that she ran away, leaving the Fools to themselves.

"Why do you always sneak up on me when I'm with people?" Hamuko shot an eyebrow up.

"I miss you." What he actually meant was 'I'm covertly trying to make socializing difficult for you.'.

"Awww, really?" The girl clang to his arm. "Still, it wouldn't kill you to say 'hi' from time to time, geez!"

"Hi? Have you ever heard me say 'hi'?"

"Right." Hamuko grinned playfully at him. "I guess that saying 'good evening, milady' with a knee on the ground will do as well."

"'Milady'?" Minato did his best not to laugh. "What about I just keep rescuing you from awkward situations with the surprise factor intact?"

"Rescuing? …Rescuing…" She gasped. "Oh crap, I totally forgot that there might be people left in Tartarus! We have to go tonight!"

* * *

><p>The excuse to go to Tartarus that night was that they needed to train. Training was always welcome, so they didn't meet Mitsuru's arbitrary scepticism. Not like they would have had to deal with it, anyway, since they left her at the base of Tartarus with Fuuka after making up something about group dynamics and how Akihiko and Junpei needed some training.<p>

The exploration went pretty smooth between the forty-seventh and fifty-fifth floors or so. They found the last missing person Fuuka could detect in the fifty-first floor, and after leaving him under Mitsuru's care, they went on with their anti-shadow crusade. The next floors had a few difficulties –being ambushed by a group of energy-loving Maniacal Books was one of them. If anyone got distracted, those shadows would prey on them, surrounding them with their tentacles. After this unwanted hug, the S.E.E.S. members would feel much more tired, and summoning their personas became more difficult like that. Solution? Blade. Tentacles. Run for your life.

They didn't get many things on the way up. Well, Akihiko got shoved to the ground by an Adamant Beetle, dropping a few cards he'd picked up in the exploration in the process. After some struggling with Junpei, Minato managed to steal a card with a Persona called Narcissus, which looked like a really pale and blond guy with a few flowers on his hair… Going around half naked. The boy swore to himself that he wouldn't summon unless extremely necessary. Hamuko only managed to steal a Pixie before Aki pushed her away from the cards. She then proceeded to rant about the poor battling quality of the creature.

The fifty-ninth floor had the biggest surprise of the night. Its name was Intrepid Knight and its Arcana was Emperor. The shadow stood on almost four meters; it consisted of a metallic knight riding a floating armoured horse. He had a lance instead of a left arm, and he seemed rather capable to use it, but that wasn't the most terrific thing he had; its strong point resided on the capability to send Junpei flying against a wall, consequently knock him out only with a little tornado he casted. Akihiko grabbed Junpei and the group ran away as fast as they could, coming back five minutes later with replacement Mitsuru and a Persona called Rakshasa for Hamuko.

The female leader took the initiative in the fight. After a quick analysis of the possibilities of her new Persona, Hamuko started the battle with an attack called Getsu-Ei. After commanding it, the warrior… Mermaid… Persona thing ran towards the Tartarus guardian and, after doing a flip on the air, crossed it with the two claymores it carried. It was quite an awesome move, but rather impractical as it barely scratched the knight's shoulder pad.

Minato's turn came next. He focused on the list of Personas he knew he had and called Gurr forth –a wind resistant Persona would grant him protection against any garu-based attacks the Knight could cast. Much to his surprise, Gurr had Getsu-Ei as well, but much, much weaker –did it even tickle the shadow?

The Shadow took its chance to attack after that. It muttered something like 'Kill Rush' and then charged towards Mitsuru with its lance, hurting her rather critically. Hamuko ordered Yukari to go give her one of the aptly named 'Revival beads', which did a world of good for her.

Akihiko decided to make a distraction with a Rakunda spell, which would supposedly lower its hideously high defence, while Rakshasa attacked yet again, following the same strategy with few variations.

At least twenty minutes had passed since the beginning of the battle. Things weren't looking good for S.E.E.S. First off, the Intrepid Knight had brought an old 'friend' back; mahamaon, that one attack that almost cost the Fools' lives the day they met Death face-to-face and that now insisted on knocking off someone randomly every so often, and a new one, Counterstrike. That meant they could attack the shadow as much as they wanted, but there was a chance that any physical damage would reflect on them -Hamuko learned this the hard way. Second off, the shadow was running on its last breath –if Shadows breathed, that's it- but it completely refused to die, stubbornly clinging to its aim of finishing with the teens. This leaded to a third problem, the shortage of medical supplies. Everyone knew things were going bad when Minato used the last Revival Bead on Yukari.

The Intrepid Knight threw its arms ups and a blue light surrounded it. That looked dreadfully similar to one of the attacks they had seen when fighting the Steel Gigas, called 'Mind Charge'. It made the next spell much more powerful –and seeing the state the party was on… A simple blow of breeze could put an end to their existence. They needed some energy to ignore their wounds and finish the battle, but a simple Media spell wouldn't be able to heal them enough for that…

"_Seems you require the assistance of perfection itself…_" A masculine voice spoke seductively in Minato's mind. It kind of freaked him out.

"_Free us and we'll help you put an end to this arduous battle_." A funny, high voice claimed in Hamuko's.

This was pretty familiar… Oh right, the conversation with the Jack brothers during the Crying Tables battle.

Minato and Hamuko brought their Evokers to each others' temples. "Frolic!" They shouted instinctively, noticing only afterwards the stupidity of the name. But that wasn't the dumbest thing of the attack…

Narcissus just stood in front on Minato, posing seductively as roses began surrounding him out of nowhere. "…Are those sparkles?"

The Fools didn't want to know how or why it happened, but their party was suddenly revitalized completely and ready to make a wreck out of the Intrepid Knight. …The Fools were so flabbergasted that they pretty much missed the rest of the battle.

Well, at least they got the Third Old Document… And a guarantee that they wouldn't be able to have a moment of peace as soon as their Senpai began making questions.

* * *

><p><strong>I need sleep.<strong>** I'll see if there are any stupid mistakes tomorrow. **

**...So she did mean stargazing and having sweets after all.  
><strong>


	38. Matchmaking

**Author note: Good lord, this chapter sucks. Also, uploading at past mighting, if some part seems off, I'll check it tomorrow.**

**OKAY, QUESTION. First, three days until Shirakawa once this chapter ends. That means you can either a) have it in a pack with the event and the last two days b) have it as a stand alone chapter. A) will take a bit longer to write, obviously. Oh also, I'm letting you know that "Thou chooseth this fate of blah blah blah…" aka you chose the Ship Tease version with 18 votes against the 9 hilarious one got. This means that any thing which may happen was chosen by you and it's by no means my fault. You'll know what I mean when you read the chapter.**

**Second, have I ever mentioned the three achievements I would like to obtain for this fic? 1_ Being featured in Fanfic Recs of TVTropes –done. 2_ Have an own TVTropes Main Page for my fic, like Fairly English Story does. One day. 3_Achieve 1000 reviews. If these three conditions are met some day, I'll be a really happy girl 8D**

* * *

><p>"Why did we hafta leave the dorm so early, again…?" Hamuko suppressed a yawn.<p>

"The best way to avoid being assaulted with questions is to run away from the questioners. And the best way to avoid Senpai is to leave sooner than they do." Despite those words, Minato could hardly keep his eyes open.

"…I think that Mitsuru-senpai is mad, and that's why she asks so many questions. And if she's mad, it's soooo your fault."

"I'll regret to ask this, but… Why is that?"

"Because you totally used Narcissus on purpose!"

"…What?"

"Igor said that a Persona comes from you, right…? So, if your Persona is a naked guy… Gee! I wonder what that could mean!" Hamuko raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, of course." Minato rolled his eyes. "It's totally obvious that I secretly want to expose myself in front of S.E.E.S. to enrage our upperclassmen."

"See? You admit it." She laughed while Minato face palmed. "I bet Narcissus is your English name or something!"

The boy preferred not to make any comment about that great display of cultural knowledge. The dense silence between them was interrupted the talk two early-bird gossipers were having nearby.

"Last time I was out with my boyfriend, he was heading to Shirakawa Boulevard!" The Fools, being transfer students, weren't familiar with the more… Obscure places of New City.

"Whoa, Shirakawa Boulevard? Ewww...I know what was on his mind!"

"We just started dating, but I'm already kind of disgusted. He's got such a dirty mind... Maybe I should dump him." Hearing those words, Minato couldn't avoid giving Hamuko an amused look. She was left wondering what he was implying. "I don't want to be the subject of one of those rumors that goes, 'A couple was found unconscious…'"

"Hahah! That'd be great!" The gossipers went too far to be heard after that.

"More couples have been found unconscious together?"

"Don't tell me that the double suicide thing actually became a trend!"

"Hamuko, I don't think that's what they meant by 'found together'." Minato chucked awkwardly. That conversation topic was giving them the creeps, so the Fools decided to resume their walk to school in silence. It didn't last; Hamuko soon went back to bashing Minato with questions about his newest Persona.

* * *

><p>Apparently, Junpei had become the target of every teacher's questions. The latest one he couldn't answer was one about Murasaki Shikibu which Mr. Ekoda had ready for him. Whether the boy knew the answer or not still remains a mystery; due to his loud snores no one will ever know.<p>

* * *

><p>Once the school day was over, Hamuko quickly dragged Minato out of class.<p>

"Okay, it's Friday! Time to go ahead with the matchmaker plan!"

"Do I really have to help?" Minato released a big sigh. "Listening to me barely counts as a favor…"

"You know… Any normal girl would scream if a boy barged into her room and saw her with only her underwear on and a shirt halfway through her torso..." She cocked up an eyebrow and looked at him rather menacingly. "You don't want me to wake up the whole dorm next time I _let_ _you_ see me like that, right?"

"..."

Making Minato take Kenji to practice hadn't been as much of a good idea as Hamuko had made it to be. The boy was just sitting on a bench by the tennis field with Minato, sighing once and again. This made Rio be utterly distracted, focused only on staring at the depressed brunet, probably wondering if she could do anything to cheer him up. Eventually, Minato decided to take him away from the girls to invite him to bread.

Seeing the girls in the club encourage Rio to confess her feelings to Kenji that very moment was awesome.

"I... I feel like I'm stuck in one place..." Rio explained. "And I can't move an inch... I hate that about myself, too... But I don't know what to do about it. I know that I'm going to be hurt, and it scares me... But it has to be better than where I am right now. I'm sure it won't be as bad as drowning in these feelings I have..." She took a deep breath. "I'm... Gonna go tell him."

"Aw geez, just go already!" Hamuko gave her a thumbs up.

"Yeah, I'll do my best!" With that, the captain ran off to get Kenji.

The members of the Tennis club began staring at each other. "Shouldn't we go see what she's doing?"

"Yes, we have to be there wishing her the best luck!" And that was Yuko strolling into the place, uninvited as usual.

"What were you…?"

"I was looking for Minato." Yuko explained. "He's the main asset of the Track Team now, but he hardly ever shows up to practice…"

"Ah, don't worry, he won't get unfit because of missing practice a few days." Hamuko drummed her fingers on the racket frame while she smiled comfortingly. "I mean, we do a _lot_ of **exercise** together every other night. In fact, I think that what we do gives more endurance than anything you can do in the track field."

Yuko's jaw seemed broke. "Y-You do WHAT with him?"

"You know, we do some _**sparring**_? We _**sweat it out**_ together?"

The bluenette's face was a rhapsody of emotions.

"We do some training with other dorm members?" She raised her hands defensively, not liking a tiny bit how angry Yuko looked. "_We climb a tower full of monsters trying to kill us, of course we're fit!_"

The Track team manager's eyes widened and she pressed her lips together. "O-Oh, so you didn't mean…"

"I meant what I just said." Hamuko looked at Yuko with a worried expression.

"Err… We gotta go check on Rio, don't we?"

They found Rio and Kenji speaking on the walkway that took from the clubs corridor to the gym. Everyone began staring indiscreetly from behind the door. There was no trace of Minato, so he probably was still buying bread.

"So... Wh-What do you think about me?" Rio spoke shyly.

"Uh..." Kenji looked at her, confused. "Like family?"

"D-Do you like me?" She yelled suddenly.

"Huh? Yeah?"

"_That guy's hopeless..._" One of the club members whispered.

"_Hang in there, Rio...!_" Yuko frowned as she stared at the scene.

"H-How much do you like me?" The black haired girl insisted.

"Uh..." Kenji seemed to come to a realization, as a slight blush appeared on his face. "…About as much as ramen?"

"RAMEN?" Yuko jumped from behind the door and stomped her way towards Kenji. "Are you serious?"

"Whoa, what the-?"

"You've got some nerve, Kenji!" A member with glasses shouted. "What the hell are you telling her? I'm going to smack that goofy look off your face!"

Hamuko knew what the brunet meant and tried to stop the girls from approaching Kenji. "Whoa there! W-Wait, you don't understand-!"

"Stop!" Minato appeared from… Behind the door leading to the clubs zone. He had obviously been keeping an eye on the scene as well. "Hands off him, girls!"

Kenji began laughing as Minato pulled him away. "Haha, uh... I-I've got some business to take care of! Ladies!" Both boys ran away, leaving a trail of angry girls and a awestruck Rio behind.

"What? Minato, don't defend him!" Yuko yelled at the door. "Seriously... That moron!"

"Y-You guys... You were listening?" Nah. It was all just some wild mass guessing.

"Ugh... Sorry. We were all worried about you!" The tanned manager bowed down once and again. "Try and cheer up. But, sheesh! What the hell was that idiot thinking, comparing you to something like a bowl of noodles?"

"No, you don't get it..." Rio smiled. "Ramen is his favourite thing in the world."

"No kidding...?"

"If he likes me as much as he likes ramen, I'll be happy."

"Geez..." Yuko glanced away from Rio and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "You dope…!"

"Why do you look like you're about to cry, Yuko?"

"I-I don't know!"

After that emotional scene and a 'the Chariot Social Link reached level 8' message, all the girls went together to Wild Duck Burger.

* * *

><p>"Y-You sure you can eat that thing, Hamuko-san?" Yuko asked as she looked up at the pile of burgers in front of her.<p>

"But of course!" Hamuko rubbed her hands together. "I'm ready to take the Peta Wac Set challenge again! And this time, I'll win it without anyone's help!"

When she was about to begin wolfing down the burger column, a text message arrived to her mobile phone.

"_Kenji's all fired up about Rio's confession. It seems like it was a good idea after all. I'll thank you properly when you arrive to the dorm ;) –Minato._"

"Hey, what's with that smile? Who texted you?" Rio began laughing when Hamuko hid her mobile phone behind her back, all blushed.

"Oh u-um, y-you know, it was um… A-Akihiko-senpai." She grinned at the skeptic looks everyone was giving her. "W-well um, Ben proof-it!"

For future reference: Yuko was a perfect replacement for Minato when it came to finishing the Peta Wac Set.

* * *

><p>"Hey there!" Hamuko found Minato waiting for her on the stairs leading to the dorm's main entrance.<p>

"Good evening, milady." He got up and pulled her into a waist hug. "Have I ever told you how much I love your crazy plans?"

"As a matter of fact, you have." She smiled confidently at him. "So how is Kenji-kun?"

"He couldn't stop talking about how he would had never seen that coming. He said that he wants to meet on Sunday to speak more about it… Oh, of course, I haven't told you any of this, got it?"

"Haha, of course. I'm so happy those two got their happy ending…" They simply hugged each other silently for a few minutes. "So, weren't you going to thank me or something?"

"Oh, yes..." He gawked at the brunette through half lidded eyes. "Doth the lady want me to thank her here, or is there anywhere more suitable?"

"I guess you can thank me in Paulownia..."

"Paulownia?" His voice sounded kind of disappointed.

"You don't want to go there?"

"No, Paulownia Mall is fine! It's only I was expecting a… Different answer."

"A different—Oh I see…" She casted her eyes down and kicked the ground. Hamuko couldn't avoid thinking how annoying it was that the bolder he got, the more he scared her. "_No, I want this! I can't chicken out at the last moment! He cares for me… And I do too…_" She boldly met his gaze. "Power Records now, 'training' tomorrow?"

"Training?" The boy snorted. "That's what they call it now?"

"Yeah... W-well, at least your… Girlfriend does."

"My…Girlfriend?" Minato wasn't sure he had understood that phrase correctly, so he only smiled and took Hamuko's hand to go to Iwatodai Station together.

* * *

><p>"Daylight… Moonlight… Episode Luck… Episode Rain… A certain day of summer…" Hamuko frowned as she carefully examined the CDs on the shelves labeled as 'drama CDs'.<p>

"You can't find the one you want?" Minato released a tired sigh.

"Nope. Junpei told me that there was a drama CD for the new handheld remake of 'Stair Climbing Simulator 3', featuring the female protagonist, but... It seems it's sold out. …Oh well, I guess these other five soundtracks will do."

"…Do you even listen to the music you buy?"

"The world is too interesting fo-. Is that Risette's new album?"

Listening to Hamuko rant about how much she loved the new songs was by no means how Minato would have liked to spend the night. He couldn't stop thinking that it was probably his fault for always asking her to slow down. Had he known earlier how anxious he'd begin feeling, he probably would have answered to her innuendos much more positively earlier on. Or maybe had that happened, she would have refused him as well? Maybe she was just trying to provoke him… That girl was impossible to understand…

* * *

><p>"Junpei." Minato sat down next to the boy, who was watching a film on TV once Hamuko had decided to go to her room. "You're Hamuko's best friend, right?"<p>

"Yup!" The boy answered proudly.

"So uh… You might know her better than I do."

"I doubt that, man." That answer was dry but sincere. "Shoot it; 'sup?"

"Um… She acts different around me than she does around everyone… Do you think I've upset her?"

"Nah, she hasn't told me anything 'bout that." Junpei shrugged. "Different how, man?"

"She doesn't act uh… Flirty around me. It's like she was scared of me or something…" Minato fidgeted with the knot of his bowtie.

"Ah, that's all, dude?" The boy rubbed his goatee and grinned. "She's just playing hard to get, man!"

"…Hard to get?"

"Oh yeah, chicks do that a lot. Everyone knows that challenges are hot! You should feel proud she's doing that for you!"

"I… See?" Minato wasn't too convinced, but apparently even Junpei had more expertise in the matter than him. And that was somewhat lame. "So what do I do?"

"Um… I dunno…" Okay, maybe not so. "Maybe you should seem all interested or something. Show her who's wearing the pants, man!"

That all seemed farfetched, but Minato thanked him for the advice and went to his room.

* * *

><p>"So, soon it'll be a full moon…" Yukari and Hamuko were walking together to school. "Are you nervous?"<p>

"Nervous? We've been doing well so far…" Hamuko shrugged. "I'm annoyed, not nervous."

"Well, we have to do this, no matter what…"

* * *

><p>"<em>Saturday… Hmmm…<em>" Hamuko tapped her lower lip with a finger. "_Maybe I should hang out with Fuuka…_"

"Hey Hamuko." Minato smiled rather flirtatiously, even though they were still in their homeroom. "Let's go to the dorm."

"Huh? Why?"

"Power Records yesterday…"

"Riiight." That was the most awkward proposition she had heard in a while. "Um, just like that…? Aren't you going to invite me to have dinner or something first?"

"Whatever floats your boat…" They walked together out of class. "…Without sinking mine, of course." He took it to himself to lead her all the way to the station.

"Man, you're getting pushy." Hamuko frowned.

"I'm pushy in what sense?"

"In the sense of 'Hey, if you're gonna be like that you'll have to go 'train' with another girl.'"

"I-Is that so?" His eyes were suddenly filled with concern. "I knew that it sounded stupid… Damn Junpei… I-If you don't want to go there it's fine, I mean, we can go to Wakatsu and then to Escapade o-or something…"

"Yes, that'd be better… Thanks for being so… _Comprehensive." _The Fools both glanced away, with Minato unable to hold back a sigh. Being pushy actually worked better in a weird sense.

The train stopped in Iwatodai Station. Both teens got off it in an incredibly awkward silence. Fortunately, it ended when a familiar little girl ran into them crying as they were headed to Wakatsu.

"O-oh my gosh, Maiko-chan." Hamuko gave the little girl a hug. "What's wrong?"

"M-My dad, he—" Before ending that phrase, she was back to wailing in the older girl's arms. Eventually, her cries came to an end, having turned into muffled sobs. "Dad, he... He... He hit me! I don't know what to do..."

"What? How could he?" Hamuko yelled angrily.

"Did you do anything to anger him?" Minato asked more reasonably.

"No! I don't think I did anything wrong!" She sobbed again. "All I did was say I wanted to know the real reason they were getting a divorce. ...They told me I was too young to even understand it. So I kept asking, but then Dad got angry and... And he..." She sniffed. "...Then Mom said since I was so annoying, that it was my fault. I'm not sure they love me anymore... I bet they wouldn't care if I wasn't even here at all!"

"That's ridiculous!" The brunette reassured her. "Of course your parents love you!"

"Are you... sure? But then, why are they so mad?" Silence came back yet again, as neither Fool had an answer to that. "What if I ran away from home...? I want to find out... how they really feel about me. If they love me, then they'd try to look for me, right?"

"What? But you can't—"

"It's a secret, okay?" Maiko smiled. "Don't tell Mom and Dad I'm running away. …I know you won't tell."

"Thanks for the trust, bu—" The voices informing them that the Hermit Social Link had reached level 5 distracted them while the girl ran back home. "…Oh crap. We have to stop her!"

"B-But weren't we going to Wakatsu?" Minato protested.

"Minato, it's a little girl trying to run away we're talking about! That's much more important than having a date! ..Ah, whatever, I'll go look for her by myself!"

Unfortunately, Hamuko didn't manage to find Maiko in Iwatodai. She did find out that Minato had gone to Escapade without her, texting her about how he could play hard to get too. …She didn't really understand what that meant.

* * *

><p><strong>Do you know how much I hate writing this kind of behavior in Minato and Hamuko? Do you? No you don't. Because it's rather unmeasurable. I want the normal Minato and Hamuko back, oh god damn it 8U <strong>

**Remember that Minato has that one side which wants to kill Hamuko and screw every girl with a Social Link in New City. In no particular order. **

**I suggest you remember this chapter. Seriously. Etch it into your memory. **


	39. An unique Tanabata

**Author note: Adding the fun version as an extra chapter would require at least fifteen reviews to this chapter. Don't worry. I'm sure you all will have an opinion to share after reading it. Or five.  
><strong>

**Ahem. You guys chose this version through votes so everything that happens from the next ellipsis onwards is your fault. Because, remember the principle this fic runs on? With great good… **

* * *

><p>"Phoenix Featherman Ranger R time!" Hamuko announced gleefully as she ran downstairs.<p>

Minato peeked out of his room as he heard her. "Hey, aren't we going to watch it in my room as usual?"

She halted and turned around slowly. "Uh… Sure…" She seemed rather reluctant to get in the room which she used to invade happily every so often only weeks before, and that worried Minato.

It seemed that Hamuko was more interested in studying Minato's every move than in watching the super sentai show. She had been staring at him since he said bye to Maya and closed his laptop till he got up and turned off the TV, ogling him at a safety distance all along. Once the program ended, the brunette tried to get up from his bed and leave the room –tried, because Minato quickly got a hold of her waist and made her sit again.

"Hey! Don't you have to go meet Kenji or something?"

"Yes. But I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Hamuko, please." To prove his point, Minato pushed her on her back over the bed. He almost got his face kicked right after. "See? That didn't use to happen."

"Well, duh, you didn't use to do that…!"

"Good point, but that's not the case here." He helped her sit up. "Don't you remember the other night? The level up? That 'you can tell me anything' talk…?"

"Yes, but…"

Minato narrowed his eyes and stared sharply at her. "Tell me. What are you scared of, Hamuko?"

The brunette was hesitant to speak at first, but he managed to mesmerize her with those cobalt eyes of his. "…I'm scared of you." Seeing that the boy didn't know what to say to that, she continued talking. "Look, I… I told you that I feel alone, right? I told you how boys couldn't help me with that issue, right?"

Minato nodded, serious.

"What I didn't tell you is… That I used to dump them because of that. W-well, they were annoyed at me for 'cheating' on them as well so it was pretty consensual, but a-anyway… I-I have never been so long with a b-boy and… And I don't know how to say this and…" She began mumbling.

"…Are you trying to tell me that this is over?" The boy did his best to keep his cool demeanor, but he sounded obviously affected. "I-if that's the case-"

"NO!" She threw herself at him, making him fall on his back with her in his arms. She prepped herself on her forearms as she yelled at him. "I don't want to leave you! I don't want **you** to leave me! I don't want this to finish, damn it!"

"W-what…?" Before he could even ask, Hamuko began crying into his shirt.

The brunette sat on her knees and looked at him with teary eyes. "You… You scare me, Minato. You're not like the other boys. You make me feel things that I have never felt for anyone… I-I think of you when I'm in class… I can't sleep when I remember you … I… Miss your touch every moment you're not with me… I just want to be with you all day and all night! It's almost scary..." She laughed, even though it was obvious that what she really wanted to do is to cry some more. "Y-you're always making me blush with the most stupid things; you manage to make me cry like a baby; we have fought to death and yet we laugh together, and you say you insist on loving me, even if I dunno how to answer you... You're… You're _**amazing**_." She leaned closer to him and gripped his shirt tightly. "But what if that changes? What if you leave me once you get what you want? What if these feelings don't leave with you? I… We can't give the next step until I find out what this is…! I don't want to change anything else between us…"

"Hamuko…" Minato was completely speechless. He wanted to tell her the truth. He wanted to tell her that he knew she loved him, but knowing her, she was bound to get angry or even more frightened if he did so…

"I guess it's funny to hear me say that after all I've made you go through since we met. Sorry, I just… Didn't expect this to turn out like this… I thought you'd be just another hook up and… I mean I knew you were special since the day we met, but…" She smiled warmly while she did her best to calm the frantic rhythm of her heart. "…Sorry, do I sound too dumb? It must be a pain listening to me ranting 'bout feelings. when I'm this… Close to you."

Minato did indeed became considerably uncomfortable after she pointed out that she was straddling him. While wearing one of her miniskirts, no less. "Won't you ever stop teasing me…?" He reached out to the point where her orange cut-sewn ended and slid his hands beneath it. Next she knew, Minato was pressing her against himself, a hand slowly running down the small of her back and the other entangled on her hair, trying to have a good hold of her while he gave her a passionate kiss.

Hamuko clenched his forearms and pushed him away from her. "H-Haven't you heard what I said?" She yelled.

"What? Not even a kiss?" He scowled. "What the hell, Hamuko?"

"…" The brunette casted her eyes down. "I know I've been messing with you since we met, and I'm suddenly saying this but… I'd like to sort this feelings stuff out first… But then again, I've had you waiting for so long…" She caressed the junction between his neck and arm. "Maybe it's about time I stop teasing you…"

"Yeah…" Minato would have gladly gave in to her touch, but, he didn't want to let her have fun whenever _she_ wanted -and there was also the fact that he was busy or trying to seem less desperate than he was or something along those lines... "I'm sorry, but-" In a superhuman effort, he managed to take her away from atop him and sit up. "I'm sorry but we can't do this now."

"WHAT?" Hamuko's eyes were wide as saucers. "Seriously?" She gapped at Minato as he got up from his bed. "You are the one who wants to go all the way! **You** _**CAN'T**_ back out now!"

"Huh. I'm sorry, but I can come up with like… Three reasons why I must leave now." Minato smoothed the wrinkles of his shirt as he spoke confidently. "First off, it's noon. Do you want Mitsuru-senpai to hear you and execute us?"

"W-well, if I'm—"

"Second off, I'm going to arrive late to my appointment with Kenji."

"Bros before hos and all that, but—"

"And last…" He whispered the third reason he'd made up shyly to her.

Hamuko blinked, blushed and nodded silently. "…You've been a whole month with me and you hadn't thought of something so important before?"

"It just occurred to me." He shrugged. "So… We'll have to wait."

"I hate you so much." Hamuko sighed and got up. "Say bye to the few chances you'd left with me." Her eyes lingered on Minato a while longer before she walked out of his room.

"…Hey Hamuko." He stopped on the threshold of his door. "…Is there anything else worrying you about me?"

"_Well, I wanted a puppy, not a wolf_." "…Not really."

"I see…" Minato furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't be scared of me, alright? I'm not going to hurt you…" "…_I'm going to hammer what love means into your little head until you can't say 'no' ever again, though._"

* * *

><p>Rio Rio Rio… That was all Minato could heard during lunch. It was annoying, of course. It was indeed exasperating, infuriating… But he was glad to have that old senseless buzz back in his life. He had grown fond of Kenji during his stance in Iwatodai and was glad of having back the one Social Link he could share secrets and ramen with.<p>

"Are you going to eat the egg?" Minato pointed at Kenji's bowl with his chopsticks.

"Hands off the egg, dude!" Okay, maybe not ramen. "I… Really want my thing with Rio to work. I mean, I still miss Ms. Kanou a lot, but… I have to look forward. Go on with my life, man."

"Yeah, that's right. Well said." The bluenet slurped some of his noodles. "Anyway, if things don't go well with her, just think this: You're a sophomore ramen gourmet with a great taste for fashion, and talent for stand-up comedy. Any girl would be head over heels for you."

"…Thanks?" Kenji had an awkward smile on his face. "That sounded kinda…" The boy mumbled the following part, so Minato didn't quite catch it. "A-anyway, uh… Well, since you mentioned fashion…" He reached into the pocket of his shorts and brought out some black thing out of them. He then proceeded to hand it to Minato.

Upon closer inspection, Minato noticed it was a choker. It was made of leather and had a metallic buckle to regulate how tight it was tied around the neck. The boy stared at the choker and then at Kenji, questioningly.

"Y-You have no sense of fashion or whatsoever. I mean, it was so lame seeing you with that red scarf that I decided to make this for you. I know I shouldn't say this but… It's awesome AND practical."

Minato kept looking at the accessory with an amused face. "Won't I look _**fabulous**_ with this on?"

Kenji shuddered, incapable to tell if his classmate was speaking jokingly due to the usual seriousness his face reflected. "J-just keep it, man! I'm sure Hamuko-chan will love it!" He laughed. "I-It's just a little thanks for being my best friend, geez…"

Minato blinked. "Y-you consider me your… Best friend? Even though I have pretty much ignored you half of the grade?"

"You haven't ignored me, man! You've been there when I needed you, and that's enough for me." He looked away, feeling rather awkward. "Don't worry; you're a good friend, dude."

"S-So what now?"

"Huh?"

"I mean… I've never been best friends with another guy before… W-what do best friends do? Do we have to give each other a hug or something to celebrate this triumph?"

"A hug? Man, _**that**_'d definitely look gay." Kenji furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh well, what the hell?"

A voice rang in Minato's mind as he gave Kenji an uh… Awkward manly hug… And he had a vision of the Magician card as well. Its voice didn't sound as ominous and creepy as usual, but it sounded just as intense. "_Thou art I... And I am thou... The bond thou hast nurtured hath finally matured. The innermost power of the Magician Arcana hath been set free. We bestow upon thee the ability to create Surt, the ultimate form of the Magician Arcana..._"

After reaching Magician level 10, Minato suddenly felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. When he pulled away from Kenji, still a bit dazed from the Social Link thing, he found out a new truth: Kenji had suddenly become as important to him as a piece of furniture. If he had ever learnt to care for the boy, that was all gone, the only proof of the fact they were friends until barely ten seconds before remaining on the choker on Minato's pocket.

Not a word was spoken as they enjoyed their lunch. They got out of Hagakure together and parted ways silently. Minato believed that Kenji was somehow slightly aware that they were not to be anything but acquaintances ever again. Oh well, at least he had something to make up for that: the greatest power of the Magician Arcana at hand reach. That was so much better than a lost friend, right?

…Right?

* * *

><p>"…So he gave you a choker so you don't have to borrow a scarf next time I burn you?" Hamuko chuckled as she fidgeted with the leather accessory. "Ahaha, that's so cool of him! Tell him that I totally love it!"<p>

"Yeah, I… I will…" Minato decided he wouldn't share with the other Fool his most recent discovery about Social Links. He had enough with the silent treatment she had given him most of the afternoon, so he didn't want to make it worse by telling her how as soon as she maxed a Social Link she would lose her so beloved friends in exchange for power. It'd probably break her heart... Not that she'd feel any better when she found out by herself, but oh well, at least he wouldn't have to deal directly with it.

The night went on silently, quite an event in that crazy dorm the Fools called home.

* * *

><p>"Tomorrow's the big day." Junpei stopped right before walking through the school gates. "Dude, I'm totally stoked... Like right before a tournament or somethin', ya know? Now I know how Akihiko-senpai feels before he gets in the ring..."<p>

"We're going to do just fine."

"Man, how the hell can you be so calm about this?"

Minato shrugged. "There's just no reason to be nervous."

* * *

><p>"There's practice today!" Hamuko was running happily through the school corridors while Minato followed her at his own pace. "Hey, maybe you should invite Kenji to see us play! That'd make Rio really happy!"<p>

"Sorry but… Can you do that by yourself? I have to go to practice. Yuko will scold me if I don't…"

"Uh… W-whatever you do, don't mention training."

"What?"

"Oh no, nothing! Err… Have fun!" With that, she ran off.

* * *

><p>"Good job Rio! That serve was awesome!" Kenji encouraged the team from the same bench by the tennis field where he had been swallowing in self pity just three days before.<p>

"Rio? No! Seeing the come back she's made, we should call her Rinix!" One of the club members shouted.

"Phoenwasaki fits her better! It sounds like some kind of monster!" Another replied.

"You girls have no idea! We must call her Rio Phoennis, the tennis phoenix!" Hamuko laughed until a ball flew dangerously close to her face. "C'mon Rio! The girl who got the team back together needs a title, right?"

"Oh, but it wasn't me who got the group back together! You're almost a better leader than me…" Rio smirked. "That means that you have the honor of being called… Ham-Ham Muko!"

"I'm not Hamtaro, goddamn it! I don't look like a hamster!"

"Yeah that's right!" Kenji laughed. "She looks more like a squirrel!"

"You-!" The girl raised her racket in the air menacingly.

"Ah, come on Hamta—Hamuko! Relax!" One of the tennis players said jokingly. "You know what you need? A boyfriend! We'll invite you to the next group date we go to, okay?"

"Group dates, huh…? …Sounds boring."

"Boring? What do you mean with 'boring'?"

"Ooh, that's right! Hamuko is dating Akihiko-senpai, isn't she?"

"B-Buh what?"

The following hour got pretty hectic, but it could have been worse. Hamuko could have been racketed to death or something for neglecting to speak about the existence or not of her significant other hadn't Rio threatened with making them do more squats if they didn't shut up. Like a good friend would.

Eventually practice came to an end and only Hamuko and Rio were left to clean the place. Not even Kenji stayed to help…

"Everyone was trying so hard… I really think everyone's committed to the team now." Rio chuckled. "…Well, no... I know they were all committed to each other the whole time. I guess I only just now saw what we were missing. I didn't take the time to see who excelled in which positions..." She nodded knowingly to herself.

"Welp, it just takes some dedication to see who's good at which thing. Anyway, it's tennis, dude. There's only like, close to the net and away from the net, right?"

"Well yes, but…. Sorry, I used to play volleyball last year and I keep thinking a bit like back then." After a few chuckles, a warm smile appeared on her face. "Hey, that comment about you being a good leader I made earlier… I really meant it… L-Leaving the whole Ham-Ham thing aside, of course!" And there she was back to laughing again.

"I'm awesome like that!" Hamuko struck a pose. "But hey… Thanks. It means a lot coming from you."

"Hah… No problem…" Rio had a determined look in her eyes. "If we combine our efforts with the team's, we'll be able to achieve any goals we have, don't you think so?"

"Indeed!" With the high-five that followed that exclamation, the Chariot Social Link reached level 9. "Let's end this and go home, alright? I'm kinda hungry…"

"Oh, then let's stop by Wuck! I'll invite you!"

"Rio, you're the coolest captain ever, you knew that?"

When the girls were leaving Wild Duck after a treat of fast food, they found Minato helping Kazushi walk down the stairs which leaded to Hagakure and other restaurants. Both Fools said bye to their respective Social Links and walked together to the dorm.

"So… You leveled up with Rio?"

"Yup!" Hamuko smiled. "It was a really fun afternoon! You should have been there!"

"Huh…" Minato took the headphones hanging from his neck and placed them over his head. "Would it be indiscreet to ask what level are you two?"

"Um… No? We're in uh… The ninth level already! …Actually, I'm not even sure if that's going slowly or fast…"

"I see…" The bluenet decided not to share any more information on the topic. They arrived to the dorm and left their schoolbags in their respective rooms, then proceeded to meet again in the lounge. "You have to go to work, right? Let's go to Paulownia together…"

* * *

><p>There was something awkward going on between them. Minato couldn't prevent himself from staring at the girl and vice versa, having some difficulty to speak full phrases.<p>

"Tomorrow we'd have celebrated Tanabata, huh…?"

"Yeah…"

"…A pity, isn't it?"

They silently decided that it was the moon's fault.

* * *

><p>Hamuko leisurely strolled around Chagall as she always used to do, but there was something different in the way she walked. Or maybe she was wearing a different uniform. In any case, there had to be a reason why he was acting like Junpei would, ogling her like he would. "<em>Too much coffee<em>." He said to himself, looking intently at the cup filled with a liquid black like a moonless night, almost expecting it to give him an answer. Maybe it was just like she had told him the day before. Maybe those were simply new feelings he wasn't used to. Maybe. …Maybe he was better away from the café, buying some supplies for the following day.

* * *

><p>As it was usual of the Dark Hour previous to the full moon, every Persona user felt ready to kick some shadow ass. The overconfident Fools had -as it was usual as well- completely disregarded this event. Mitsuru decided that she'd make a schedule for the next full moon mission so that they couldn't miss such a crucial day for training.<p>

* * *

><p>The next morning went by surprisingly quick and silently, and so did the afternoon, when the afternoon arrived they were convoked to the dorm, where they received a talk by Ikutsuki about the importance of being ready for anything. Before they knew, night arrived and with it, the Dark Hour.<p>

"Any luck, Fuuka?" Akihiko walked around the Command Room desperately.

"...Just a moment..." The teal haired girl spoke from the protection her Persona offered her. "...I found it! I sense a strong presence!

"Hey, you guys were right!" Junpei exclaimed happily.

"Or so it would seem." Ikutsuki's voice sounded really interested.

"It's located in Iwatodai..." Fuuka explained. "…Inside a building on Shirakawa Boulevard."

"Hmm, Shirakawa Boulevard..." The only adult in the group adjusted his glasses. "They've been finding The Lost in pairs lately... Now I understand why."

"In pairs..." Mitsuru muttered to herself. A faint blush appeared on her face as realization hit her. "...Oh, I get it."

Fuuka's Persona turned into shards of a crystal-like substance and vanished. "Why, what's on Shirakawa Boulevard?" She asked innocently. "I'm not familiar with that area..."

"I've heard about it, but..." Yukari laughed awkwardly.

"That's where all THOSE hotels are. That explains a lot!" Junpei smirked. "You've heard about 'em, right Fuuka? Where people go to... Ya know..."

If pink appeared on Mitsuru's cheeks seconds before, Fuuka turned pretty much red. "Oh...?

"Ugh, you have the dirtiest mind..." The brunette with a pink cardigan shook her head disapprovingly.

"Nonsense..." Ikutsuki chuckled. "They're no different than ordinary hotels. The rooms are a bit fancier, that's all."

"Aw man…" Junpei seemed disappointed. "That's it?"

"I don't know about this..." Yukari glanced away. "Maybe I shouldn't go..."

"Aww, Yukari, what are you afraid of?" It was quite an irony Hamuko was the one asking that.

"You're just like a little kid, Yuka-tan..."

"Wh-Whatever!" Yukari yelled defensively. "Fine. Let's go. But this time, I want a piece of the action!"

"Y-You do?"

"So, who's gonna take the lead?"

"Who do you think?" Minato smiled confidently at Yukari.

"Indeed." Mitsuru nodded. "I don't see any reason to change leaders now. And Yamagishi, I want you to handle support during the operation."

"I'll do my best!" Fuuka seemed really fired up.

"Alright, then I'll let you decide on the rest of the team." Akihiko walked out of the room. "Let's do this."

* * *

><p>Apparently, the place where the Shadow was hiding was a hotel in the red light district called 'Champs de Fleurs'. A group composed of The Fools, Yukari and Akihiko were the chosen ones to explore and fight. A –whiny, because he wanted to know what a love hotel looked like- Junpei and Mitsuru had to stay back with Fuuka and guard the place.<p>

"_I_ _sense a powerful Shadow on the third floor!_" Fuuka shouted in their minds. "_Please, head there immediately._"

Hamuko suggested taking a look inside the rooms –for scientific curiosity of course! "There might be treasure chests or something in there!"

"You've played way too many videogames." Everyone agreed with Yukari's words.

The exploration was fairly easy. They ran around avoiding enemies, determined to face the Full Moon Boss with their energy intact. Once they arrived to the third floor, everyone split up to look for the shadow.

"Hey, look at that." The red eyed girl pointed to a big door. It was made of finely polished steel covered with pink varnish, like every other door. However, a pattern of yellow squares zigzagged across the bisector of the door, and the walls surrounding the room had red curtains, which the rest of rooms lacked. "I bet ya that the boss is there, Senpai!"

"Why?"

"You think a Shadow would sleep in an average looking room, huh?"

Hamuko's suggestion would have gone unheard if a shadow spotting them hadn't made them ran into the door, only to be told that the shadow was indeed there.

The room they had just entered was rather spacious and… Rather fancy, as well. From the walls covered with curtains, to the columns delicately decorated with little flower patterns; from the extremely comfortable-looking waterbed in the centre of the room to the carpet matching the columns, placed right below them… All the elements in the room were overflowing with mauve and red hues. The only furniture which didn't follow this… Suggestive pattern… Was a blue TV dripping with blood, placed in the right corner opposite to the door they used to enter, and a big, heart shaped mirror right behind the bed.

And, oh right, the Shadow.

"This thing's the boss?" Yukari ogled the enemy in front of them. "Huh... It's more normal-looking than I expected."

'Normal' was a rather relative definition. The Shadow placed a few steps ahead of them was kind of… Startling. It looked like an extremely obese man sitting upon a small throne, was completely ignoring S.E.E.S. This man was dressed in a white suit with golden decorations, a crimson cape covering his shoulders and a red loincloth with two little keys –one blue and one pink- drawn in it hung limply down his enormous belly, partially covering its legs, which were so short that they couldn't reach the ground.

The expression on its face –or rather, its blue mask- was of overwhelming pleasure, apparently due to the caresses it was being given by a extremely thing beige woman placed right behind the throne. A flailing brown six-barred cross came from her neck, instead of a head as it would be normal.

The last element completing the shadow were two little white crosses standing by the man, shaking constantly in unison. Each of them had a flower drawn on the junction between their small diagonal and the long one; the one a few steps right to the man had a pink rose; the other had a black flower, or maybe a star, it was rather difficult to tell.

Normal. Yeah.

"_Get ready, everyone! It's coming!_"

Minato decided he'd be the one to start the battle. "Fuuka, try to scan its weaknesses!" He readied his katana and threw himself at the Shadow, only managing to cut its cape, as the woman in beige protected its mask. "We have to end that thing first if we want to get to the mask!"

"Got it!" Hamuko ran towards the shadow and brought her Evoker to her temple. "Getsu-Ei!" Immediately, Raksasha manifested itself and slashed the woman's neck with its swords, getting a loud shriek from the shadow, and hit part of a column as well, making the room rumble slightly.

"We mustn't damage the room!" Akihiko shouted as he punched one of the little crosses accompanying the shadow which had decided to jump at him all of a sudden. "Remember that people can see the effects of the Dark Hour once it's over!"

Yukari was reading her bow, about to strike the shadow right in the mask and send it into oblivion, when a creepy sound filled the room. Both parts of the Shadow were laughing sinisterly at the same time they muttered one of the most dreadful spells the teens had witnessed until that moment. "Prophecy of ruin…"

The room began vanishing in their minds.

* * *

><p>"It will be innocuous and quick." A monotone voice assured. Minato shut his eyes tightly, trying to suppress the tears caused by the fright which filled his heart as the boiling steel of a gun cannon was brought to his forehead. "Your sacrifice is for the greater good."<p>

Innocuous? Greater good? He didn't even know what those words meant! A cold air made him feel goosebumps; his end was approaching.

"I am only doing what I have to do." He could hear rustling sounds. It was like the ticking of a clock, counting the seconds until his death.

A roar blocked his thoughts. Minato's eyes couldn't help but look at the car where he had been complaining about being bored only instants before. He could see a pale, motionless hand coming out of the broken window. It was completely drenched in blood. He felt his consciousness was bailing, and he couldn't avoid thinking that maybe dying would be the best option for him.

* * *

><p>"…May I ask what is her name?"<p>

"She doesn't seem to be able to remember it..." A man in his twenties wearing a police uniform was speaking through a table phone. Hamuko stood by his side, watching him intently… "…All I know is that when I asked her for any relative's contact information, she gave me your phone number, sir… I know you must be really busy with all those cases, but… I heard about your missing relative and…"

"I am afraid that neither her description nor her sex qualify her to be that one person." A stern, deep voice, probably that of an old man, spoke so loud through the auricular that Hamuko could hear every word. "My daughter and her husband died just yesterday and my only grandson has… Disappeared, which means I've been left in charge of my only granddaughter. You surely will understand that I am not in the mood to deal with stupid fallacies such as an amnesic girl randomly guessing my number, which is of public knowledge anyway."

"Indeed, but—"

"Please, do not waste my time any longer." The voice growled as it hung up.

The young policeman with short black hair and sideburns released a worried sigh. Hamuko noticed that his face seemed oddly familiar for some reason. "No luck. I'm sorry, kid..." He pressed slowly some keys in the calling device as he gave the child a compassionate look. "It seems you're alone in the world now…"

* * *

><p>Deep in the world of dreams as they were, they didn't notice how Akihiko weakened the shadow, or how Yukari shot an arrow that pierced right through the Hierophant's mask, leaving it in a perfect position for a coup de grace.<p>

It was only after regaining his consciousness that Minato saw his chance. Trying to forget anything he'd seen in the dream, he headed towards the shadow and gracefully jumped on its throne and belly, stabbing the Shadow right in the face with a rage he didn't know he possessed. As the Shadow disintegrated into a cloud of black dust, Hamuko woke up and stood as well. She shook her head slightly, wondering what the hell was she dreaming about.

"_Good job_." Fuuka spoke in their minds. "_You succeeded once again. I'll be waiting outside for you_."

Everyone headed to the door and discovered, horrified, that no matter how they tried to open it, it just wouldn't budge. It was like some force was holding it shut, like it happened with the Priestess months before.

"...Huh?" Fuuka seemed startled. "I still sense a Shadow in that room! It's not the same one you defeated! But... Where is it hiding?"

It wasn't under the bedroom… It wasn't in the bathroom…

"Hm?" Yukari stopped in front of a lavender mirror, and soon everyone followed her. "Is it just me, or is there something strange about this mirror?"

"Wow! We don't appear reflected in-!"

The group fainted for the second time in only ten minutes.

* * *

><p>"…<em>Wh<em>_ere am I?_" Minato had lived many strange things since he first arrived to Iwatodai, but this was the first time he'd waken up on a water bed with a towel as a blanket. Well, more than being used as a blanket, it seemed like someone had thrown it over him without much care. He quickly tied the towel around his waist, sat on the edge of the circular bed and glanced around. The room was rather nice, mauve like the rest of the hotel –hotel? Was he in a hotel? There was a small fridge by the bed and he was surprised to see that a big window connected the bedroom with the bathroom. Minato looked at the carpet covering the door, and discovered surprised that all his clothes were scattered around without any order, something weird in him, but that was not the only shock… Among his own possessions, he could perfectly tell apart a set of black undergarments that _definitely_ didn't belong to him. He let his eyes linger on the private clothing a bit longer, before finally turning his head around to find yet another thing he hadn't expected … "_Oh my…_" The boy never thought he'd get to see Hamuko wearing something more revealing than a High Cut Armour; he'd never thought a simple pink towel could be so provocative until that moment.

Hamuko batted her eyelashes slowly as she smiled seductively at the boy. "Are you going to stare at me all night long?"

He only managed to stutter something incomprehensible, his eyes incapable to leave her poorly covered figure.

"Stop looking at me like that…" She whispered as she walked towards the boy, the end of her towel dancing dangerously high up her thigh whereas her cleavage was impossibly low, without actually showing anything at all. Theiss would be so damn proud of that towel... "…Seriously, you're making me feel awkward."

"I-I should be the one saying so…"

Hamuko extended a hand towards him, taking care of keeping the towel in place with the other. "Well, weren't we going to take a shower together?"

"…Were we?"

"Yeah…" There she was, fluttering her eyelashes again. "You look a bit _stiff_, so I thought that'd help you relax…"

There was something off –other than Hamuko's sick puns. Minato was sure of it. "Let's go, then…"

The brunette took his hand and happily leaded all the way to the bathroom.

Minato was expecting something very different. "Hamuko, are you ever going to get in the shower or what?" He asked as he stared at her from the bathroom door, still a bit hesitant to get in. In any case, what he really meant was 'are you ever going to get rid of that towel?'

"I'm waiting for the water to heat up, okay?" Her voice could be barely heard over the shower noise. "I can't stand cold water." She then went back to humming some familiar song. Oh right, When the Moon's Reaching Stars.

"I'll wait outside..." Minato walked out of the bathroom.

"Hmm…" For some reason, Hamuko decided to keep her towel near when she finally walked into the shower, even though she abandoned her hair clips and ponytail on the sink –those were important for her, mind you. She ran a hand through her wet hair as she stared absently at the shower head. Something felt off. She knew that. Even the water felt off. "_Wait, what_?" She put her hands together and let them fill with water. When she drank a bit of it, she was horrified to see that it tasted metallic, like… Blood. She immediately turned off the shower, disgusted at her realization.

Pain suddenly hit both teens as a voice began talking in their minds. It didn't sound too different to the Social Links one.

"_Embrace your desire…_" The voice spoke smoothly. "_I am the voice of your inner self... Enjoy the moment.._."

"W-We're in…" Hamuko rested her head against the wall.

"Enjoy the moment…" Minato echoed.

"_That which cannot be felt is merely a dream... The present is all we have_."

"T-That's right, but…"

"Indeed…"

"_The future is but a fantasy, memory a fabrication... Let your desire free you from your shackles... Such is my wish..._"

The girl clutched her head. It hurt her to resist.

"_Pleasure is what you truly want. You cannot deny your instincts... Embrace your desire..._" The voice finally faded away. Hamuko glanced around, confused about what had just happened.

"_Oh, I can finally reach you!_" Fuuka spoke in her mind all of a sudden. "_I'm sorry, I couldn't contact you sooner… The Shadow was interfering with your thoughts..._"

"I-I see." Hamuko exhaled slowly as the pain recessed.

"_You all got separated... The enemy is still in the same room. Please regroup and hurry there._"

"Wait." She wiped out some of the steam which was preventing her from seeing what was going on in the contiguous room. She couldn't see Minato. "Fuuka, there might be a slight pro—" Hamuko yelped as she felt something brushing her neck and a pair of strong hands placed on her hips.

"Relax, it's just me…" Minato whispered as he kept kissing her neck slowly.

"D-Did you hear that?"

"Oh, yes. And I completely agree with the voice, don't you?" He casually slid his hands down and then under the towel.

"Uh…" Hamuko gulped. "_He must be charmed_!" The thought frightened her. "_I can't anger him… If he tries to attack me and I fight him like this, I'll surely lose! Where the hell is my weapon?_" She decided to pretend that the feeling of his hands exploring the contours of her body didn't affect her. Maybe he'd lose interest and leave…

"What's wrong, my love?" He removed his hands from beneath the towel. "Don't you like that?"

"I-I…"

"That's right…" He lifted her in his arms much to her dismay. "It's not nice to make a lady wait."

"M-Minato, this isn't right!" She tried talking to him. "Listen to me! We're in the Dark Hour! We're in the middle of a mission!" The waterbed trembled as he placed her softly over it. "P-people will die if we don't get out of here and do something now!"

"Screw them! People haven't done anything for us." Minato placed his hands on the bed, ready to jump onto it.

"C'mon, we can do this any other day!" She futilely tried to reason with him.

"I promised I'd do something special with you on Tanabata…" He crawled slowly until her position. Hamuko tried to back away, but he held her strongly.

"B-but… You wouldn't want to be a father just yet, r-right?"

"We can worry about that tomorrow..."

"Y-you…" She clenched her teeth as the boy began fighting with the knot of her towel. "You said you'd never hurt me!"

Apparently, those words took him back a bit. "I'm… I'm not going to hurt you…" He put his face right next to hers. "I'm going to make you **love** me! I'm going to show you what I feel for you!" He grabbed her shoulders. "I'm going to make you understand! THAT can't hurt you!"

When Hamuko thought she was completely lost, the door flew open. Akihiko's face was completely indescribable before the scene. Minato's was rather unreadable as well.

"YOU, SON OF A BITCH!" He yelled as he ran towards Minato and took him away from Hamuko, punching him once and again.

"S-Stop!" She cried as she held Akihiko's arm. "He was charmed! He didn't know what he was doing!"

"He was charmed?" The silver haired boy glared at Minato. His kohai seemed confused.

"…Yeah, I was."

Akihiko glanced away, gritting his teeth. "Put on some clothes, quick! Fuuka sent me to find you because the Dark Hour is barely fifteen minutes away from its end."

The Fools used the bathroom at different times to redress, and then they ran out of the room with Akihiko after finding their weapons under the bed.

"_I'm sorry... I never expected there to be another Shadow_." Fuuka spoke timidly. "_Its power is blanketing the whole building. I'm pretty sure it's in that one room you were in before... But, it somehow sealed the door, so I don't think you'll be able to get in. I'll try to find out if there's a way to break the seal... Please join the others. They're on the floor above you_."

They went upstairs. Hamuko was deadly silent all along, Akihiko seemed furious and Minato seemed unaffected. The later really hurt her… Being charmed really wasn't a excuse for… That.

"Oh, hey there!" Yukari greeted the group. "I can't believe there was another one... That was the worst!" She noticed the tension between the group. "Hey... Are you okay?"

"…" Hamuko casted her eyed down.

"Just fine." Akihiko clenched his fists as he glared at Minato. There was some silence among them.

"_I got it! It's the mirrors_!" Fuuka startled everyone. "They're _giving off the same energy as the Shadow! Maybe the seal will vanish if you break the mirrors in the rooms..._"

"I remember this one mirror we saw on the third floor was different

from the others..." Yukari commented. "When I stood in front of it, I felt kinda strange..."

"The reflection." Hamuko muttered. "We didn't appear in the reflection."

"Let's split out and find which mirrors don't show our rinse."

After Minato's suggestion, everyone left the group and began breaking into every room, looking for the special mirrors –well, Hamuko was discreetly following Yukari rather than looking for mirrors. She really… Didn't want to be alone. -Akihiko found one of the mirrors in their floor and Minato found the other one in the floor above.

* * *

><p>This time what they found in that fancy room was a big, flying heart made of some kind of jelly or goo with yellow metallic decorations keeping it together. Its red, sad mask indicated that it belonged to the Lovers Arcana.<p>

"YOU'RE. SO. DEAD." Hamuko clenched her naginata and screamed as she struck the shadow, achieving nothing other than getting pink goo all over her clothes. "Yukari, hit its mask!"

Yukari quickly shot arrows at its mask once and again as it was pretty much unprotected. They caused small cracks in the shadow's mask, but not much else.

Minato couldn't move very fast because, in all sincerity, Akihiko had given him a beating. That's why he was the aim of a very dexterous Holy Arrow, an attack well known by everyone since they had seen its effects when Oberon used it once and again in every enemy until charming them.

"Minato!" Hamuko shouted as the arrow flew towards his chest. She really didn't want to have to deal with Minato's charmed self EVER again.

"Don't worry." He brought the Evoker to his temple and shot. The arrow hit him, but it immediately bounced back towards its shooter, getting stuck on its mask. Seeing everyone's confused faces, he smirked. "Narcissus knows Null Charm. I'm immune to it."

Maybe Hamuko missed those words. Maybe she preferred to think she heard wrong. In any case, throwing her weapon at the floating heart proved to be rather useful, as the shadow vanished completely.

"Good job, everyone." The brunette picked up her Beam Naginata. "Let's go."

They all left the hotel, disregarding completely any damages they had caused in its most expensive room.

* * *

><p>"I'm glad you're all safe." Fuuka welcomed them warmly.<p>

"You did a great job." Mitsuru nodded to herself. "The enemy was sly, but you did well."

"I did what I could…"

"And you all did as well, for withstanding the enemy's mental assault."

There was some mumbling among the S.E.E.S. members. "Alright, let's call it a night." Akihiko left with Mitsuru.

As usual, everyone let Hamuko and Minato go to the dorm at their own rhythm.

"Oh, Yukari." The girl with Cyan hair called. "About that thing you mentioned the other day..." What thing?

"You found out something?"

Yukari's interest apparently startled Fuuka. "Y-Yeah."

"Cool, tell me later. Alright! We should head back too!" Yukari adopted a thoughtful. "Fuuka played a big role again in this one, so score another for the second-years!" She laughed. "Come on, Junpei. What are you doing?"

"Err… I'll go now, okay…?" Junpei seemed interested in something happening only a few meters away…

"What a night…" Hamuko ran a hand through her hair. "Fucking shadows."

"Yeah…" Minato scratched the back of his head. "Oh well, at least there were bright sides to the night. The shower thing wasn't too bad."

"…?" The brunette halted. "How can you remember that?"

Minato's eyes widened, then narrowed again. "H-how could I forget that?"

"C-charmed people can't r-remember _**anything**_ they do." She looked at him in the eye and then gasped. "N-no." She began stepping backwards.

"…I-it's not what you think…" The boy raised his hands defensively. "I-I thought YOU were charmed."

"…" Hamuko was trembling.

"B-But you were enjoying it, weren't you?"

What Junpei saw was how Hamuko punched Minato's face with rage in and then ran into him, crying. He couldn't see of course how the link broke or how at the same time, almost ironically, the Fools Social Link reached level 4.

Minato stood in the place where he had stopped, a hand on his bleeding nose and his sight lost in the infinite. When he came back to his senses, he was sure he saw three figures talking leisurely on a roof, yet he decided to ignore them, worried about bigger issues.

Quite an unique Tanabata, indeed.

* * *

><p><strong>Cue some flamming and "OH GOD WHY"s. <strong>

**There's been some foreshadowing here and there that this would happen. Sorry guys, but with great good comes massive downers.**

**I'll go hide under a rock now.**


	40. No way back

**Author note: alright! Since I have a talent to make phoenix-like come backs from controversial plot points, here comes a little FAQ.**

**Q. THE SOCIAL LINK JUMPED BACK? WHAAAAAAT?**

**A. Allow me to remind you that there are TWO Fool Social Links. One is 0 –the S.E.E.S. one- and the other is 22 –that of Minato and Hamuko.**

**Q. SDASDJADFAHFAHSDAHWHFAGDW?**

**A. No Minato didn't do it on purpose. There, I spoiled it for you. **

**Also, just a little comment here, but… Hamuko acted just how Minato is acting now for like twenty chapters **_**at own will**_**. Her actions were pretty much harassment –some almost sexual harassment-, yet you guys found it **_**funny**_**. I find it jarring how much it changes when the one crossing the line is the guy (even if he almost crossed the line twice, did a mortal flip over it and shouted 'hey, I crossed the line!').**

**Q. You trying to make –insert character- unlikeable? You want us to hate them or what?**

**A. Some fics try hard to make characters likeable, and bring us woobie heroes, cool guys and action girls. What I do is to make characters unlikable on purpose, that way I can remark the progressive evolution to becoming likeable ones. I'll NEVER try to make you hate a character, hating them is something YOU do and not me. If I apparently bash them at some point, it means that I'm going to pay a lot of attention to their character development in the future. See: about everyone. I think the only main character who hasn't been bashed is Fuuka, lol.**

**And buh, Yukari was a bitch in the videogame as well 8D; I just made her even more bitchy, but she'll evolve just like everyone, I swear.**

* * *

><p>Junpei had tried to make Hamuko tell him the complete story, but he only managed to get her to share part of it –the most important and nothing else. He'd never seen his best friend so utterly down, and he felt incredibly powerless because he hadn't been there to help her. Nothing he did seemed to cheer her up, not even reminding her that vacations were just around the corner.<p>

Hamuko arrived to the conclusion that the best she could do not to worry anyone else was to pretend that she wasn't as depressed as she was, keeping any tormenting thoughts about the previous night away from her mind. However, going to the same class as the one guy she punched in the face the night before was making it rather difficult.

The morning went on peacefully since the brunette's plan was more or less working, until Miss Toriumi said something about exams starting on Tuesday and then proceeded to talk about comma splices. She wrote three phrases on the blackboard and called Minato to get his attention. "Which of these phrases is correct?"

"I failed, it's over now." What an appropriate phrase that was for the situation. He hadn't slept at all that night. And it wasn't related to the fact that the many bruises he sported made it impossible to just lay on his bed and succumb to slumber. He had been going over what happened the previous night once and again, trying to know where the hell did he go wrong; he only wanted to help her understand herself, yet all he managed to do was hurting her feelings… And fortunately, nothing else.

Minato wasn't charmed, that was something he knew for certain, but he wasn't being himself. "_I would never do that. Ever. …Then again, that's what I thought when I first felt the urge to kill her. But no… That can't be me…I'm not a beast." _He rubbed his temples, trying to order his thoughts._ "Maybe those two are related._" Indeed, he was conscious of the acts he committed while affected by both, but he couldn't fight either… Condition? Urge? Persona induced shit? "_That would make sense, but there's no way I can just sit down and tell Hamuko about it; there's no way she'd let me tell her, that's it_." He sighed. "_I managed to break a Social Link..._ _Wait, no, what am I thinking? Hamuko is not 'a Social Link'…Well, she IS indeed another Social Link, but… God, this is so confusing…_" Something deep inside told him that he had done something he was supposed to do, that it should really have happened. He found that little voice frightening.

Murmurs about the greatness of Minato filled the class. "_If only they knew the truth… Fuck, I should have told everyone…_" Hamuko growled under her breath. "_Why do I have to be only a desk away from that bastard? He should be in prison, not in a class, getting praised. This isn't fair… How could he dare try to do that to me? What if Senpai hadn't arrived on time…?_" She buried her head in her arms. "_I knew he'd end up hurting me. I just knew it. That wasn't me being in love with him as he said; it was probably just me trying to be wary of him._ _I should have known better than trusting a compulsive liar and a guy who tried to kill me twice…" _Well, she had tried to kill him as well_. "But he wasn't like that before… Did I… Change him? No! It's not my fault! He probably was just pretending to be a nice guy all along!" _She glared at her table, incapable to turn around to express her hate for the boy_. "How could I ever believe he loved me…?_" Something deep in her mind was telling her that she wouldn't have any of those worries had she just gone with it. That it was her fault for not making happen what was supposed to occur all along. She found that little voice disgusting.

When the Fools got up from their chairs as the school day ended, their gazes met briefly. Hamuko quickly glanced away, clenching her teeth and fists so hard that she could feel her nails digging into her palms. She decided to take her schoolbag and run out of the class; she didn't want to end up breaking Minato's face. Not in public, that's it.

Minato and Junpei both stared at her as she left. Junpei gave the bluenet a dirty look and then proceeded to leave as well. It was then when Minato noticed that he had become the public enemy number one for the boys in his dorm –and probably Mitsuru as well- in only a night. Oh well. At least Yuko seemed to have some appreciation for him as the new message in his mobile phone screen proved. That was enough for him to accept her invitation to hang out together. The Fools were still competing, and he really wasn't planning to fall behind just because he had messed up one Social Link.

* * *

><p>"Hamuko-sama, are you sad as well?"<p>

Hamuko's eyes travelled slowly from her failed attempt at a purse to Bebe. "…As well?" She had gone to the Fashion Club expecting that Bebe's –one of the few guys who were as really uninterested on studying for exams as her- incessant rants and bad Japanese would help her forget her depressing thoughts for a while. This, however, didn't happen, as the blond was just as quiet as her. "What happened?"

Bebe's lower lip trembled slightly. "Last night… My dear aunt… Was taken away by ze angels!"

"Sorry, I don't know what that expression means…"

The French boy stared at the kimono silently for a while before suddenly throwing his arms around Hamuko. The first thought she had was pushing him away, scared of anything like the previous night happening again; however, she soon noticed that the boy was doing nothing apart from crying disconsolately. "She 'as been taken away!" He mumbled while tears leaked down his eyes. "She was ze reason I was able to come to Japan... And now, she 'as been taken away..."

She finally understood what the foreigner meant. "Y-you too lost someone you loved yesterday?" She patted his back softly, trying to soothe him. "It's alright. It'll be alright… P-please, don't cry o-or I'll…" Before she could finish that sentence, she began crying as well.

Bebe pulled away, rubbing his sore eyes. "S-Sorry, gomenasai! I didn't mean to make you cry!" He bowed once and again. "But my aunt… She 'elped me so much, and... I could not do anyzing for 'er." He sniffed. "I was 'olding zis inside... Because I know zat crying will not 'elp... But, seeing ze look on your face, I..." Tears began rolling down his cheeks again.

Seeing that she wasn't the only one around going through a really hard time made Hamuko feel slightly better –and then feel horrible for being glad of such a thing. In any case, Bebe had trusted her, and she felt close enough to him to reach level 4 of the Temperance Social Link.

"Sorry, gomenasai. I cannot work today…" Bebe got up from his chair and walked towards the door, followed by Hamuko. "Well… Aishiteru."

The brunette made a mental note to tell her foreign friend the real meaning of that word once they both felt a bit better.

* * *

><p>"Oh hey!" Yukari greeted Hamuko as she got in the dorm.<p>

"Hey…" She left her schoolbag on a sofa and took a look around. No Minato to be found. Good. Or maybe not so. "Does anyone want to go to Paulownia?"

"I'm sorry, Hamuko, but Fuuka and I'll have to pass. We need to… Clear some things up…"

Junpei patted her back softly and smiled. "Let's go, Hamu-chan."

* * *

><p>They did small talk on the way to Paulownia. In all honesty, Hamuko would have preferred a girl's company, as she knew that her dorm mate only tagged along to enjoy 'moe' in its pure essence. He was better than nothing, though. And hey, it wasn't the first time he had tried to cheer her up; it'd just been so long since the last time something big occurred that she had forgotten why they were such good friends.<p>

It wasn't Hamuko's day. Or week even. She arrived to this conclusion after seeing Minato and Yuko walking together out of Café Chagall, seconds after Junpei and she had arrived to the mall. The team manager had her arm linked with Minato's, and the boy was grinning flirtatiously at her, looking at her with half lidded eyes –'fuck me eyes' as Junpei would call them.

"I love you." Those were some really simple words, but Yuko seemed to be hypnotized by them. They shared a kiss which was rather… Lengthy.

It was only after parting his lips with the tanned junior that Minato noticed the presence of the other S.E.E.S. members. His eyes met Hamuko's briefly, yet he acted like he hadn't seen either teen and walked away.

"_So that's how it was all along, huh…?_" Hamuko couldn't bring herself to detract her gaze from the ground. She had made clear from the moment they became 'something more' that she didn't know how to keep to only one person, as she saw lovers and friends in the same light. However, in a shameless display of both hypocrisy and blind faith in his words, she had never thought he'd tell any other girl that he loved her… However, that scene had only managed to make the hole he'd left in her heart _slightly_ bigger –it was like drilling at the bottom of a canyon.

"Hamu-chan…?"

"S-sorry, I zoned out." An obviously fake smile appeared on her face. "Let's go to Chagall, alright?"

"Hey…" Junpei followed her closely. "S-say just a word, and I'll turn that bastard into mincemeat!"

"Don't say nonsense, man…" Hamuko shook her head. "_In any case, I'd like to do that by myself_."

* * *

><p>Junpei was in his best behavior all night, even though he couldn't avoid following Hamuko's coworkers with his eyes every so often –then again, that was kind of the point of a maid café. He almost jumped off his chair when he saw that one of those cute uniformed waitresses approaching him without having asked for anything. The black haired woman said she just wanted to talk, and praised his good looks before offhandedly asking if he knew anything about Hamuko's low spirits.<p>

Hamuko noticed this event right in time to stop Junpei from telling her senpai something she probably would have never lived down.

The night came to an end rather uneventfully. And for once, everyone seemed glad of having had a boring day.

* * *

><p>Minato was rolling on his bed, incapable to find sleep, too busy trying to keep the flood of thoughts that suddenly hit his mind when the Dark Hour ended to a minimum. Eventually, he managed to drift into Morpheus's arms, only to find a dream which, due to his great instinct of self-preservation, he would only refer to as 'unwelcomed and disturbing' in the future.<p>

In it, Hamuko was the one charmed and trying to seduce him, just like she was when he woke up in that room. Just like old times. This time, however, he still found himself perfectly capable to control his acts, having managed to ignore the call of the Lovers Shadow. He tried once and again to fight the temptation to 'become one' as the girl in his dream had called it; he really tried his best, and yet… Let's say that it didn't end well for either of them. This shook him to the core; he refused to sleep, fearing that a similar nightmare would be out to get him.

A similar, if not the same, dream crossed Hamuko's mind, managing to keep her unveiled for the rest of the night. "_It must be an aftereffect of being charmed._" She had never actually suffered that status before. After her fury against herself recessed slightly, she began wondering about the dream. "_What if it had happened only a few weeks ago?_" She hugged her knees as she stared at the darkness filling the room. "_What would I have said…?_" As the umbra became less obscure for her eyes, they travelled almost automatically to the bureau by her bed, which was mostly empty, filled only with items she kept with utmost care: namely her headphones and MP3, and a couple things more.

She got up slowly, trying to avoid stepping on any of her belongings, and blindly ran her hands up and down the handles of the different drawers until she found the one she was specifically looking for. It was empty save for a photography; 'the one she liked the most', as she had referred to it in another occasion. Switching on the lights finally, she sat down on her bed and began staring at it. The photo showed nothing but she hugging a panicked Minato. The date April 27th was written in a corner. "_I would have wanted him to say yes."_ Her eyes scanned the picture, trying to find a proof that it had been a lie. But it had not. And then realization hit her. _"…I changed_." It hadn't been a physical change; it was another kind she had never seen until then. She left the photography on the mattress, next to her. "_I did it because of him. He changed me. I wouldn't be thinking this if it'd happened before… Because I would have said yes without thinking about it, trying to find out if a night with the difficult blue head made me feel better." _A sob escaped her lips._ "But he would have never let me do that, so nothing would have really happened and we'd be back to this situation…_"

"…" Hamuko grabbed the picture and yelled at it. "Then why, WHY? WHY is it different now? _**WHY**_ did he have to change_?_" Almost without realizing it, her hands grabbed the corners of the picture and torn it up, leaving nothing but pieces of paper all over the ground. She buried her face on the pillow of her bed and tried to find sleep again, not even bothering to switch off the lights. As much as it hurt her, she had come to understand that there was no point in denying it: Minato had been the first person to make her understand what love is, and what the phrase 'love hurts' really means, yet all that was over.

It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.

Too bad changes are too big to be handled sometimes.

* * *

><p>"The morning sunrise is so refreshing! The sunlight reflecting off the windows is beautiful!" Some happy boy with an orange schoolbag was talking with his girlfriend by the school gates, completely oblivious to the pain filling the heart of a bluenet walking by.<p>

"It's because the building wasn't built that long ago, so everything's still gleaming." She replied. "You know, I heard from my parents there was an explosion here 10 years ago. They replaced the building after that, but... There's more to it, too. Around that time, a lot of students stopped coming to school. Maybe that's why they put up the new building... To start with a clean slate..."

"An explosion? Did someone screw up in chem lab or something? That must have been a dangerous lecture..."

Something told Minato that what he had just heard was important, but he couldn't bring himself to give a damn about it.

* * *

><p>Mr. Ono, that one teacher in samurai gear, was talking about the law which served as the foundation for the development of feudalism. Of all people in the class, he had to ask Hamuko about it.<p>

"Frankly, sir." She tilted her head up slightly to look at him. "I've got no idea." Indeed, Hamuko hadn't eaten magical sushi, played quiz videogames or prayed to the Academics God in quite a long while.

"Sensei, if I may…" Minato stood up from his chair. "It was the Konden Einen Shizaihou."

There he went again. The perfect boy everyone admired. That made Hamuko feel sick.

* * *

><p>Minato spent the afternoon in practice while Hamuko went to the Cooking Club with Fuuka. Frankly, neither teen was feeling up for that kind of activities –there's nothing more riveting than cooking banana cupcakes amidst a depression- but they had a really busy social life to attend, no matter the situation.<p>

They finished club activities at pretty much the same time, so they couldn't avoid meeting at the school gate.

"Hamuko…"

The girl ran away before Minato could even start a phrase.

* * *

><p>Hamuko arrived to the dorm panting, since she'd been running all the way from Iwatodai Station. She slammed the door shut and sat down on the sofa while she answered the ring of her mobile phone. It was Theodore, informing her that the third barricade in Tartarus was gone. Awesome.<p>

Before even five minutes had passed, Minato opened the main door. An empty dorm used to be a good thing before, but at the moment it was a frightful thing. Hamuko got up from the sofa slowly, eyes fixed on the boy as she headed upstairs. She sincerely didn't expect the bluenet to follow her; but he did. In fact, as they reached the second floor, Minato quickened his pace and put himself between Hamuko and the door to her room. The female did her best to remain calm even though it was obvious that she was scared stiff.

They remained quiet some seconds, until Minato finally dared break the silence. "Hamuko, I… I want to tell you that…"

"Seikatsu-san." She muttered, finally daring meet his eyes willingly in two days. Her voice increased its volume. "I'm Seikatsu-san for you."

"Whatever! Just listen to me, please!" Minato put a hand on her shoulder which she quickly slapped away.

"Don't. _**Fucking**_. Touch me." The heartbroken brunette growled rather than spoke. "Now move from the door and get away from me or you'll regret it."

"No." He didn't seem willing to move from the door.

Hamuko took a deep breath. "Alright then!" She threw her arm back and then against Minato, wanting to give him another punch in the face; the boy quickly guessed her intentions and caught her fist right before it reached its destination.

"Stop." Minato held her fist strongly yet carefully. A half smile appeared on his face as he spoke. "I don't want to hurt you."

The girl stepped back. "Too bad the feeling's NOT mutual!" She tried to hit him again, only to be easily avoided and then completely immobilized. "Let go of me! No!"

"I'm not going to do anything to you. Just give me a chance to speak."

"You mean like _**you**_ did?"

Minato stared down at the girl as she struggled to free her hands from his grasp. He wanted to let her go, but he knew she'd run or hit him or do whatever, except letting him talk. "I… I didn't do it on purpose."

"Let me guess! An alien made you do it!" She tried to knee him without much accuracy. "Or no, it was your mysterious rapist—I mean, flirty side, was it? Or maybe it was the boogieman Persona taking possession of you?"

"No! Maybe? I don't know! I only know that I'd never do anything like that to you!" He softened the clasp on her wrists. "You have to believe me."

"How am I supposed to?" She gritted her teeth. "You tried to rape me! And you fucking lied to me when I defended you! You want me to believe your bullshit now?"

"Look, I… I knew that I wasn't charmed, but you can't seriously expect me to have said 'no, I knew what I was doing, I just didn't know how to stop myself' in front of Senpai, can you?"

Hamuko finally managed to pry her hands away. Instead of attacking him, as she initially wanted, she just let them fall limply by her sides. "…I don't expect you to do anything. I don't even want you to understand it. I don't wanna know anything about you anymore." She fought back the tears forming in her eyes. "You failed me. I don't want you to talk to me, I don't want you to be near me and I don't even want you to look at me. You're _**DEAD**_ to me now."

"Hamuko…!"

"Arisato-san." She spoke firmly, even though her gaze was fixed on the ground. "The only proof left that I ever loved you is that I didn't tell our Senpai the truth about what you did. Don't make me change that." Hamuko glared at the perplexed boy. "Now, lemme get in my room. It's the last favor I'm ever gonna ask you for."

Minato opened his mouth slightly, trying to think of something to say. Yet there was nothing to say. He simply moved away from the door so that she could unlock it and get in, and then he left the floor silently, convinced that he had heard her sob and slump on ground after closing the door.

There was no turn back now. Their love was a bridge they both had burned down.

* * *

><p><strong>Have I ever mentioned how much I hate drama? Because I do. This fic was supposed to be a comedy with serious stuff, not serious stuff with comedy, goddamn it 8U <strong>

**In any case, this chapter is here because I wanted to delve into the Fools' inner feelings and thoughts. Even if it ended up being mostly about Hamuko because she has more reasons to feel... Sentimental.  
><strong>

**And yes, I know that Minato doesn't seem too affected. But nothing ever really fazes him, right…?**


	41. Fast forward

**Author note: trying to kick a bit of drama out by going back to beloved by all, loved by none, old narrator comedy formula. But sorry, still Fools drama. Don't worry, it'll be over… Eventually! Sooner than later, I promise. Meanwhile, why not check out my dA gallery SandraMJ? There's a cover for The Fools' Tournament in there! 8D**

**So remember that I mentioned that there was foreshadowing for all this happening? Well. Check out their previous fights. You will never see them the same way again (particularly the fact that Minato starts them all) 8U**

**Also, sorry for short chapter and long wait. I had some problems writing it okay? **

* * *

><p>Friday was such a boring day. This is something you simply know when magic— I mean, Integrative Learning… Is the single most interesting thing happening during the whole day. But that was just how it was, seeing that exams were around the corner and people refused to hang out. Most of them did, anyway. Then there were other cases, like… Hamuko magically convincing Yukari to quit studying and spend the afternoon with her -or maybe it had more to do with that mysterious call the popular brunette had received, and which seemed to have left her completely flabbergasted.<p>

…Oh wait, these were things which didn't concern Minato anymore. If he had learnt a single thing from his old birdbrain partner was that dwelling on something irremediable didn't bring anything but headaches. Thus, he vowed to himself he'd leave the Fool Social Link long behind himself; to honor that commitment, he decided to pull some strings and convince the one female Social Link who had appreciation for him to study together –a nice euphemism for 'bonding together with obvious objectives' instead of going to practice to help the few members who actually bothered going there the week before exams. After all, they were at the ninth level already. Minato just had to delve a little deeper into Yuko's motivations –yet another interesting euphemism- to reach level ten and move on to another person. Maybe he'd focus on getting shit done with Kazushi as well, or even begin hanging out again with the shy Chihiro. Hell, maybe he'd go start that stupid Moon Social Link he'd been putting off since forever.

* * *

><p>"What did you answer to the question in exercise seven?"<p>

"Twelve hundred Newton per meter."

…Apparently, Yuko really wanted to study, so, that's just what they did until it got late. They also managed to… Get a bit closer while they were at it; but, of course, not too much, since they were studying in the school library.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Minato…" Yuko and her boyfriend had walked out of school about a quarter of hour before, and they were now sitting on a bench in a park near Paulownia, sharing kisses of the kind Hamuko had forbidden Minato to give to anyone but her -of course, that prohibition didn't matter anymore. And guess what, Yuko was a better kisser than her. Practice doesn't make perfect after all, duh. "Um… This is kind of embarrassing…" She smiled shyly as her face turned a nice shade of red. "My… My parents will be out of town during the weekend… And I… Um well, I wouldn't want to be alone and…"<p>

Minato ogled her cautiously, trying to figure what she was trying to imply. And then it hit him. "Oh, you want us to… 'Train'."

"Train?" Yuko's eyes widened. "So you _**do**_ call it 'training'?"

Something told Minato that he had just made a big mistake. "W-what?"

"Hamuko-san said you guys '_**trained**_' together!"

"She probably meant 'trained', not '_**trained**_'."

"**Probably**?"

"W-well there's a slight chance she meant another thing…"

"Like?" Good lord, Yuko's angry face was scary.

"Uh… She probably meant… Braining!" It took him a second to realize his slip of the tongue. "...NOT!" Hamuko managed to put him in troubling situations after kicking him out of her life. "O-oh well, you know that girl. She has those big teeth which must be a pain when talking and… Y-yeah." Minato ran a hand through his hair while trying to regain some composure. "In any case, I can assure you that we've never done that kind of training together." He laughed bitterly. "She's probably done that with every guy but me."

"I… See?" Yuko raised an eyebrow. "So uh… Anyway, I'd like to show you something. I'll be waiting for you tomorrow outside school."

Minato preferred to think that that 'something' she had to show him was perfectly G rated and not get a weird idea or hopes of finally filling some needs he didn't even know he had until a few weeks before.

* * *

><p>The day went on just as uninterestingly as it had started, with the Fools not even looking at each other. This was probably for the best though; violence would be granted if they were to interact. Furthermore, Hamuko and Yukari were too busy being suddenly best friends forever again to even turn their heads towards the bluenet –anyhow, he had enough with the glare Junpei was giving him, so….<p>

In the end Minato spent the night eating some rice balls with Fuuka, as they weren't as terribly cooked as the rest of her food –she seemed happy to spend time with him too, so everybody won… Except Minato, who found quite discouraging the fact that she 'belonged' to Hamuko.

"So, Minato-kun, do you like them?"

"Oh yes. They've got a really… Special flavour." Lies. Lying like always. Lies made people happy when truth would make them sad, and they helped Minato when truth would get him in trouble. Why would anyone loathe them? Lies were the basis of the world!

"Thanks…" Fuuka smiled. "Hamuko-chan gave me some pointers to avoid silly mistakes." She could easily see the bluenet grimace at the mention of that name. "Are you okay, Minato-kun? …You've been so distant from everyone lately."

Minato frowned and etched his hands under his nose –like Igor- wondering what he should say. Apparently, the girl was oblivious to what almost happened in that room in Champs de Fleurs. "I almost committed a mistake a few days ago. And here 'almost' is enough to never live it down, so..." A sigh escaped his lips. "I don't think I have any friends left in this dorm."

"I-is that so?" She glanced away, troubled. "But… W-we're friends, right?"

Minato looked at Fuuka in surprise. He had forgotten that friends existed outside Social Links –more like, he never knew since he'd been rather asocial for as long as he remembered. "…Indeed."

"I know what's it not having any friends is like… So you can c-count on me, Minato-kun." Fuuka stuttered, obviously embarrassed. "Everyone's so kind in S.E.E.S.… No matter what mistake you did… I'm sure the others will eventually forgive you." She beamed at him.

"…" The indigo haired boy nodded slowly. He then picked up their dishes and stood up from his chair. "I'm pretty tired. We'll keep talking another day." He left the plates in the dishwasher and headed to the stairs with Fuuka. "Oh and… Bring more of your food, please. I'd love to see your development as a cook."

* * *

><p>"Hey, it's Minato…" A sullen, familiar voice greeted Minato as he walked by the school gates. It was Junpei's. "How's it going, man?"<p>

"Awesome. I've got a date tonight, you know?" Even though he was looking at Junpei, it was obvious that he was speaking to Hamuko, who was by his side.

"Tsk, did I ask ya to tell me your life or something?"

"Jun-kun, let's go. I don't wanna be late." The brunette grabbed her friend's hand and dragged him away.

* * *

><p>There was class with Mr. Ono that morning, but Minato was way too busy daydreaming to answer correctly a question which was going to appear in the exam. Yuko, Yuko, Yuko… Did he really want that? He knew perfectly that she was just a quick replacement for the girl who dumped him, but… He couldn't help but having a feeling that it wasn't fair. He wasn't sure of whom it wasn't fair for, though. Probably him.<p>

The school day eventually came to an end, and so Minato left his classroom in a rush, not wanting to make Yuko wait.

"Wow, I think this is like the first time I've seen him run from something other than a Shadow." Hamuko agreed with Yukari's observation.

"_Danger of falling in love like this, danger of falling apart, in the hands… Of another…_" 'Danger' kept blaring out of Hamuko's school bag.

"Oh! I keep forgetting that I changed my ring tune." Hamuko chuckled as she picked up her mobile phone. "Isn't Risette's music awesome? …Alright, let's see… A message from Senpai!" Hamuko cleared her throat and tried to imitate Akihiko's voice. "'Ikutsuki-san is coming tonight. He has something to tell us. We'll meet on the 4th floor as soon as everyone is back.'"

"_Someone_ should go look for Minato-kun so we can go all together."

"What? No." The red eyed girl seemed shocked. "Why do I hafta go?"

"Because you're the one who alwaaaaays wants to be with him. So you go." Yukari grinned mockingly. And of course Junpei wasn't around when he was needed…

"…_Fine_." Hamuko got up and headed out of the classroom cursing everything she could come up with under her breath. She'd go fetch Minato and then don't tell him a single word. Nice plan, wasn't it? Well, obviously not.

Fortunately, it was rather easy to find the boy. He was walking out of school… With Yuko by his side, of course. What other date would he mean?

"Hey you." Both teens turned around at Hamuko's call. "You hafta come with me."

"I'm sorry, but I'm busy today." Minato didn't miss Yuko's reddening cheeks. "I've got _**important**_ things to _**do**_, you see."

"Are you sure they **agree** to be done, Arisato-san?" The brunette's eyes narrowed as she stared at him dangerously.

"Arisato-san?" Yuko echoed, surprised.

"Uh, Hamuko's just being dumb…" He reassured the team manager. "_What the fuck did you want, Hamuko_?"

"Ah, yanno what? Forget it. I wouldn't want to make you miss your fun." Hamuko turned around and began walking towards the school building again. "Take care, Yuko-san!"

"…What was that?"

"Oh, um… She's mad at me for not letting her win in the Ultimate Arena 4. You know Hamuko."

"Wow, really?" The tanned girl blinked in surprise. "It must be a pain living with that kind of person."

"Well… We were going to your house, right?"

* * *

><p>For the second time in his life, Minato was visiting Yuko's room. This time, however, he didn't feel so much like a fish out of water. The team manager ordered him to sit on her bed while she brought something out of her schoolbag. It seemed a letter.<p>

"This is what I wanted to show you." Of course. It was something normal. She wasn't Hamuko; he had no reason of being afraid of her doing something weird. "I know that I could have shown it to you at school, but…"

"Yuko, both you and I know what you're getting at." Minato winked at her. "Just let me see that letter."

"And there I thought I was the impatient one here…" Yuko handed him the letter. It was pretty unreadable. "...Remember the kids we coached? The four of them each wrote something for us. They're kinda mouthy, but they have their moments..."

In the letter they mostly thanked them for their help and wished them luck together. How very cute of them to wish luck for a relationship doomed from the get-go. "Those kids are awesome. Don't dare say the opposite."

"Haha, yeah…" Yuko's smile was really beautiful. "You can keep the letter if you want."

"I'll keep it like a treasure." Minato carefully folded the letter and put it in his pocket.

"You're so sweet, Minato…" Their eyes met in a heated gaze. "Minato…" He knew where this was going all along, and yet… He couldn't help but to feel some doubts. "…Last time you came over... It got a little weird... I was hoping we could try again..." Their lips met in a chaste kiss which soon turned into a hungry and passionate one, awakening really mixed feelings in the boy; when they parted again even more hesitation was filling Minato's heart. Apparently, Yuko could feel that and she tried to cheer on him. "You helped me find my true calling, Minato." She whispered." ...I'm so glad we met." One of her hands began running down the buttons of his shirt. "...I want to give you a special thank you..." She kissed him softly as she began working on removing the cloth. "So, will you stay with me a while longer...?"

Minato wanted to say no. He really wanted to excuse himself and leave, close the door behind him, never see Yuko again; however, their Social Link was yet to reach level 10. What if he left and managed to break it? Minato couldn't allow himself such a thing… As much as he was going to hate himself for what he was about to do and no matter how unfair it was for Yuko to be used like that, he needed that power to protect everyone, including her.

His last thoughts before removing his shirt completely and pushing Yuko on her back were about how that wasn't the woman he wished to be with.

* * *

><p>Minato woke up hours later on an unfamiliar bed, too small to be his, surrounded by the arms of a girl he couldn't care less about and who was sleeping blissfully –nakedly?- with a small smile on her face. He left his lover's side and began looking for his garments, which were laying around the room.<p>

He zipped up his trousers and turned on his mobile phone to see what time it was. 5:58 am… Mitsuru was going to skin him alive. He noticed something else in the screen; a text message from Hamuko.

"_Senpai was hidin info all along, shadows control time, her grandpa caused da whole tartarus n big shadows thing 10 years ago n were doin nothin but clean da mess. we kill em all, dark hour ends n we save da world. they made me tell u."_

He quickly texted her a reply. Yet another SMS arrived barely a minute later –she wasn't sleeping?

"_Yes u missed all that. congrats on bein able 2 call yoself a man or whatevs._" It was easy to tell that that was endlessly sarcastic. What he didn't know is that Hamuko's unwritten cue was 'I wanted that girl to be me'.

He finished buttoning his shirt and began looking for his bowtie. It was nowhere to be found. Before leaving her room and life, Minato had the minimum decency of looking for pencil and paper and writing a note to thank Yuko for everything.

* * *

><p>Minato began making a recount of the events that took place that night. So, now he had a letter to prove that he once was a complete jerk with Yuko, but also the ability to fuse Siegfried, the maximum power of the Strength Arcana; he had something to boast about to Junpei if they ever got on friendly terms again; however, there was also that spike he'd have forever because Hamuko wouldn't be the object of those presumptuous words. Oh, and he'd also have to buy a new bowtie.<p>

The bluenet silently roamed the streets, his head bobbing slowly to the rhythm of This Mysterious Feeling, one of those songs only he would have in his MP3. As he sneaked into the dorm and finally got in his own bed, he decided that it hadn't been a bad night, nor a good one either; just a long night. And now he wanted to spend a long time sleeping some more.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh Minato's apathy, aren't you going to get me nasty reviews… :U<strong>

**Allow me to remind you of my battle cry: Hamuko's character development happened in the first thirty chapters, now guess whose turn it is to develop! **


	42. Sound advice

**Author note****: hey, could anyone be cool and update the fanfic recommendation in TVtropes for The Fools' Tournament? It's kinda outdated by now (and if you have free time, create a main page for it, cough cough) **

**Also I still need a Beta Reader. Some guy offered to do it and then disappeared back at chapter 25, and the girl who helped me before that is busy or stopped reading or something :u**

* * *

><p>"Hey Hamu-chan!" Junpei's voice sounded even louder than usual through Hamuko's cellphone. "Are ya watchin' today's episode?"<p>

"Huh? Episode?"

"Phoenix Ranger time! Yellow Owl's a total kick-ass in this chapter!"

"Oh… Uh…" The girl glanced at the switched off screen. "I'm sorry man, but… I don't think I'm gonna follow that series anymore." Hamuko decided that this was as good as a moment as any other to finally leave her bed and quit trying to sleep at noon. While she was locking the door of her room, she saw Mitsuru knocking on Fuuka's door and then proceeding to enter. Weird. But not as weird as clearly hearing Yukari's voice through her door, obviously speaking to herself about something related to the Moonlight Bridge and her dad. "_Okay…?_"

Hamuko ran down stairs, making a quick stop at the boys' floor. Her eyes inevitably travelled to Minato's door. It was closed. Even though she wanted to believe that Minato had locked himself in there and began shouting to himself about what he had done, she knew that the most likely case was that he was sleeping. Not like she cared, but…

"What an episode!" The bluenet exclaimed as he walked out of his room. "Best plot—" Minato found Hamuko staring at him from the other side of the corridor. "Oh, Hamuko."

She glanced away. "Seikatsu-san, if you will." When her eyes stopped on his for a moment, a sigh escaped her lips, much to her dismay -and Minato's amusement. "You look happy."

"Do I…? Well, I'm not…" He folded his arms and stared intensely at her, about to pronounce some words that would only dig a deeper hole for their relationship. "…I wish it'd been with you. And I'm sure you wish the same."

"What? Wish the same…? Oh, you thought you'd be my first too…?" Hamuko shook her head disbelievingly. Her words acquired an intentionally cruel tune. "I'm _**SO**_ sorry… A few guys have beaten you to the punch." She laughed sarcastically seeing that her old friend's stoicism faltered slightly. "Did I disappoint you too much?"

"No, not really." The bluenet collected himself and stifled a bitter chuckle of his own by pressing his lips together strongly. "I simply forgot that you probably have a brand of bicycles named after you by now." He raised his eyebrows and cheeks slightly, making him look rather sympathetic- which was a stark and uncanny contrast to the harshness of his words.

"Hah…" Hamuko hung her head low as she casted her eyes down. That had been a really low hit. "I think we're done talkin' here."

"I don't." Minato narrowed his eyes down at her.

"…Didn't I make clear that I don't want _you_ to speak to me? Or at least you could, yanno, show that you're a bit**, just a bit,** sorry for what happened in Shirakawa when you do so. It'd make you seem less of a magnificent bastard."

"Is that so?" Minato arched an eyebrow. "I _would say 'I'm sorry' if I thought that it would change your mind~_"

"Go make fun of your mother." The girl finally snapped after Minato's little song and decided to continue her path downstairs. "Oh, wait, you can't."

"Don't you EVER dare mention my parents, did you hear me?" He yelled as she left the floor. "…Damn it." Seeing that it was pointless to speak to the other Fool, Minato decided to go do something useful. Like… Playing videogames with complete strangers. Anything but going to the lounge and face the chance of finding Mitsuru and suffering an execution for not showing up to the dorm in the whole night.

"Hey, hey!" Junpei greeted Hamuko as she showed up to the lounge. "…Ya okay?"

"Yeah, just fine…" She lied. "…Hey, you wanna go somewhere? I kinda need to get outta this dorm for a while…"

"Sure! How 'bout we go have lunch together, huh?"

"Sounds awesome."

* * *

><p>And with that, they left to Wakatsu –to eat magic sushi granter of intelligence, of course!<p>

After that, both teens took the monorail to Port Island Station, decided to go watch some film at Screen Shot cinema.

The films playing that month were mostly uninteresting –most of them were romantic comedies which Hamuko wouldn't dare watch at the moment… So they ended up watching something called "Jack Brothers' Hee Hoo at the Labyrinth!". Despite its childish name, the posters looked rather badass, so that's why they decided to check it out.

The film wasn't too bad. In it, the eponymous Jack Brothers –little monsters from different folklores which bore a striking resemblance to the Jack Brothers Hamuko knew and loved -used Halloween to haunt the world; however, during the course of the film, they lose track of the time and have to go back to their world before midnight in order not to get banished from there forever. Oh, and those cute little monsters which starred the film didn't look anything like the ones in the promotional art, much to Junpei's dismay.

"Why do all the films I watch with ya suuuuck?"

"Dunno. I liked it." Hamuko shrugged. "Gotta admit, though, I wish this cinema stopped showcasing remakes of nineties' films."

"Man, all they make nowadays is remakes!" Junpei complained loudly.

"Didn't you buy The Ultimate Arena 4 just a few days ago?"

"And I've never played anything so amazing before." He ran a finger above his eyelid to clear a non-existing tear. "…So, whaddya wanna do now?"

"Hmmm… It's getting kinda late so… Would you like to go to Escapade?"

"Huh? Are we even allowed in there?"

"Of course! I used to go there a lot with-I… Go there a lot."

* * *

><p>Getting past the humungous doorkeeper was easy as usual –although… Hamuko had the slight impression that he kept asking for more and more money every time she showed up there. The actual difficult thing was getting to the dance floor with all the crowd gathered there on a Sunday night.<p>

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the VIP zone, Minato was talking leisurely to the old alcoholic monk while they shared a bottle of brandy. At some point, the monk mentioned having been abandoned by his wife and son and the conversation turned into the topic of sociality.<p>

"By the way, where'sh your friend, kid?" The monk asked in a slurry voice. "I haven't seen'er starin' at you from the stairsh today…"

"_She used to do that?_" Minato thought to himself, kind of surprised. "I'm afraid she left me too, Mutatsu-san."

"Really?" A hic escaped his lips. "What happened?"

"She can't understand that I've got some problems too. Of course, I was oh-so-perfect when I was listening to her telling me about her miserable life, or when I refused her advances, but I make _**one**_ mistake, I give in once, and… Tsk. Now I don't even have… Her as a friend..." He was about to say that he didn't have any friends, but remembering Fuuka's words comforted him slightly.

"I shee… Well, don't worry 'bout that. Most of life problems hafta do with othersh." The old man took a sip from his glass. "...Let's define a 'friend' as... Shomeone you hold dear. True friendship is seen through the heart, kid, not the eyesh..."

"What does that—"

"People always want shomethin' in a relationship." Mutatsu kept on talking after glaring at the boy. "They only really love themselvesh. You don't call someone who doesn't like you your friend, do ya? No, you don't... 'Cuz you know you won't get nothin' from her, right? Which means, in this world, there's no one you can hold dear…" The monk sighed, ignoring Minato's impressed gaze. "At the end of the lonely road of love, kid, you're the only one left standin' there."

"Wise words, old man." Minato brought his own glass to his lips. "Really wise words."

"…But…" The old man spoke, breaking the silence between them –they were in a club so 'silence' was rather relative. "You shee those dames over there, the ones on the dance floor? If you can bring one of 'em over here, I'll be your friend in return." Mutatsu laughed. "Eh? Whaddya think?"

Minato joined his laughter as the voices in his mind informed him that the Tower Social Link had reached level 3. "I don't feel like dealing with ladies; I guess you'll have to do with getting some more brandy."

* * *

><p>"Welp, time to get wasted." The brunette announced after Theatre, a song –if one could even call it that- from Risette's new album came to an end. That thirteen-years-old girl had pretty much consolidated her status as the greatest J-Pop idol of the moment in just a few months. "Got any favorite drink, Jun-kun?"<p>

"Uh… Sorry, I don't drink."

"Oh, that's right…" The boy had told Hamuko about his alcoholic father's misadventures in a pair of occasions, but she had forgotten them. "…"

"Hey, get something for yourself." Junpei patted her shoulder. "I don't mind."

"You sure…?" After getting a nod in response, she ran off to the bar. "Hey barman! I want some Caipirinha!"

"Another bottle of brandy, please."

Both speakers looked at each other. Of all the days in all the year in which they could have gone to Escapade, they both had to choose that one.

"W-What are you doing here?"

"Hearing an old man preaching to the choir. If you're here to try and avoid that… Sorry, but you're late."

"Like I cared about what you do with your Social Links." Hamuko glared at him.

"That's what you say now." Minato mimicked her expression. "So, are you all alone in here?"

"Maybe, but… I heard it's dangerous to go along, so I took this." She put her hand over her Evoker holster, which was mostly hidden between her shirt and skirt. "Well, I actually always have it on me, but… You get the idea."

"How smart." Minato snorted. "You came up with that idea by yourself?"

Before their angry banter could continue, Junpei walked into the scene. "Hey you…"

The bluenet took his bottle of liquor and raised his hands in a placatory manner. "Don't worry. I was just leaving."

Hamuko mumbled something under her breath –probably something not beautiful- and then turned to Junpei. "Why…?"

"I looked dumb bein' all alone in the dance floor and..." He shrugged and scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh, I see." The brunette smiled at him and picked up her order. "Thanks, bro."

* * *

><p>The hours passed by quickly dancing in the club. For once, and in respect of her friend, Hamuko didn't actually drink anything other than the first thing she ordered. Junpei eventually left, suddenly worried about not having studied for the exams starting on Tuesday, whereas the girl refused to leave, claiming that she had some… Business to attend.<p>

And that 'business' finally walked downstairs at ten to twelve. Hamuko walked after Minato, decided to look for a chance to give him a payback for everything that happened. Screw her own rules of staying away from him, she had been wishing to vent her rage on him for days.

The male Fool walked into one of the train wagons and she followed him suit. The number of people going back home to have some sleep before a work day allowed her to hide pretty well. She hadn't foreseen the fact that it'd make it quite difficult for her to locate Minato once the vehicle stopped in Iwatodai Station.

She ran out of the station, barely minutes before the Dark Hour arrived, and began glancing around. "Where the…"

"Buh." Minato's non-amused exclamation startled Hamuko.

"How did you-?"

"Knowing how to use a naginata doesn't make you a ninja, Hamuko."

The girl reached out for her Evoker and glared darkly at him. "Don't. Say. My. Name."

Minato slapped the gun-like item away from her hand. "You should know by now that I don't want to hurt you, but I'm not going to let you hurt me either." He explained rather calmly while he avoided Hamuko's inaccurate attacks. "We already went through this." She finally managed to land a punch on his stomach, making the boy gasp for air. "Okay then. You wanted it."

Fighting each other was something the Fools hadn't done for a long time, yet, it felt as awkwardly good as they remembered it. Trying to kill each other came out almost naturally for them; almost like they really meant it all along. Was it fate? Inter-dimensional contracts? Psychological figures? Who knows.

Maybe the Dark Hour knew. "It's good to see you again."

Both teens got up slowly from the ground, where they had ended after a couple bad hits –not like any of their little battles ended anywhere else- and looked flabbergasted at the little boy.

"Did I come in a bad moment?"

"No, uh…" They shared a shocked glance. "In fact, I think it's actually the first time you'd showed up at a good time."

"Oh, really?" Pharos sounded amused. "It's already been so long since we met… Oh well, it's okay to be moody; life as a Persona-user must be hard…"

"A tad." Minato smoothened the wrinkles of his shirt while Hamuko dusted her skirt. Talk about misleading scenes.

"Well, the choice is yours…" The little ghostly apparition chuckled. "I remembered something else about the coming of the end... It all goes back to an occurrence that took place many years ago." He made a dramatic pause. "Ten years ago, if I remember correctly." A little, curious smile appeared on his face. "Hey... Didn't your parents pass away about ten years ago?"

"Yes, we know." Hamuko whispered with obvious sorrow in her voice. She really hated when people brought that up. "Wait, why do YOU know that?"

"A Persona is like a mirror." Pharos announced enigmatically, ignoring Hamuko's question. "Which means a Persona-user can never escape from their true self." He proceeded to take Minato and Hamuko's hands. "Regardless, I will stay with you... Because we're friends." The boy grinned at both teens while his hands were still linked with theirs. In a weird –if not moronic- sense, it actually felt rather warm to have something so similar to a familiar scene after having lost such an important thing so long ago. The Death Social Link reached level 3; the Fools couldn't stop wondering when had it even reached level 2. They had so many Social Links to pay attention to that it was difficult to keep track of all of them… "Good night…" And with that, the boy vanished into the darkness of the night.

"…" Minato and Hamuko looked at each other with despondency. They really were at a loss for words. "Can I… Ask you something?"

Hamuko just glanced away. He took that as a yes.

"When did your parents…?"

"I don't know." She replied simply and frankly. The girl was still too angry at her rival to entail friendly conversation about all the shit going on in their lives. "…Let's go back to the dorm, okay?"

The night ended peacefully… After they got their hands on some bandages and painkillers.

* * *

><p>"Finals start tomorrow…" Oh. God. Damn it. They weren't ready for this. Neither Fool was. Minato hadn't studied and Hamuko hadn't been specially receptive to lessons during this last part of the terms. They would be both condemned if they didn't spend the afternoon studying and wailing and praying to the Academics God for a pass respectively.<p>

* * *

><p>That is, if Minato survived his encounter with Yuko.<p>

"How did you dare leave like that?" She yelled angrily. "'Thanks for the night, I hope we can be friends'?" Furious would be an understatement. "How can you be such a bastard?" Irate was not enough…

"Lacking any further experience, I must say that it was a great night…" Minato squinted as he chose his word carefully. "Yuko, I gave you all I had. I helped you reach your aim in life, and 'thanking me' was something you wanted to do, not me. But alas… I'm afraid more people need my help. I am committed to improving others' lives. We are still friends, right?"

Well, he couldn't deny that he deserved that slap. She could have hit him somewhere he didn't have bruises, though.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, at Nagakani Shrine, Hamuko was begging to the Academics God while systematically ignoring Maiko's weird glances.<p>

* * *

><p>Eventually, dusk arrived to the city and both teens headed back to the dorm.<p>

Everyone had mysteriously gathered in the kitchen. There was a really awkward atmosphere filling the place. Specially between Yukari and Mitsuru, and Hamuko and Minato.

"What's wrong, everyone?" Akihiko asked, seeing the amount of people who had gathered around him all of a sudden. "Are you guys hungry?"

"N-Not really..."

"Umm..." Poor Fuuka tried her best to break the ice. "Y-You know, it's almost summer break. Do you have any plans?"

"I wish I could go to the beach." Junpei sighed. "Hot sand, cool breeze... Babes in bikinis..."

"Oh, it's been a while since I last got to wear one of those!" Hamuko exclaimed cheerfully, earning a headshake from a few other members.

"Man, it sure would be nice!" He insisted. "Somewhere in the south, where the water is crystal clear! But first, we have exams to worry about... Ugh, what a drag..."

"Now, now. You'll be fine." Fuuka lied even worse than Hamuko. Geez. "But yeah, I'd love to go somewhere famous for its beautiful beaches, like Okinawa."

"Well, it's not Okinawa, but how about Yakushima?"

There was a general gasp of surprise when the Chairman showed up from out of the blue.

"Mr. Chairman... I didn't realize you were here." Not like anybody had.

"I happened to be in the area, so I thought I'd drop by and tell you

my schedule for next week." Then why hadn't they heard the door- Oh whatever. "Mitsuru, your father will be vacationing in Yakushima during the break."

Mitsuru's cold eyes seemed to gleam for a moment. "He will...?"

"You'll all have some time off after exams, right? Why don't you go

and pay him a surprise visit?"

"Seriously? We're gonna go on a trip?" Junpei was euphoric. "YES! Beach babes, here I come!"

"Men." Yukari made the comment of the day which, as usual, only made Fuuka giggle.

"How about it, Mitsuru?"

"But... My father is a busy man; I don't want to ruin his vacation."

"Haha, don't worry... No father would be upset with a daughter who came all that way to see him." Ikutsuki's words acquired a proud tune. "You've all done a great job. You deserve to relax for a while. We already know when the next operation will be, so it should be fine."

"...I don't know..."

Junpei and Hamuko looked at each other, nodded, and then exclaimed in unison. "YA-KU-SHIMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

After a few more begs from her kohai, Mitsuru finally sighed in defeat. "...Alright. I guess everyone needs a break now and then. Let's do it."

"Hmm, the beach..." Akihiko spoke thoughtfully. "...I should design a special training regimen."

"Dude, I'm stoked!"

"I have to go buy a swimsuit..." Fuuka muttered to herself.

"Oh, oh, I'll go with you!" Hamuko cheered.

"Hey, don't worry! I got an extra pair you can borrow!"

"Nice try, man." Akihiko laughed at Junpei's antics.

"Are you going to swim too, Ikutsuki-san?" The teal haired girl asked kindly.

"I'm afraid I can't. I'll turn to dust if I'm exposed to sunlight."

"Whoa, was that a joke?"

"Nah, he's DEAD serious about it." Minato got a weird look for being the one to make the pun. Weird look, deadly glare, oh whatever. He decided that it'd be better for him to go to his room and study, but…

"Ah... Mitsuru-senpai, wait!" Yukari shouted as she ran towards the stairs. "Uh... Sorry about the other day... I got a little carried away..." Huh? The day… Minato missed, maybe?

"...Don't worry about it. In a way, it's only logical that we go to Yakushima. The Chairman said that no one who was responsible for the accident was still alive, but… In reality, there is one witness who survived." Wait, wait, what?

"There is?"

"My father." With that she walked away.

"…_Geez, this dorm is full of drama._"

* * *

><p><strong>That it is. Also this supposedly marks the beginning of the end of the drama. Maybereallyyes. Uploading at past midnight. Will proofread tomorrow. SLEEEEP.<strong>


	43. Fusion failed

**Author note: my exams week starts on Monday, so the fic will upload slower maybe that week. You know how I said that drama was leaving?**

**I thought this chapter would take place two days later than it did. Anyway…**

**Thanks a lot to my new Beta Reader, Evilshroom!**

* * *

><p>The exams week went by impressively quickly. Maybe it was related to the fact that getting ready for the exams was just that time-consuming; maybe it was the fact that the Fools were trying to get their minds out of what happened on Sunday; or… maybe… It was the fact that absolutely no one wanted to hang out during the exams week. But, point is, they felt like they hadn't done anything worth telling during those busy five days. But… that finally changed on Saturday.<p>

Those had been hard days, but Minato was sure that he had handled exams even better than the last time; in fact, he could have done it much, much better in spite of his lack of studying… if he hadn't had that one little auburn-haired obsession clouding his mind all over the week. "_Almost two weeks since_…" He still wouldn't blame himself for what happened nor admit that lying had only made it much worse, and claiming that he wouldn't hurt her on purpose wouldn't make sense after the little scene they starred a few days before. He wasn't going to humiliate himself this time, even though he felt like he was dying from wanting to have her close to him again, even if he wanted back those nights which never took anywhere and those kisses which awakened feelings he never knew he had. "_Like every fucking time we've fought... I want to have __**her**__ back_." And he did so desperately. That had to mean there was actually a reason for him to obsess over her, beyond any 'missing her' bullshit he might have thought other times.

The most logical approach to this intrigue started with defining the source of the problem. Hamuko. A girl who he couldn't bring himself to fully loathe as much as he wanted to from the very first time she pounced him to the ground. She was loudmouthed, irresponsible and had a rather _**questionable**_ morality, nothing like himself. Thus, he'd taken a personal interest in helping her leave behind those traits, trying to get rid of that annoying big girl who kept making his life crazier than it was. Eventually, Minato found out that, in spite of her being just too simpleminded and inconstant to pin down a way to deal with her like he'd done with all the other Social Links, his attempts at making her face her problems and see the consequences of her acts, all by simply showing how much he cared for her, eventually proved to be rather successful. This turned out to be a rather inconvenient thing for him, after all, as she became way too wary about her actions around him.

Perhaps that was where his curiosity, friendship and eventual attraction for her was born: trying his best to manipulate her– since, as Hamuko herself had told him a few times, playing with others was a lot of fun. He wanted to prove himself that he didn't need a Persona or a weapon to overpower the other Fool... Yet, seeing this didn't work, he eventually became tolerant to her, letting her do whatever she wanted with him; and, unlike the time spent with his other 'friends', he actually loved those little displays of affection which the brunette kept giving him once she began leaving behind her most outrageous traits– she seemed to have gotten slightly better _most_ of the time, but the occasional sick puns still made Minato groan.

The boy straightened his back, moved his elbows away from the desk and let his fingers hook softly the edge of the table, trying to adopt a more comfortable position to think. He blinked slowly and brought his brows together as the slightest hint of realization hit him. "_Is that what I like about her, after all? Trying to understand her?_" Before Minato could continue delving deeper into his own ideas, in a way Socrates would be proud of, an item laying on the desk attracted his attention. It was his Composition exam, only halfway done. "_Crap, not again_!"

How Minato was able to finish his exam in the fifteen minutes that remained was something he'd never know. Whether Hamuko was going to pass or flunk the exams was another object of mystery, as she had been too busy mortifying herself during the exams week for having similar feelings to Minato, which contrasted with the deep hatred she _**tried**_ to feel for him at the moment. She wasn't going to forget what he would have done to her if Akihiko hadn't showed up, nor how he added insult to injury by betraying her trust, but… refusing to even stand close to him was almost physically painful- she'd managed to convince Ms. Toriumi to let her move to another desk farther off, which she accepted surprisingly fast. Hamuko wanted the old Minato back; that guy who used to blush with a simple hug, the apprehensive boy who claimed to love her once and again.

Yet, there was no way she was going to apologize for something which wasn't her fault- even though the thought that she had driven him to do that kept bothering her every so often- and even if he asked for forgiveness, that was something she wasn't willing to give him either. What he did in Shirakawa? She would have eventually grown past it and forgiven him for that. Lying to her about such an horrible act just to save himself? No, just no. She'd tried to let him know how much she relied on him and relished all the moments they spent together, tell him how much she trusted him and, most important, she'd practically told him that she loved him– in her own, bizarre way, as she didn't understand it herself- only a day before! "_How could he—_"

Oh wait, the exam.

* * *

><p>"I'm done, baaaby!" Junpei exclaimed as the bell marked the end of the school day. "The dark days of testing are finally over! The sun is shinin' bright!"<p>

"So, how'd you do?" Yukari asked, suspicious.

"Hey, check it out! I aced P.E.!"

"Well, that pretty much answers the question."

"Psh, a real man doesn't dwell on the past..." The boy lowered the brim of his cap and smirked. "I'm thinking ahead to Yakushima!"

"Oh yeah, that's coming up soon, isn't it...?" Yukari turned to the Fools, who were getting ready to leave. "Hey! Are ya guys ready?"

"I've already packed everything I need." Minato muttered.

"Hmm…" Hamuko tapped her chin with a finger. "I still need a swimsuit!"

"Oh, I don't have practice today!" The brunette smiled. "Let's go get one together!"

"Oh! Oh!" Junpei grinned creepily. "Can I go help too?"

"Of course Jun—"

Yukari put a hand over Hamuko's mouth. "No." And with that, they left to get Fuuka and head to Paulownia.

Minato and Junpei were left alone in the classroom, staring awkwardly at each other. Seeing the seriousness in his classmate's face, Minato expected an apology, one of his serious talks or, who knows, maybe some comforting 'I actually believe you and I'm not angry at you for disturbing my friend' words.

"…WAIT FOR ME, LADIIIIES!" …Or that.

"_Damn, that could have been me_." The bluenet sighed inwardly. "_Why does Junpei get away with acting like a leech when I don't?_" Minato walked out of school, only to find a crowd of sophomores -in its majority girls and not S.E.E.S. members- surrounding Akihiko.

"...Hey, what're you doing here, Akihiko-san?" Junpei seemed delighted to see all the girls around. "Enjoying your friends' company…?"

"Huh? Uh… Ikutsuki-san called me. I think he wants to talk about a new candidate."

"Does that mean another person is going to join?" Yukari didn't seem very comfortable with the idea.

"Maybe..."

"Ooh, is it gonna be another girl?"

"How should I know?" Aki furrowed his eyebrows.

Just then, a familiar voice shouted from the door leading to the main hall. "Fuuka!" It was that one girl that had been bullying Fuuka… Uh… Natsuki, yeah.

"What's wrong, Natsuki-chan?" Fuuka asked timidly.

"Do you think you can stay after school with me for a mandatory study session? There's, like, no one—" She gave Fuuka a troubled look. "Oh, you're going back to your 'home' home today, huh? Okay, then never mind."

"Hey, wait." The shy girl ran after her brown haired friend. "It's alright. Let's go. Sorry, I'll see you all later back at the dorm." As they both walked back into school, Minato couldn't avoid thinking that there was something weird going on between the two of them. Huh…

"I'm really surprised at how much she's changed." No, the real surprise was that Junpei made a sound comment.

"Ah, friendship... How beautiful! Adolescence is such a wonderful thing! So full of vibrancy!" Yet another familiar person got in the scene. It was Ikutsuki, no less, accompanied by a short boy with brown, wild hair, probably around ten years old. He wore an orange sleeveless hoodie over a white short sleeved dress shirt. Below all this, he wore stupidly short blue shorts with stupidly high white socks. The boy stared at Akihiko in awe.

"Mr. Chairman...!" Yukari gasped in surprise. This exclamation was pretty much a cue for the fan girls to leave, disappointed at not having managed to convince Akihiko to hang out with them.

"Oh, hello. I just stopped by to pick someone up. I might as well introduce you to him now."

The kid stepped in front of Ikutsuki. "Hello."

Both Akihiko and Hamuko gaped at the boy, albeit for very different reasons.

"Oh, hi, Ken-kun." Yukari greeted him completely naturally. "What's up?"

"You know him...?" Akihiko seemed even more shocked. Apparently, she did.

"He doesn't leave during the break because of his..." The adult hesitated. "…Circumstances."

"Oh, I heard about that... Something about his parents..."

"It was only me and my mom, but she got in an accident, and she... she died." Seeing that his words caused a general gloom to fill the previously festive atmosphere, Ken added a reassuring "It happened two years ago."

"...Right now, one of his distant relatives is paying for his school expenses. But, staying at the elementary school dorm all by himself isn't proper for a child his age." The Chairman explained. "So, I decided to move him to your dorm for the summer."

"To OUR dorm?" The popular brunette exclaimed, voicing everyone's thoughts. Then she shot an eyebrow up. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Why, of course." Ikutsuki took a quick glance around to make sure no one was listening. "He has the potential."

"Then, he's the new candidate...?" The silver haired boy kept looking more and more shocked with every word the Chairman pronounced.

"Yes... But, as you can see, he's still just an elementary school student. So, it is merely a possibility for now."

After a while of looking down to the ground and probably pretending not to be listening, Ken approached the group some more. "Are you... Sanada-senpai?"

"Um..." Akihiko stuttered. "Yeah."

"I've heard a lot about you... You haven't lost a boxing match yet. It's a real honor to meet you!"

"Yeah, well... It's nice to meet you."

The Chairman and Ken said bye and walked away from school.

"Wasn't that boy cuuuuuute?" Hamuko gave Junpei a big grin.

"Um… What?" Junpei gave her a troubled look. "Hamu-chan…? Are you into sho—"

"NO."

After that, Minato returned to the dorm while everyone else went to Paulownia.

* * *

><p>Three hours, five bags full of clothes and two slaps to Junpei later, back in the dorm, Yukari kindly reminded the Fools that they'd go to Yakushima on Monday, so visiting Tartarus that night would be a good idea. It indeed was, so…<p>

* * *

><p>"What's wrong with you guys tonight?" Junpei yelled desperately as he ran for his life, barely avoiding getting smashed by one of the Furious Gigas' gigantic fists.<p>

The exploration had been incredibly exhausting. And it was the leaders' fault. They kept getting in each other's way, trying to kill more shadows than the other, putting everyone in danger just to get more things than the other one– this proved to be bad when they heard some chain rattling; fortunately, everyone had managed to run the hell out of the floor before the frightful creature manifested itself- and, to put it simply, they wasted their energy dumbly, not expecting they'd have to climb twenty floors to reach the next Tartarus guardians: three Furious Gigas, bulky creatures oddly reminiscent of Hulk Hogan in fluorescent yellow shorts. These, unlike those stupid human-sized Gigas who would love Minato– ahem, Oberon- forever with a single charm attack, seemed to have _**some**_ backbone. And some arms too. And high, HIGH, physical power.

And there they were, running like idiots around the seventy-second floor, vainly trying to avoid the enraged Shadows, which, apparently, really didn't enjoy being sent to the ground by Narcissus's– oh, Minato loathed that Persona so much now- Magaru.

"Why don't you just end this quickly?" Akihiko asked as he ran towards one of them and punched its abdomen, achieving nothing but feel his own fist crack slightly. "A-Argh! Do some of your stupid shooting at each other thing!"

Minato and Hamuko exchanged troubled looks. Fusion Spells, or shooting each other as the silver haired boy said, required a certain degree of trust they didn't possess at that moment, so they weren't too sure about it.

"That won't be necessary, Senpai!" As the same shadow Akihiko had attacked slowly began growing shards of ice all over its right arm after a powerful Bufula by Penthesilea, Hamuko lunged at it making it laugh quietly; that was followed by a mere hand wave from the Gigas which sent her flying over fifteen meters away. She quickly used her naginata for support and got back again.

"It is an order, Seikatsu!" Mitsuru yelled from a safer position than everyone else's. She hadn't initially accompanied them in the exploration, but she insisted on going with them once they activated the access point in the current floor amidst the battle. The Shadows had fortunately not noticed the device, but it's not like it would do them much good to run away, leaving them to do whatever with the only usable teleport in such a long distance. "Go ahead, do it!"

Minato ran towards Hamuko, the barrel of his Evoker gleaming gloomily in the dim blue light which seemed to perpetually fill Tartarus. Hamuko looked down at her holster and brought out hers. They turned around to face the Shadows and glared darkly at them.

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Minato's question was answered with nothing but an incensed headshake full of disapproval. As they leveled the Evokers to each other's temples, they found out that their movements were lacking the precision and coordination they usually had when performing that kind of spells. "Three…" Their index fingers trembled as they began pressing the triggers slowly. "Two…" One of the Shadows looked at them and let out a loud roar. "One… Jack-!"

Bang. And then the world vanished.

* * *

><p>The soft noises coming from a documentary playing on the TV in the lounge were the first sounds Minato heard as he woke up. "Huh?" As he tried to prop himself on an elbow to take a look around, he was greeted by a sharp pain in the right side of his skull. Once the pain subsided slightly, he took a hand towards the zone where the it came from. His fingers met a soft, nylon-like texture, probably that of a bandage, and it was wet, so either whatever wound was under it was still bleeding or the bandage hadn't been changed in a while.<p>

Minato took a look around. He was laying on one of the sofas in the living room -right opposite to the one on which Hamuko was curled up on a ball, sleeping with her back to him. They were probably there to make looking after both of them easier.

"Oh, I'm glad to see you are awake, Arisato." Mitsuru nodded her head as a salutation at the still confused boy.

"What… Happened? What time is it?" He groaned as the pain hit him again.

"Thirty five past ten a.m." The red headed senior walked away. Soon, she was back with new bandages and some medicine. "I believe you two summoned the Persona you've been talking about for so long."

"Which…?"

"That powerful Persona which provides you with information. I can now see why you wouldn't summon it in front of us. I am sorry for ever doubting you." She nodded knowingly to herself. "It was truly an overwhelming creature, and it seemed quite familiar for some reason." Mitsuru began removing the bandage in Minato's head slowly. He complained loudly as the gauze was separated from the skin which had begun healing over it; from all the pain he was feeling, he deduced that she or Yukari had used a healing spell while he had the bandage on. "Indeed, it does seem quite random as you said, as I believe you were going to summon a very different one." She carefully placed a new piece of cloth over the small hemispherical wound. "Your wounds have been bleeding profusely all night, but, fortunately, it seems they've finally begun to stop; we had planned to take both of you to the hospital if you didn't wake up tonight."

Minato had some problems registering all that information. "Wait, both of us?" He futilely tried to get up from the sofa. "You mean she…?" The bluenet squinted to try and look at Hamuko better. She had a bloodstained piece of nylon on her left temple, partially hidden by her hair, as well. "Just, what the hell really happened?"

Mitsuru exhaled slowly. "It is something beyond my knowledge. All I know is that as soon as you two pulled the trigger, both of you collapsed. You can't imagine how afraid we all were when we saw blood running down the sides of your heads, but then something happened. I don't know how I missed its apparition but… we heard a shriek piercing the silence, and before we knew, that Persona had completely ripped the Shadows into pieces." She glanced down. "The most likely reason why you got those wounds is a malfunction of your Evokers. I sent yours and Seikatsu's to the Kirijo research group, where they are analyzing them right now. I truly apologize for the pain you must be suffering; however, I must say, Evokers were never meant to shoot another person." Well… good point. "Still, I feel at fault since I was the one to give you the order; that's why I am here taking care of you personally. I hope you don't mind."

"I see… Thanks." The boy was about to ask a concise 'why didn't you take us to a hospital from the very first moment?' but he decided to let it pass, instead impressed that the fact that his usually cold, if not scary, senpai could be so caring. Still, healing with bandages on, hnnng…

"I believe that both of you should rest today. We still have to go to Yakushima tomorrow." Mitsuru turned away from them. "Feel free to go to your respective rooms once you feel better. I'll leave you to rest now."

The bluenet saw her off silently. He ran a hand nervously through his hair. "_Persona, what Persona? Pharos couldn't…_" Minato turned his head towards the sofa in front of the TV. "Hamuko…"

Seeing that Mitsuru had ignored the brunette, Minato made an effort and got up slowly, swaying on his feet as he suddenly felt the world spin around him. He stumbled his way towards the girl; she seemed to have suffered exactly the same as him. She also needed to get some new bandages, and he knew that it was better to get those changed while she was sleeping, as he guessed that she had received some poor healing as well. He put away some strands of hair and reached for the corner of the bandage. "Don't..."

Minato lifted his hand from her face. "What?"

"I'm awake…" Despite those words, Hamuko just wouldn't turn around to look at him. "Your screams woke me up."

"I was just being whiny, it doesn't hurt that much." He whispered.

"Don't lie, please."

Minato gave her a sympathetic look. He hesitated a bit at first, but he sat down next to her and stroked her hair softly, as he used to do every time he wanted to make her feel better. "Hmm…" A smile appeared on her face. For a moment, it all seemed to be like back when everything was happier for both. However, Hamuko's mind eventually became clearer and she shook him away, grunting as she sat up. "Don't do that EVER again." She took a hand to the bandage, ready to take it off, only to begin cursing everything without really achieving to separate the cloth from her skin.

"Let me help you."

"No. You'll hurt me." She scowled.

"I—" Minato bit his tongue. No lying, huh? "You'll hurt yourself anyway. I'll be careful." After several failed attempts, Hamuko finally casted her eyes down and sighed. Minato observed her patiently until she faced him and nodded, giving him permission to help. "Alright, um… Maybe you should focus on another thing." The boy walked towards the TV and changed the channel to the one where Tanaka's Amazing Commodities was playing. "There, I'm sure you'll get a laugh out of that."

Hamuko snorted and then turned her head to look at Minato as he sat down again next to her. She flinched as he began taking out the bandage. The young Fool went ahead with his promise, stopping every time she complained, and even when she was obviously just being quiet about it. "Why… are you helping me?" Her question was barely a whisper. "Didn't you hear what happened yesterday?"

"…You don't believe Senpai's 'malfunction' theory either, huh?"

"I know it isn't true." She gasped slightly as he pulled the last part of the gauze. The revulsion was obvious in Minato's face; the wound looked like a lot like a gun shot, but it was a shallow wound, since Evokers didn't shoot bullets; anything deeper could have probably given S.E.E.S. real reasons to take them to the hospital. "I don't know what Persona came out of it, or how it ripped the Shadows a new one, but we both know why the original plan didn't work." Hamuko looked up at Minato with teary red eyes.

"Do you… hate me so much?"

"…No. Of course not. I hate you because I can't hate you." She chuckled sadly. "…That doesn't even make sense."

"It does." Minato smiled at her. "Trust me, it makes a lot of sense."

"Trust you, you say…" They looked intensely at each other, until Hamuko got up from the sofa and turned her back to him. "I can't. I'm sorry Minato, I really want to believe you didn't do it on purpose, and I try to understand that you lied because you were scared, but... but I don't even know what to call you anymore, and much less if I should trust your words."

"You called me Minato." The boy muttered, giving her a hopeful look. "That probably means something."

"…" Hamuko sucked in her lower lip, trying to prevent herself from saying something she'd regret. "Hey, I'm going back to my room. I haven't even packed for tomorrow yet."

"Good luck finding your stuff among all that mess."

She snorted. "There's a reason I bought lots of new clothes."

Minato turned off the TV and followed her to the stairs, wanting to go back to his room and sleep some more. Their eyes met once again, and they found their glances were softer than before; there was still some hatred in them, though. As they walked upstairs, they both could feel how the Social Link had gone from broken to merely reversed, even though one of them wasn't too comfortable with that.

Sleeping all day wasn't as great as Minato remembered it…

* * *

><p><strong>Bonding through sanitary stuff removal. Because my fic is worth it.<strong>

**Also, is it just me or does the Fool who **_**isn't**_** at fault always apology? Geez, these guys :v**


	44. The mysterious girl

**Author note: so maybe I have decided to be less of a bitch, actually care for my readers and maybe modify my plan slightly to accommodate a bit to your likings. So now I ask you, folks, what is that you liked of the fic? What hooked you and kept you reading until now? (Protip: specify, because if you say 'character interactions' I'm going to respond that they're interacting right now and drama is a part of development of every person)**

**Oh also, for those who misread: Minato didn't apologize at all, it was Hamuko the one doing so.**

**So yeah. On to the BEACH EPISODE! :U**

**And thanks to my beta reader, Evilshroom!**

* * *

><p>"There it is!" Junpei was yelling at the top of his lungs. "YA-KU-SHI-MAAAA!" The boy turned around to look at his friends. For some reason, no one looked too enthusiastic; Mitsuru and Yukari were obviously keeping their gazes away from each other's, Minato was contemplating the crystalline waters with his headphones on, his sight lost in the infinite, Hamuko was a few meters away from him, slouching over the fence preventing them from falling off-board, and looking rather pale– riding a boat was less… entertaining than expected. Somewhere in the middle of that fun party, Fuuka and Akihiko were exchanging troubled glances, apparently worried about the rest of S.E.E.S. Oh well, at least Junpei was excited.<p>

"Holy crap!" Hamuko exclaimed all of a sudden, pointing towards the land they were slowly approaching. "Guys, check out that huge mansion by the beach!"

"Hmm?" Mitsuru walked slowly towards the brunette, who had slumped once again on the safety bar. "Oh." She chuckled. "That is the Kirijo residence, where we are going to spent the following four days."

"It… suits this boat."

* * *

><p>And guess what, the place was even more amazing in the inside. The group was walking on a red carpet covering brown parquet tiles of the hall; columns and ivory statues stood proudly at the sides of the walkway, with lots of furniture– which showed to be true cabinetmaking works- and other lavish decorations arranged neatly by each column.<p>

"Wow..." Fuuka couldn't have put it any better.

"It's like we're in an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Fabulous..." Junpei commented, impressed.

"I know, right?" Even the ground impressed Hamuko; it was so perfectly polished that she could see her reflection on it! "Dude, this house must be worth a fortune—Yeah, of course it is."

Suddenly, the door at the end of the hall opened and two maids came out of it. They approached the group and bowed ceremonially. "Welcome back, Milady."

"We won't be here long, but I'll be relying on you during our stay." Mitsuru spoke firmly.

Yukari gaped. "You have maids...?"

"And you must be her schoolmates, correct?" The maids did a reverence yet again. "Welcome to the Kirijo vacation home. Please follow me."

"Um, is this the right place?" Takeba still couldn't believe it.

"Dude, real-life maids..." Junpei was almost drooling. "It's not just a costume, they're real…"

"Bah, my maid uniform is much cooler than theirs." Hamuko received a weird look from her senpai and Fuuka. "…It would be if I had one!" She laughed loudly. She pressed her lips together seeing that the weird looks persisted. "I… Didn't say anything…"

While the brunette was still trying to give dumb explanations, a man walked into the place. He had short black hair, brushed towards the right part of his stern looking face; another element helping his apparent toughness was a black patch over his right eye. He was wearing a formal attire, and his expression wasn't very… friendly. The man only stood there, staring at them.

"It's good to see you." Despite her words, Mitsuru didn't seem to happy.

The man left just like that.

"That was rather rude." Minato commented as the door closed behind him.

"Was that...?"

"...Her father?" Yukari finished Fuuka's words. The Fools and Junpei were surprised to hear that.

"Dude, talk about scary!" Junpei nudged Akihiko. "He's not gonna make us walk the plank, is he?"

"Don't be stupid..."

Mitsuru seemed rather amused. "We won't be here long, but make yourself at home."

"Sweet! This is gonna rock! Hey, wanna go to the beach? It's right there." The boy was euphoric. "Dude, this place rules! Come on, let's go!"

"What, already?"

"C'mon Yukari! It's time to go to the beach!" Hamuko cheered.

"I mean, sure, but let me get changed first!" Oh right.

"Then, I'll see ya there. I'm not gonna waste a single minute!" And with that he ran off.

* * *

><p>Ah, the beach. Such a wonderful place; there's nothing like the smell of the sea breeze, the soft sound of the waves, the warm sand under your feet…<p>

"Look! Yuka-tan's here! Woot!" …And Junpei's screams bothering Minato's relaxation. He got up from the deck chair and walked towards him. "Ooh!"

"Hey there" Yukari greeted them with a smile. She was wearing a pink bikini top with blue straps and shorts. The brown, expensive looking sunglasses on her head had to be the first not pink, not heart-shaped accessory Minato had ever seen her with. "...Hey Junpei, what's the matter? You look even dumber than usual."

"Maaaan..." Junpei groaned loudly, earning a glare from Akihiko and Minato. "Talk about a feast for the eyes, haha." He coughed slightly, and then spoke with a deeper voice. "Yuka-tan's wearing a more aggressive model than I had imagined! Could her boldness come from the confidence that her club training has toned her bod?"

"What?" She gasped.

"Oh, there you are! I told you to wait for me, dang!" Hamuko ran towards Yukari and the boys. "Hello there, boys!" No response. "Um…?"

"Aw, Hamu-chan, you betrayed me! I thought you'd wear the red bikini!" Hearing the excitement in Junpei's voice, Minato considered that what the boy really meant was 'can I begin drooling on you now?'

"I was going to, but Yukari said this one was cuter. Don't you think so?" She turned her back to the boys and glanced at them over her shoulder, seemingly serious about just wanting an opinion. It was then when she noticed Minato and the awkwardness ensued.

Minato was looking at her with indifference, knowing better than to say anything which would make him sound happy of seeing her like that, and prompt the spark of enmity among the boys again –the hostility had subsided ever so slightly in the previous week, fortunately.

The female Fool was wearing a white bikini with a pink plaid and ruffles; the top was tied with a ribbon behind her neck and another below her chest, in a way that embossed her… female attributes… whereas the lower part was tied tightly, low on her hips, in an obvious attempt to boast about her curves.

But, that outfit wasn't all that interesting for Minato; unlike the other two teenaged boys who seemed delighted– in Junpei's case- and shocked– in Akihiko's- only with seeing so much of her skin, he'd actually gotten to _**feel**_ more of it than he would allow himself to say aloud.

Hamuko, on the other hand, only gave him a quick glance… And then went back to bothering Yukari and Junpei for dressing advice. There wasn't much to see in Minato; he was wearing blue swimming trunks, which were almost as unattractive as Junpei's combination of red trunks and a blue floater around his waist. Not like she wanted the bluenet to wear any other thing; she'd seen more than enough in the shower of that damned room, right between deciding that he was charmed and silently considering that piano lessons sure showed off.

"Is that umbrella taken?" Fuuka asked as she walked towards the group.

"Oooh, and here we have the lovely Miss Yamagishi!" Junpei exclaimed as he heard her voice. Once he turned around to look at her, he was visibly shaken– his cheeks went red! Honestly though, Fuuka looked rather nice with her green shirt-like top, even though it was much less provocative that the other girls'. "...Wow, Fuuka, I had no idea you were so..." He looked down. "I mean, you should wear a swimsuit more often!"

"Huh...?"

"He's hitting on you, Fuuka-chan." Hamuko nudged her and she gasped and proceeded to hide behind Yukari, red as a tomato.

"Oh come on, there's nothing to be embarrassed about!"

"Stop that creepy laugh, you perv!" Yukari yelled at him.

"And here's our final contestant..." Junpei looked like he had just suffered a stroke.

"...Hm? Is something wrong?" Mitsuru asked, oblivious to the meaning of Junpei's stare. The red head seemed a goddess with that white silky swimsuit, decorated by a gorgeous red hibiscus flower, and the matching pareo, which suited perfectly her intense scarlet hair and eyes. And yes, she really was the most mature and developed girl in their group… in all the senses of the word.

"Wow... Mitsuru-senpai, you're beautiful..." Fuuka commented in awe.

"Yeah, your skin is flawless!" Yukari seemed amazed as well. "Did you already put on sunscreen?"

While the girls were swarming Mitsuru and the boys finished talking about what girl looked better and ran to the water– Akihiko took out his shirt and revealed his awesome black Speedo in the process- the Fools remained motionless, looking around like they were expecting something to come out of the trees surrounding the beach and jump at them.

"You feel that too, right?" Minato whispered to Hamuko. "We're being watched."

"Huh… I don't feel it any more." She moved away from him. "It was probably nothing. Just some paranoia after shooting each other and all." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"…Maybe we should rest for a while, then." The bluenet wasn't too sure that bathing was a good idea, even though their wounds had already been fully healed by Yukari.

Thus, they walked towards the towels. Hamuko took the one under the umbrella before Minato arrived, so he was forced to lay under the warm sun rays.

They watched the others play in the water silently for a while. Minato eventually stopped finding it interesting and rolled on his stomach, decided to sleep for a while.

"Do you want me to put sunscreen on your back?"

Hamuko's offer made Minato sit up and look at her, wide-eyed. "W-what?"

"Oh, yanno… You helped me yesterday with the bandage, so I thought I'd give you a hand…"

"Um… Sure…" Minato hid his smile on the towel as Hamuko reached out for the sunscreen which Fuuka had left on the other deck chair under the umbrella. He could feel his heart beat faster as he imagined Hamuko's hands slathering sun cream all over his back, slowly smoothing his skin. Maybe she'd even give him one of the massages she'd promised him so long ago, and then she'd lean over him and put her lips next to his ear, asking seductively if he liked it; he'd only be able to sigh and murmur in response a needy "_Yessss…_" and…

"There." She pressed the bottle with strength until the solar protector splattered all over his back. "No need to thank me." …She hadn't even laid a finger on him. Minato couldn't avoid groaning in disappointment- she'd only offered to put sunscreen ON him, after all. But damn… She didn't stop teasing even when they were angry at each other… Or wait, did she even realize what she had just made him think? Ugh, how could she make so few sense? "I think I'm going to go splash the girls with Junpei…" Something in the way she said that made Minato snap out of his ravings and think that she wanted him to go with her. However…

"Cool…" His voice was muffled by the towel. "I might join you… later…" Yeah, there was no way he was getting up for a while.

Minato did indeed eventually get in the water, but, instead of playing with everyone, he decided to resume his relaxation by floating nonchalantly on the water, observing the seagulls which flied in the distant blue skies without even batting their wings. So calm. So quiet. So completely peaceful that he could feel his consciousness fading away as his eyelids became heavier.

His dreams were interrupted when a ball landed on his face, sending his delicate equilibrium on the water to hell and almost making him drown because of his slow, lethargic reaction. His aggressor stood a few meters away with a expression on her face that was a weird mixture between an innocent look of 'it was an accident, I swear' and a devious grin of 'you totally deserved that, though'. "Bull's eye, Hamuko." Minato brushed his wet hair back and smiled as he handed out the ball for her, pretending to be perfectly calm despite what happened. When Hamuko approached him to retrieve the beach ball they had bought at a nearby stall, he threw it against her face, maybe with a bit too much strength. "_Whoops_."

The brunette glared at him, her face red after the plastic item had crashed against it. Her grin was creepy on like ten different levels. "You're SO dead."

The rest of sophomores –as Mitsuru was nowhere to be found and Akihiko was swimming somewhere rather far off- had some trouble deciding whether to intervene or not while the Fools began trying to drown each other; they decided against it, as they eventually concluded that Minato and Hamuko were just playing. Maybe. "So uh… Yuka-tan, I dare you to go get the ball back!" Once Junpei got pushed into the scene by Yukari, he became the new target of the duckings; poor guy.

* * *

><p>The afternoon eventually turned into evening, and the group decided to leave the beach slightly tanner and with more water in their lungs than any person should have. Once back in the mansion, they put on more appropriate clothes and had dinner –might as well call what they had a feast. Afterward, they were asked to go to the living room. Mitsuru's father was presiding the room solemnly, looking as respectably badass as that morning.<p>

"From what I understand, Mitsuru has already given you the short version." Takeharu –that was the name of the menacing-looking man- spoke with security. "Well, it's true... We adults are to blame. If I could've atoned for it with my life, I would have done so..." A grimace appeared on his face. "Now, I have no choice but to rely on you. What my father wanted to create with those monsters' power... was a time manipulation device."

"That's what he was trying to do?" Mitsuru looked rather surprised.

"Imagine if you could control the flow of time... eliminate unwanted events before they occur. With such a device, you could shape the future to your liking."

"Damn, that's insane..." Junpei muttered to himself.

"It actually sounds interesting." Minato's voice was barely a whisper.

"However, under my father's direction, the research began to stray from its original goal." Takeharu sighed. "...In his later years, my father seemed to have only nihilism in his heart. Now that I think about it, his madness may have resulted from his struggle to break free from that..." He adopted a thoughtful stance. "It's only natural that you want to know the truth... and it's my duty to tell you."

As he pronounced these words, the lights went off rather ominously. Then, a single bluish disperse light beam coming from a projector directed towards the wall illuminated the room. The light reflected against a large monitor placed in front of the sofas where they were sitting. The bad quality of the colours and the images on the screen showed that the footage was both old and made by someone unprofessional.

"What's this...?"

"This is the only existing footage of the accident, recorded by a scientist who was at the scene." The adult's response to Akihiko made some doubts spark in Minato's mind. Accident? What accident?

"...A video recording?"

What appeared in the video looked like the scene of an accident... It was impossible to tell apart the facial features of the man in the scene, but once voice began sounding, there was no doubt.

"_I pray this recording reaches safe hands..._"

Minato saw Yukari's eyes widen. She parted her lips slightly, only to suddenly shout. "That voice...?"

"_My employer has become obsessed with a loathsome idea. This experiment should have never even been conceived... I'm afraid what I've done will result in an unprecedented disaster... But if I hadn't, the entire world may have paid the price..._"

Fuuka gasped. "The entire world?"

"_Please, listen carefully... The Shadows that were amassed here have been dispersed as a result of the explosion_." The voice of the man cracked slightly. Was he holding back tears or something? "_To end this nightmare, you must eliminate all of them_!" He faltered again. "_I am to blame for this. I knew the risks, but I was blinded by the promise of success... And so, I didn't raise any objections... It is all my fault..._"

Yukari stood up and looked at the screen with an expression of disbelief. Suddenly, the image went all white and the projection ended. The brunette breathed heavily for a few seconds before she even dared to whisper what was affecting her so much. "...Dad..."

"You mean..." Fuuka put her hands over her mouth. "That was...?"

"Father..." Mitsuru needed an explanation, just like everyone else.

"His name was Eiichiro Takeba..." Mitsuru's father spoke firmly. "He was the head researcher at the time, and a very talented man. But, we are the ones who are responsible." He clenched his fists. "We pushed him to continue the research. The Kirijo Group is to blame for his death."

"I... I can't believe it..." The red head sounded almost as flabbergasted as Yukari.

"So, that means... my dad caused it all...? The Dark Hour, Tartarus... The people who died in that incident..." Yukari held back a sob. "It was all his fault...?"

"Y-You okay?"

"So, that's why you were hiding this...?" The brunette yelled all of a sudden. "Because you felt sorry for me? Is that it?"

"No, Takeba, I..."

"I don't want your pity!" And with that scream, she ran off.

"Takeba!"

"Um... Shouldn't someone go after her?"

Hamuko stood up without being asked to. She wasn't going to let her friend go through that alone.

"Seikatsu." Mitsuru called her name before she left the room. "...Thank you." Hamuko didn't miss Minato's undecipherable glance as she abandoned the room.

* * *

><p>It didn't take Hamuko too long to find Yukari. She was all alone, in the middle of the beach, staring at the crescent moon which shone proudly in the darkness.<p>

Yukari heard her arrive. "I believed in him for so long... This is too much..."

"…" Hamuko walked towards her silently. She wanted to hear what her friend had to say.

"Hamuko... Remember what I told you at the hospital...? How my dad died when I was little...? You understand now, right...? He died in that incident." Yukari put some strands of hair behind her ear. "Nobody knew the truth, so there were all sorts of rumors... Because he was in charge of the research team, people were really mean to me and my mom... We even had to move a few times."

Hamuko only stared at her, having no words to pronounce, as she was scared she might say something dumb. …The one who was good at soothing people was Minato, after all, and she was pretty sure he'd eventually show up. He always did.

"…But all this time, I kept telling myself it wasn't his fault. I loved him a lot, and I believed he'd never do anything wrong. I received a letter back in the spring. It was from him, written ten years ago..." Yukari chuckled sadly. "It cracked me up 'cause, even though it said, 'To my family', it was pretty much all about me. That only made me believe in him more... When I found out I had a special power, I thought it was fate. I was scared, but I thought if I cooperated with the Kirijo Group, I might find out what really happened. That's why I agreed to fight using my Persona. But, it turns out... all of that was for nothing..."

"What?" The auburn head finally found something to say. "Look, I know how you feel right now, but by mending what your father did, we're helping people. We're heroes, Yukari!"

"Heroes? You think I care about being a hero?" The popular brunette suddenly stomped the ground and glared at Hamuko. "You don't have any idea of my feelings! Of what my life's been like! You are just here because you pity me, like everyone else, but you have no idea of what I'm going through, so don't you dare say you understand me!" Every word felt like a stab. "You have no fucking idea of what suffering is!"

"…" That was it. Hamuko had had enough. "No, it's YOU who has no FUCKING idea of what suffering is!"

Her words took Yukari completely unprepared.

"You don't know what it's like to be alone all your fucking life! You have a mother, and she's alive, but it's _**YOU**_ who doesn't want to be with her because 'SOB, SOB, SHE ACTS LIKE A WHORE'. And your Dad's been dead for ten years and suddenly you find out he really committed that mistake? Well, TOO BAD, but he's still your father and you have memories of him! You may remember him as a bastard who made us fight Shadows if you want, but you'll remember him!"

"I-I…"

"Do you know what I've left of my parents? Nothing! I don't remember their faces, I don't remember half of my life, hell, I don't even know my real name, but you won't hear me complain about it! And you know why? Because crying won't help anything!" Her eyes were getting glazed. "So don't you fucking dare to tell me that I don't know what you're feeling, _**bitch**_." Hamuko walked away from the scene while Minato was heading towards them. Judging by his expression, he'd heard everything. "_She's all yours._" She whispered as she passed by, headed back to the mansion.

Yukari was too perplexed to even react to Minato approaching her, his eyes still fixed on the other girl. It was the first time anyone had got on her bad side besides himself…

Minato finally decided to pay some attention to his hurt-looking dorm mate. "What she really meant is… you had a somewhat happier life than us, so you shouldn't dwell on the past."

"Oh, you think so?" She sneered. Then her voice began sounding gloomy. "…Why does reality have to be so harsh...?"

"Are you that affected about what she said?" Minato silently thanked the fact that none of the girls had noticed that he was spying on them. He did it with good intentions, though, as he saw this situation coming.

"No… I mean, yes, but… I was talking about my father." Yukari bit her lip. "I tried so hard to fight my fear, and this is what I get... Maybe I'm just jealous of Mitsuru-sempai. I mean, why my father and not hers...? Maybe Hamuko's right... I'm a horrible person, aren't I?"

"No, you aren't." He gave her a comprehensive smile. "It's only natural to be hurt."

"But…" She looked at him with tearful eyes. "I'm sorry... my head's a mess..." A sigh. "I'm so afraid... I don't know what to do any more... I'm totally lost..." Her voice cracked slightly. "Tell me... What should I do...?"

"Do what Hamuko… tried to tell you. Grow up. Look ahead."

"Grow up, huh?" Yukari dried her tears with the back of her hand. "...I'm sorry for acting like this." She glanced towards the sea and they remained silent for a while. "Hey, you've lost your parents, too, right? That's why you two understand each other so well…"

"I wouldn't say that's the cause, but I guess it does have some influence. Right now, though…" He joined Yukari in staring at the infinite. "…Do you feel better?"

"Yeah... I'm used to dealing with stressful situations." She smiled. Her eyes were red from crying, but her smile was as beautiful as ever. Seeing it, Minato got some memories of his first weeks in Iwatodai, remembering his crush on Yukari... "Thanks." Minato stared at her as she stepped closer. "So, why are you here again…?"

"I was worried about you." Well, it was more like he was worried about Hamuko doing something very stupid. She'd apparently managed to reverse the Lovers Social Link, so his prediction had become true.

They were gazing intensely at each other, in a way that made Yukari blush. Almost unconsciously, Minato shortened the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. It was meant to be just a comforting gesture but… he could easily feel Yukari's heart beat faster as he pressed her against himself. So warm…

Minato felt horrible all of a sudden. He'd been even closer to Yuko just a few days before, and he'd been at the same distance to Hamuko so many times… What was he doing? He was losing himself to the laziness of just going with the flow to fill the hole Hamuko's indifference was drilling on his heart, taking advantage of the fact that, for some reason beyond himself, all the girls seemed to swoon over him. This had made him realize something: if he wanted her back, he really needed to fight for her. Not in a 'fight your ex-girlfriend's suitors' way, but as in, gain her heart again. And that began with pulling away from Yukari. Fortunately, that was made rather easier by Junpei's sudden eruption into the scene.

"Hey!"

Yukari quickly backed away from Minato.

Junpei gasped for air and began panting. "Sheesh... What's taking you so long...? Everybody's... waiting... It's almost..." He gasped again. "The Dark Hour, so you should get back."

Yukari shot Minato a curious look, to which he responded by simply looking away.

"Did I… miss anything?"

"I-I almost forgot... It doesn't matter where you are when the Dark Hour comes..." Yukari laughed awkwardly.

"Sheesh, it's just common sense! Even I remembered." The boy scolded her rather tongue-in-cheek.

"You know, I've been thinking lately..." Takeba's voice sounded thoughtful. "Once you awaken to the power of Persona, you remember everything that happens during the Dark Hour... It's like trading away your innocence... In exchange for power, you can no longer look away from the things you don't want to see." She grinned at the boys. "So, I guess I'm stuck with you guys, huh?"

"Yup." Junpei mimicker her expression. "Now that that's settled, let's get back!"

While everyone began heading back, Minato stood in place. He felt like he was being watched again.

* * *

><p>The next morning in Yakushima brought about an even more awkward atmosphere among the girls.<p>

"So Hamu-chan, why are you in our Operation BABE Hunt, again?" Junpei asked as he rolled his floater around, sighing deeply.

"Because the girls went to see a tree. A freaking tree when we are in the beach, can you believe it?" That and she really didn't have any intentions to face Yukari after what she said the previous day. "I mean, I don't know about him…" She pointed at Minato with a can of soda she'd brought with her –oh, and she was obviously lying. "But Senpai and you have no idea about how to deal with women."

"H-hey, that's not true!" Aki retorted.

"It totally is." Hamuko shrugged. "C'mon, I know more about flirting than you three together."

"…You know about… that?" The silver haired boy furrowed his eyebrows.

"Nu-uh, Hamu-chan! I'm a total pro at this!" Junpei whined. "C'mon Senpai, let's see who gets more ladies!"

"Uh… Oh, yeah! Whoever loses buys dinner at Hagakure!" And with that, they ran off to hit on some girls.

Minato and Hamuko saw them off. "Aren't you going to go have fun with the guys?"

"…I'm only here because they dragged me into this." The bluenet rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't have any interest in getting more problems with women right now."

"That's not what you said when you were hugging Yukari_…_" Hamuko snorted.

"Oh… you saw that?" He scowled. "I…"

"I only wanted to see how everything turned out. I don't really care about what you do." She placed one of her hands on her hip and let the other fall imply by her side. "Everyone has needs, and it's perfectly normal that you want another girl after _abandoning_ Yuko once you got what you wanted. Just… try not to hurt your girls like that. Seriously, I've been there; guys seem to take it a lot better, though."

"But… it wasn't like that! It's… difficult to explain... but you'll eventually understand why I did it, trust me."

"…Whatever." She shrugged. "So! Now it's time for you to go help those two entertain me." She pushed him towards the other boys. "Go, go, go!" With that, she looked for a free deck chair and sat down to look at them. "_This should be fun_."

* * *

><p>"Alright Minato, you're the new leader." Akihiko sentenced. "Let's look for some more girls."<p>

"BEEP! BEEP! Target confirmed!" Junpei's antics were making Minato feel the need to face palm. "Hellooooo there, señoritas!"

They were rejected in less than two minutes by the college girls they tried to hit on.

"Junpei, be less creepy, will you?" Minato scolded him.

"Look who's talking!" He growled back. Akihiko gave both boys a weird look; he didn't know what Junpei meant, but Minato was perfectly aware of it and glanced away, hurt.

The next target was a lady of questionable age laying on a towel. She… looked much, much better when she was at a safe distance and not groping Akihiko, ugh! …For some reason, she reminded Minato a bit of Mrs. Toriumi. Just a thought.

Hamuko was laughing loudly on her seat, trying not to choke on her soda. "Yes, entertain me, my minions!"

"Hey, they're MY minions!" Minato joked. "I'm gonna get them a girl, you'll see!"

The last girl before giving up was… gorgeous. And willing to go with them… and much more. Minato told Junpei to go for her, which he agreed wholeheartedly to… until Akihiko pointed out a little, tiny thing. Hair on her chin. Oh, shit.

"Whyyyyy?" Junpei whimpered. "Dude, this is all your fault!" He pointed at Minato.

"What? Man, it's not my fault Senpai sucks at this!"

"Take that back!" Aki readied his fists.

"You all suck." Hamuko approached the group. She finished her can of soda and smiled at the group. "So who needs Madame Seikatsu's advice…?"

Before Minato could point out what a 'Madame' usually was, a shocked gasp attracted everyone 's attention. They looked in the same direction as Junpei, only to find an amazing sight.

A girl with platinum blond hair, about their age, stood still at the end of the fishing docks. She was wearing a weird white turtleneck thing, with a blue sundress with white ruffles over it, the end floating slowly with the breeze. She was also wearing a set of headphones with a bizarre red and white design, connected by an indigo tiara with a golden zigzag pattern. Was she foreign? The mysterious girl turned her head slightly towards them, showing her pale skin and baby blue eyes, which contrasted with her reddish lips. Alright, she was either foreign or she had come out of a shojo. Maybe both.

"Talk about saving the best for last…!" Junpei was practically drooling. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Everyone ran behind some rocks to observe her. Everyone. "Hamu-chan, why are you…?"

She looked at him with wide eyes and suddenly rosy cheeks. "…Scientific curiosity?" And then she went back to staring at the girl silently. …Yeah, well. Minato seemed rather affected by the sight as well, so he wasn't going to comment on that.

"Man, she's cute..." Junpei was clinging at the rocks, trying to see her better.

"I agree..." Akihiko sighed.

"This is our last chance to make up for failures... but this time we should try one-by-one instead of all together. We'll have a better shot that way."

"Sounds like a good plan."

"So are you guys sure you don't want my help…?"

"Alright, then let's decide the order with rock-paper-scissors!" Hamuko's offer was totally ignored. "We'll go clockwise starting with the winner." Junpei and everyone else hid their hands behind their backs. "Ready…? Scissors!"

"Paper!" That was Minato.

"Paper!" Akihiko's try as well.

"Rock!" Hamuko's participation earned her more weird looks. "…Uh, I mean… go Jun-kun, go! Good luck!"

Junpei walked towards the girl with a determined look on his face. He puffed up his chest before speaking to her. "H-Hey, h-how's it going? I noticed you've been, uh, staring at the ocean. So, um... do you come here often?" He smiled dumbly. "My name's Ju-Ju-Junpei."

"...Ju-Ju-Junpei?" Was she mocking him?

"Don't worry, I-I just want to talk." The boy defended himself. "I mean, it's more fun than standing here all by yourself, isn't it?"

The blonde turned her head towards the sea and gave him a sideways glance. "...I am looking for a human." Her voice sounded unnaturally monotone.

"She's definitely foreign." Minato muttered as he peeked over the rocks.

"Aw, I wanted her to come from a manga!" Hamuko pouted.

Back to Junpei… "O-Oh yeah...?"

"You are not the one."

Junpei could only gape at that. He then proceeded to walk, defeated, back with the group.

"Wow, he got shot down faster than I expected..." Akihiko sneered.

"Sh-she's a tough one, Senpai..."

"Heh... Don't worry about me." Akihiko walked towards the docks with a big smile and a confident look. "Well, hello there." He spoke with his usual husky voice. "Say, do you like the ocean?"

"Is your question directed at me?" Again, her voice seemed rather forced. It was a bit unnerving.

"Oh, um, yeah, I like the ocean too." Aki pretended he'd received a positive answer. Oh, the old refuge in audacity strategy… "Hey, I heard that triathletes who train at the beach perform better than those who practice indoors. Make sense, doesn't it?"

"That type of information is irrelevant to me."

"Ouch…" Hamuko laughed as Akihiko slumped next to her.

"Heh, I won... I talked to her longer than you did."

"It doesn't matter how long you talked to her!" Junpei sobbed. "This sucks..."

"It's your turn, Minato." Aki announced solemnly.

"W-What?"

"Yeah, and you'd better get her, you hear me? If you can't pull this off, I'm gonna be traumatized for the rest of my life."

"Whatever…" The bluenet ignored them.

"I'll go." Hamuko smirked at them.

"You _what_?" Minato's jaw seemed broken.

"I'm gonna get that girl. What, you don't think I'm capable to do that?"

"You're just gonna make a fool out of yourself." He tried to reason with her. "Just like yesterday."

"We'll see."

Junpei's eyes flickered with amusement as Hamuko hand him the empty can of soda and headed towards the girl. "This is gonna be _**hot**_."

Minato really didn't know how to answer that.

"Hi there." Hamuko smiled seductively at the girl. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this…?"

The girl turned her head slightly towards her.

"You've got some really nice headphones… I like them. What are you listening to?"

She finally faced Hamuko, and she suddenly gasped. "...?" The girl blinked quickly and took a hand to the base of her neck and clenched the sundress. "You…? You cannot… However, my sensors… How can you…" The blonde looked completely shocked, almost offended.

"Huh? She looks surprised for some reason."

"Hamuko probably messed up already." Minato released a big sigh. "I'll go get her."

"I-I what?" Hamuko raised her arms in a placating way. "H-Hey, I'm not really… I'm doing this to have a laugh with some friends and—"

"Hello." Minato walked into the scene. "Uh… Is this girl bothering you…?"

"You… Why…?" The mysterious girl kept turning her head, looking at Minato and Hamuko like they were green dogs. "This must be a failure… This cannot…" The girl unfocused her eyes slightly. "Initiating evasive maneuver. Confirmation must be made at a secure location…" And with that she ran off into the forest.

The Fools were puzzled. "What the—"

"Hey, what did you say to make her run away like that?" Junpei yelled at Minato. "Well, what're you waiting for? Go after her! Go tell her you're sorry! If you don't, we'll all be in trouble! Go on, man. You can catch her if you hurry!"

Minato hesitated a bit before charging on to the forest. Hamuko ran with him, but keeping up with the Track Team star was difficult, if not impossible. And running with flip flops was difficult, to say the least. They somehow managed to chase the girl until they arrived to the Jyomon-Cedar tree the girls were going to visit.

* * *

><p>Hamuko panted, exhausted after the long run. "Where… is she…?" They both felt watched, but…<p>

"It is you." A monotonous feminine voice announced. Afterwards, the mysterious blonde came out of behind a poster containing the information of the tree. "I have found you. I have been searching for you." She smiled. "My highest priority is to be with you!"

And with that she threw herself over the two Fools, making them lose balance and fall to the ground. With their swimsuits, yes.

"This looks wrong on like ten different levels." Minato whispered as the blonde crushed their ribs.

"It could be worse. You could be on top. OH WAIT, that already happened." Hamuko growled.

"Do you have to bring that up when we have a crazy girl on us…?" He sighed.

"WHAT?" Junpei's voice sounded a few steps away. "WHAT THE-?"

"Oh hey guys." The brunette tilted her head back to look at them. "We aren't having a threesome, I swear." Hamuko pressed her lips together and whispered to Minato. "_Wow, I never thought I'd have to say that again._"

Minato decided that he was better off not knowing. "So care to give us a hand?"

"Can I?" Junpei's eyes widened about as much as his grin. If Minato's hands were free he would have smacked his forehead. Or Junpei's.

"There you guys are!" Oh God. Yukari. "Huh? Junpei? Senpai? What are you doing here? We've been looking all over for you!"

"Um... What're you doing in the middle of the woods, in your swimsuits...?"

"Guys, seriously, help…" Hamuko tried to push the girl away from atop her, but she was embracing both with too much strength.

Yukari and Fuuka's faces were quite indescribable. "W-why…?"

"Good question!" Hamuko smiled at her. "Oh, you know, psychos just love having me in this position, no matter if they're boys or girls!"

"Hamuko, please…" Minato glanced away. "..."

"Who's this?" Yukari yelled angrily.

"Listen, we've encountered a problem." Mitsuru was apparently perfectly okay with the two Fools and someone else laying on the ground, for as long as they weren't in the dorm or Tartarus. " I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation, but I need you all to go back to the house and prepare for battle."

"We'd LOVE to, but..."

"That won't be necessary... We've found what we were looking for." Great, even Ikutsuki showed up to the party. Wait, they didn't even know he'd tagged along.

"What do you mean?"

The adult sighed as he adjusted his glasses. "You had me worried. You don't have permission to leave the lab on your own, Aigis."

"...I know." The girl just didn't want to let them go.

"Low on oxygen, guyssssss!" After a while of begging for help, Ikutsuki finally managed to convince Aigis to let go.

* * *

><p>In the evening, in the Kirijo's reception room…<p>

"I apologize for all the trouble. Everything is under control now." Ikutsuki smiled.

"So, what happened to capturing the tank?"

"Tank?" Hamuko asked with curiosity. "You girls were playing MMORPGs without me?"

"Oh, that's been taken care of." The Chairman laughed. "Come here, Aigis."

"Coming."

The girl from before walked into the room… In a weird white suit. The parts which were supposed to connect the body with the sleeves had golden decorations and… Cables. And instead of feet she had a hoof-like thing. "What…?"

"This is Aigis. As you can see, she's a 'mechanical maiden'."

"I am Aigis." The robot introduced herself. "My mission is to destroy Shadows. I have been assigned to SEES, effective immediately."

"Oh my gosh!" Hamuko bounced on her seat excitedly.

"No way... It's like she's... alive." Yukari couldn't express anything but awe as well.

"This is unbelievable..." Even Aki was surprised.

"Quite an incredible piece of engineering." Minato appreciated.

"She's so cute, but... she's a robot..." …Junpei was being Junpei.

"Anti-Shadow weapons were created ten years ago to combat uncontrollable Shadows. Aigis was the last to be made... and she's the only one that still remains today."

"An anti-Shadow weapon..." Mitsuru pondered aloud. "Does that mean she...?"

"Yes, I am capable of operating the Persona 'Palladion'." Aigis explained.

"She suffered major damage in combat and has remained in the lab ever since. It's still unclear as to why she suddenly reactivated herself this morning..." Ikutsuki shrugged. "Well, I hope you will all get along."

"We have a robot!" The brunette insisted, her red eyes gleaming with amazement. "A robot!"

"An anti-Shadow weapon with a will of her own... It really is amazing!" Fuuka agreed.

"Um... By the way... So earlier, you three were…" Yukari's words faded into a murmur.

"Yes, it is very important for me to be by their side." Aigis nodded to herself.

"We have a robot and she totally imprinted on us!" Hamuko was totally euphoric. "This is crazy awesome, man!"

"Oh, there's no way such a thing would happen..." Ikutsuki chuckled. "Perhaps her identification system is malfunctioning... Or maybe she's still half asleep... This is quite interesting... Hmm..."

"I don't think it's that..." Yukari sighed.

"...Well, I can ponder this later. Oh, I forgot to tell you all... You can participate in a wide range of recreational activities here. There's a tennis court, a pool table... even a karaoke machine. Would you care to hear me sing?"

"Uhh..."

* * *

><p>In the end, they didn't have to suffer Ikutsuki's singing, but they did go to the karaoke. The machine rated the performances as well: the closer the voice sounded to the original singer, the more points they gained. Thus, they decided to make a little competition… which Hamuko was only surviving because she only sang Risette songs.<p>

"That's cheating!" Minato complained even though he was going first in the competition. "Not fair, Hamuko."

"Tsk, just cause you say so." She folded her arms.

"Alright then. If you're so sure of yourself, I dare you to sing a song with me."

"I don't want to sing with you." She turned her head away.

"Suit yourself." Minato sighed and walked towards the karaoke box. He connected his MP3 to it and checked the list of songs… Seconds later Deep Breath Deep Breath began blaring out of the speakers.

Hamuko gaped as she realized what song he'd chosen. "Oh, c'mon, don't give me this... I'm not gonna…" She ran to the remaining microphone as soon as the lyrics began playing.

It was just a song. No second intentions, right?

"…From the moment I saw you it's all gone, hard to believe to a pimp like me, used to have several women every day of the week..." Wrong. Minato had obviously chosen it for a reason. Hamuko wasn't exactly good at English, but she knew perfectly what the song was about. The bastard… "I paid time I put that behind, said I'm sorry I got to go." Hamuko really looked like she meant to leave the mic and go with the others. However… the song was just too cool to leave and the line 'And all I want is for you to stay' sung by Minato was bizarrely mesmerizing.

"I won't deny that I used to play, young days I've done things that I can't even say… Time to make up my day. God it's so hard to regulate… 'Til I met you yesterday!" The word 'her' played audibly over Minato's 'you'.

She glanced away. Damn Minato… "I was the dirt and you're the purifier."

"I'm the gasoline while… you're the fire."

"Keeping it on the DL no inquire?" What the hell did that even mean?

"Which makes me wanna talk like Esquire." Over the song's 'I don't want no partial, I want the entire' Minato was clearly singing "I don't want to push you, I want to entertain you."

Hamuko got the grasp of it and arched an eyebrow. "Buy any jewels from gold to sapphire? Crack some jokes, sometimes satire…"

"Will be careful not to get you damn tired, making sure that I will take you higher…" Neither Fool dared pronounce the next line. "…That's what makes me most inspired. I hope the same goes with you, baby girl…"

Once the song ended, Hamuko just gave Minato a troubled look and walked away. The boy followed suit.

"What was that about…?" Yukari's question was answered with a shrug from Junpei.

"…Hey." Hamuko stopped and sat down by the sea once they were far enough from the house. She didn't want to have a scene like the one the night before, so she followed the song's advice and took a deep breath before talking as Minato sat besides her. "…What do you think we'd be doing right now if we still were something?"

Minato seemed hesitant to speak. "You want me to be honest with you, right?"

"Yes, please."

The boy shrugged. "We'd be rolling on the sand, enjoying each other's company… With few to no clothes on." He felt that he had probably said too much, but Hamuko nodded slowly in response.

"…Exactly." She hugged her knees and rested her chin between her arms. "That's just what we'd be doing right now."

"…?" Minato gave her an inquisitive look.

"I've been thinking about this a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean _**a lot**_." A sigh escaped her lips. "What you did…"

"I didn't—"

"Shush. Listen to me." She glared at him. "I'm sorry. It was my fault."

"…What?"

"I did nothing but tease you for months because you didn't want to be with me... And then when you finally agree to end that teasing, I gave you the cold shoulder and…" Hamuko began trailing off. "I can see why you'd do that. I'd probably do it myself."

"In fact, there is that one time you—"

"For the last time, I wasn't really going to do anything to you that night!" She yelled. "But… yeah, anyway… Things went wrong because I only wanted one thing from you, but then I didn't, but then I did again and… you get the idea." They shared a troubled look. "You helped me change while I gave you nothing but trouble…"

"Hamuko, for the last time, I was NOT being myself…" Minato brought his eyebrows together.

"I'd like to believe that but… I can't just trust you, and no song will change that." She bit her lower lip. "It's over, sorry."

"…" Minato sighed with resignation.

"However, I… wanna trust you again." The brunette gave him a hopeful look. "I'm not gonna forget what happened, because I can't, but… I miss someone I really trusted. My friend Minato." She rubbed the back of her neck. "That's the best I can offer you right now. You take it, or…"

"I take it." He smiled at her; it was a sad, yet sincere smile. "But I still love you, I'm afraid…"

"I love you too." Hamuko grimaced slightly as she saw Minato's awestruck expression. She was a bit late to saying that. "But I can't believe you now." She got up from the ground and dusted her shirt. "Just friends, alright?" She extended her hand towards him.

"Just friends." Minato shook her hand. In that moment, the Fools Social Link stopped being reversed. "I missed the whole 'becoming closer through a handshake' thing."

"It seems something which came out of a movie or something."

"Hamuko, our whole lives seem to have been copied from a movie." They laughed slightly. A comfortable silence took over…

"TARGET DETECTED!" A monotonous voice exclaimed, right before pouncing both Fools to the ground. "Location confirmed. Must report to Junpei-san. But how to do so, without losing sight of the targets…?"

"…Definitely out of a movie."

They were eventually found by Junpei and Fuuka, who helped them break free of Aigis's grasp.

* * *

><p><strong>Brick joke from chapter 11, HO!<strong>


	45. Morning surprise

**Author note: Hey, folks! It's time for the little FAQ thing I do every so often! **

**Q. Did you make Hamuko a bi/lesbian in that scene with Aigis?**

**A. What she does isn't so much 'swinging both ways' as 'swinging around like a revolving door'. Nah, just kidding; however, when Hamuko says she can't tell love and friendship apart so she loves _all_ her friends, she really means _all_ of them. Have fun reading previous chapters which include parts of the Lover's Social Link. You'll totally find an 'interesting' phrase or two in all of them :B  
><strong>

**Q. When do you update?**

**A. The amount of chapters you get each week is inversely proportional to the time I spend taking care of my comic Rankor Chronicles and several RL issues. There is NO fixed update time, but I like to do so at least twice a week. The more I care about things that aren't this fic, the less I write (no shit, Sherlock).**

**Well, there's quite a bit of cannon dialogue in the first part of the first day, but it gets better don't worry :u**

**Thanks in advance to my beta reader Evilshroom. I'm sorry man, but I can't upload a full day later after having completed a chapter :/ (damn different time zones)  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Man, it's already the third day of our trip…" Junpei had been whining since the sun rose in Yakushima. And he didn't seen to be willing to stop even at noon. "It's too bad we have to go home tomorrow... I'd totally stay longer if I could. But, I can't complain... A lot of cool things happened while we were here…"<p>

"Someone tell that guy to shut up, I'm trying to sleep…" Minato's order was muffled by the towel he was laying on.

"...How can he be so full of energy?" Akihiko pondered aloud. "We were all up so late last night..."

"Do we have a mission at the beach today?" Aigis –who had insisted on tagging along to keep an eye on her priorities- was glancing around, seemingly clueless about what people do in a beach.

"Nah, it's nothing like that. We just came here to have some fun." The boy with the cap answered with a patient voice, like he was talking to a child.

"Do you understand what it means to 'have fun', Aigis?" Again with the child treatment, this time from Fuuka.

"Of course." The robot answered, somewhat proudly. "Recreation is the refreshment of one's mind and body."

"Exactly! Wow, you sure know a lot about us humans." Junpei ran towards Aigis and grabbed her hand. "Alright, let's take one last dip before we leave!"

"Uh, hold on, Junpei-kun... Is it okay for Aigis to go in the ocean?" Fuuka asked with concern.

"Oh, I'm sure she's water-proof." There was some… Something was off in Yukari's voice.

After running into the sea with Junpei –with her blue sundress on, mind you- Aigis walked back to the others.

"What's wrong, Aigis?"

"It is best that we all engage in this activity together. An activity in which only one person derives enjoyment is not the optimal method to 'have fun'."

"Ugh, do we have to...?" Despite what she said, once Yukari got in the water and began splashing Junpei alongside Aigis she seemed to have a lot of fun.

"We should join them." Fuuka smiled at her Senpai.

"Okay."

And with that they got in the water. Finally some peace…

"Are you enjoying yourself?" …And that was Ikutsuki talking to Akihiko. "We've been quite busy during our time here, but it looks as if we can relax a bit today."

"...I hope so."

"Hey, Akihiko-san, c'mon! It's your turn!" Junpei shouted while running away from the girls, who were claiming vengeance for the previous day.

"My turn...? What are they doing?"

The chairman chuckled. "I'm glad to see everyone is having so much fun. I've already told you what time the ship will be arriving tomorrow, yes? I'll most likely head over to the port early, so don't be late."

"Okay, I'll let everyone know."

"We can get back down to business again once we're back at the dorm." And with that, he left and Akihiko ran to the water with the others.

"Hey Minato." The bluenet rolled on his side. Hamuko was smiling at him, all soaked from head to toes after having managed to escape the pitched battle which was taking place in the water –surprisingly enough, he was paying more attention to her smile than the drops of water rolling down her body. "Aren't you going to come play with us today?"

"I want to get a nice tan…" He sighed.

"Oh." She wiped some stray strands of wet hair out of her face. "Your back is getting red, though." She looked at Fuuka's bag. "Sunscreen?"

"Yeah, sure." Not like squirting sunscreen over his back was going to do anything, but oh well… Wait. She wasn't just—"_Wh-what…?_"

Unlike the previous day, Hamuko had actually kneeled down besides him and began massaging his back with the cold, creamy liquid, not too differently from the way she did in his wildest imaginations; being touched by the object of his desires in such a way made Minato shudder despite himself, making the girl notice that his body had become considerably rigid and earning a concerned –and oh god, so oblivious- look from her. "What's wrong?"

"W-Why are you…?"

"Huh…? We have to help each other to build up trust again, right? Like friends do, no?" It was the first time she was trying to make up with a boy, so she had no clue about how to act. The brunette furrowed her eyebrows, unaware of the implications of what she was doing; however, seeing Minato's face getting red, and not from burning, gave her a little hint. "…Friends don't do this, do they?"

Minato briefly considered making up some lie and letting her keep building up something other than trust, but he promptly decided against it for logical reasons. "No, not really…"

"I see…" Hamuko pressed her lips together and nodded to herself. "Thanks for telling me." She then turned her head to the sea.

"Hey, Hamu-chan…!"

Minato saw his friend narrowing her eyes dangerously at the other boy. He could easily guess who'd told her that putting sunscreen on a friend's back was a normal thing…

"…I'll be back after killing Junpei."

"I'm going too!" Minato ran… past her into the water at lightning speed. Didn't he say he wanted to get tanned or something…?

"Jun-kun!" Hamuko yelled at him as she stomped her way through the water –looking rather dumb, at that- "I'm gonna make you swallow so much water that you'll end up growing guts!"

"I do not think it is possible for a person to grow guts like a fish's, but I should be able to make the 'swallowing water' task easier." Aigis was speaking seriously: a cylindrical metallic piece rolled out of her wrist. It seemed a container of sorts, which she sank on the water. "Initiating attack!" Immediately after saying this, she began shooting a strong stream of water aimed right at Junpei's mouth. The boy couldn't do any other thing than gargling and flailing his arms as he fell backwards on the water, having lost balance.

"Aigis, wait!" He managed to turn his head away from the stream. "That's not what 'water gun' means!" He couldn't pronounce any further words, as the robot hit its target again.

"Junpei-kun is down!" Fuuka laughed.

"Alright, here's our chance for an All-Out Attack!" Yukari grinned at Minato, obviously keeping her eyes away from Hamuko.

"Wait, Minato, save me man!"

"It was a pleasure knowing you, Junpei." The bluenet smirked at Junpei as the girls sank his head in the water once and again, making a mess out of the cap he always wore.

"Whoa, whoa, time out! I seriously can't take much more of this...!" Junpei yelled as he dabbled in the water trying to escape their grasp. "Gyaaaaah!"

While everyone was having fun in the water, a smile broke forth in both Fools' faces, and it wasn't related to Junpei's suffering –well, it mostly wasn't- but to the fact that the Fools Social Link had achieved level 5. Yes, they had, indeed, grown closer to everyone. Oh, how they'd miss Yakushima…

* * *

><p>"…"<p>

"…?"

"…"

"…"

"…?"

"…Aigis, I'm glad to be one of your priorities and what not, but… do you have to stare at me like that?" Minato moved slowly away from the mechanical maiden.

"Yes, it is rather precise." She kept staring at them from the other side of the table.

"Maybe she just wants a bit of that beefsteak." Hamuko pointed to one of the several dishes Minato had in front of him.

"No, that's what _you_ want." He chuckled. "…Can you tell me the reason, Aigis?"

"I do not acknowledge it." The robot shifter her eyes from one Fool to the other, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Those eyes…" Minato spoke to himself as he chewed a portion of the first-quality meat they had been served by the Kirijo's maids.

"…They look kinda like Pharos's." Hamuko commented offhandedly, without giving it much thought. The boy, however, seemed interested by that comparison.

"Who's Pharos?" Both teens jumped quite literally on their chairs when hearing Junpei's question.

"Uh… That's… Bebe's name, isn't it?" Hamuko confirmed Minato's question with a quick nod.

"Man, that guy's got a lot of names, hasn't he?"

The Fools laughed awkwardly, praying that the topic was left alone once the desserts arrived.

* * *

><p>The third day ended, and the following morning they embarked the ship which would take them back home.<p>

"God, I hate boats…"

"We stop talking for two weeks and suddenly you don't like adventures anymore?" The bluenet sneered.

"T-this is not an adventure…" Hamuko managed to stutter, feeling about to say bye to the contents of her stomach every time the boat moved up and down in synch with the waves. "…It's a torture."

"There, there." Minato patted her head. "Just calm down and try not to think about it."

"Goddamn it, Minato, I'm not a hamster! Stop petting me!"

"You know, most people would relate petting to dogs or cats. The fact you associate it specifically with a hamster means you see your resemblance to rodents."

"I don't, because there's none! If you're gonna say that I look like one of those little furry big-toothed things you can go pet Yukari!" Hamuko grunted.

"…I was just trying to make you forget about the boat."

"The boat…? The waves… hrk…" And with that she ran away.

* * *

><p>Nothing much happened for the rest of the day; they were just too tired after the trip and dealing with Aigis questioning about every single thing in the dorm and Iwatodai in general to even bother leaving the dorm. However, that evening… They really felt like they were missing something important. Huh, who knows.<p>

"So, Ikutsuki-san…" Minato had never been a fan of talking with that man, for some reason beyond himself; however, he had a few questions regarding the latest incorporation to S.E.E.S., so engaging friendly conversation with him while everyone was sitting in the surrounding sofas was a good opportunity to satisfy his curiosity. "May I ask something? …Why does Aigis look so human?" The unspoken part of that phrase was 'and so pretty, at that' but he didn't dare say it out loud.

"Oh, you want to know about her, huh? Well…" The Chairman adjusted his glasses. "Personas are created from human minds. So the plan was to place a human mind inside an anti-Shadow weapon... The only real issue was the form the weapon would take. If the form of the weapon was a tank, for instance, the weapon's mind would recognize itself as a tank... however, a tank is not a living entity." He smiled, apparently at his own intelligence. "This is crucial, you see, because the mind of a non-living entity will not process human thoughts correctly... so it will not function properly, and it will soon become corrupted. However, a mind placed inside a form that closely resembles a human body will recognize itself as a human being, thus allowing it to easily adapt to human thoughts. Therefore, Aigis and her sisters were built in the form of human beings."

"Sisters?" Akihiko jumped into the conversation out of the blue.

"The other anti-Shadow weapons, of course." He chuckled. "There were many created. You could say they were Aigis' sisters. However, they were all destroyed ten years ago in the incident. Aigis has been quite lonely since then…"

"Could that be why she seems to know Hamuko and me?" Minato inquired once again.

"Could be. I do not know. Perhaps it is simply a glitch in her human recognition programming..." For two people? That seemed weird… "Regardless, it is nothing to concern yourself with." And that sounded even weirder.

Minato had some problems falling asleep that night, as Aigis had been observing him and Hamuko in that unsettling way of hers during the entire evening…

* * *

><p>"Hmmm…" Something was stopping Minato from fully rolling on his side, so he shifted his arms slightly to embrace it, thinking that it was probably his bed pillow. How that pillow was hugging him as well, however, was beyond his comprehension.<p>

"Good morning!" A cheery robotic voice greeted him. "Please wake up."

"Huh…?" Minato turned his head to the voice, eyes half closed. "Aigis…?"

"You've awakened safely." She backed away from his bed. "Mission complete."

"…What?"

"The paper on the wall says, 'Do things five minutes early'. Therefore, I woke you up five minutes prior to the triggering of your alarm clock."

"Oh. Cool." Minato yawned. He stared at the item which was embracing him and which he was embracing as well, through half-lidded, sleepy eyes… It was an auburn haired girl, missing the quaint ponytail she always wore during the daytime. "Did you hear that, Hamuko? That robot of yours has an alarm clock function."

"Awesome…" She purred against his chest while she casually slid a leg slowly up and down his hip in an attempt to bring him closer. "You're so soft and warm, speaking cushion…"

They stayed like that for a few seconds, until realization hit both. More loudly in Hamuko's case than in Minato's.

"WHY ARE YOU IN MY BED?"

"THIS IS MY BED!"

"NO IT'S MINE, PERVERT."

"NO IT'S NOT! THERE'S NO JUNK ON THE GROUND!"

"…WHY AM I IN YOUR BED?"

"I _**DON'T**_ KNOW!"

And then someone knocked the door and both froze.

"Hey, what's with all that screaming? Are you having a bad dream?" Yukari's voice sounded muffled through the closed door. "That girl disappeared, and we can't find her anywhere. Think you can help us out? She might've gone out on her own, like she did in Yakushima..."

Minato only had to say she wasn't there, and—

"I am not a girl... I am Aigis, and I am here." Oh,_ fuck_.

"Huh...?" Yukari's face was really… something… upon entering Minato's room. "…"

"This is NOT what you think." Minato was panicking.

"Unless you think that I magically ended in this bed somehow, in which case, it totally is!" Hamuko was rather exasperated, but she was taking the situation with humor.

"It was not magic." The blond android spoke knowingly. "Being by your side is only a feasible action when both of you are together, so I have concluded that you must be together all the time so I can protect you correctly." Thanks crazy robot girl, for making the situation slightly less awkward.

"But how did you even…?" The only boy in the room released a big sigh.

"Both of you sleep with your doors unlocked." Oh, right… "I suggest locking them in the future to prevent undesirable strangers from entering your rooms when you are vulnerable."

Yukari took a hand to her face. "No comment…" She sighed. "Didn't we tell you to stay in the command room at night?"

"I propose to be on standby in this room from now on. Furthermore, both Minato-san and Hamuko-san should rest in this same room as well. Is this acceptable?"

"Wh-what? No! That can't be done!" She yelled.

"If there is a problem, then I will address it promptly." Aigis gave her a serious look.

"Ugh… You're going against like, fifteen dorm rules." Yukari rubbed her brows. "First, what you're doing is unlawful entry; second, you're a girl, that means you can't be in a boy's room." Well, she was a robot but whatever. "And um… You didn't even ask them if they wanna sleep in the same room!"

The robot gave the Fools an inquisitive look.

"Oh yeah, that's totally okay with me. Just bring me another bed."

Both Minato and Yukari smacked their hands against their foreheads. Yes, of course, Hamuko saw sleeping in another person's room as something very normal. "She's kidding, _**right**_?"

"Uh, yeah, of course…" Minato laughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Aigis, but you're not allowed to stay here with us, nor take us to each other's room while we sleep."

"But I must be by your side!" Aigis insisted.

"And I wanna sleep with my 'bot!" The female Fool whined.

Minato shot an eyebrow up. "Here's hoping that that phrase just _**came out**__** wrong**_."

"…" Yukari shook her head. "…Look, I'll have a room prepared for you on the third floor. You can stay there, so you'll be near Hamuko and Minato-kun. Oh, and don't leave the dorm by yourself, okay?"

Aigis nodded. "I will do as commanded."

"Ugh, I'm tired... I have practice this morning, so I gotta go." Before leaving, the brunette turned once again towards the other teens. "…You should get out of his bed before Senpai sees you…"

Hamuko didn't waste a second jumping out of Minato's bed as Yukari shrugged and left. "Uh…" She gave him a curious look. "…When did you begin sleeping shirtless?"

"Oh, you know it's summer and… Um… We can probably thank the fact that Yukari didn't see how you sleep."

"…" Minato observed that the brunette became suddenly embarrassed about having only a shirt a couple sizes bigger than it should on. Then again, she'd been hanging around on a bikini in Yakushima, so, maybe that wasn't the reason… "H-Hey, exams results will be posted today, right?"

"Yeah…" Minato got up from his bed. "We'd better not arrive late to school."

"School?" Aigis inquired.

"It's a place where everyone goes in the morning." The boy explained as he looked for a shirt.

"...Everyone goes to a place called school in the morning." She echoed. "I comprehend."

And with that they went to school… separately.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Hamu-chan, have you ever thought about what's gonna happen after we defeat all the Shadows and the Dark Hour disappears?" Junpei asked as they walked to school.<p>

"What do you mean?"

"Regular people don't even know about the Dark Hour, right? That means no one will ever know about anything we've done... That kinda sucks, don't ya think?"

"Yeah… But we hafta help people, man!"

"I know, but… why are we doin' this, dude?"

"Because… Uh…" Hamuko faltered for a second, but then she threw her arms in the air. "Just 'cause, doesn't matter!" She then hung her head low. "Please, don't get all emo like Yukari, Jun-kun…"

* * *

><p>"Well, it's the time to face the truth." Hamuko whispered to Junpei as they walked towards the corridor where exams were posted.<p>

"Hey there!" Minato greeted them cheerfully. "Tenth best score in our grade! Turns out that paying attention in class is really useful!"

"Who woulda thought?" Hamuko looked for her name. "… Well, not great, but I passed, WOO! Thank you Academics God! …How did it go, Jun-kun?"

"Err…"

"…" There are certain scores one shouldn't comment on.

"Oh, revenge is so sweet…" Minato smirked at the girl.

"Buh! I could have achieved better marks if a certain someone hadn't been giving me a headache all over the week!"

"Same here!"

"Well, nobody told you to think about me, duh."

"Exactly. See? Your bad marks have nothing to do with me." He shrugged and walked away.

"I'll win next time, you'll see!"

* * *

><p>Lessons just felt sooo long after a week of vacations… Damn, everybody wanted to go back to Yakushima. And when the one friend Hamuko talked to in class cuts all communication with her… Well...<p>

"Hey Yukari…" Hamuko stopped her friend as she was walking out of the classroom. "Um… Do you want to go back home… together?"

"…" Yukari arched an eyebrow. "…Sure."

Minato walked past her as he got out of the room. "_Good luck_."

* * *

><p>"Well, um… You wanna go somewhere?" Yukari asked, glancing around awkwardly.<p>

"Uh… I wanted to go to Bookworms to see if they had anything new on stock."

"The book store… But, that's kinda lame isn't it…?" She frowned.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Hamuko rubbed the back of her neck. "Um… What about we go have some takoyaki at Octopia?"

"Oh, that actually sounds like a good idea! Wait, lemme see how much money I have…" Yukari reached into her pocket. "Huh… I can't find it! Oh, no! Where's my wallet? Did I drop it?" She looked around. "But when…?"

"You had it when you bought the ticket for the monorail, right?"

"Yeah, and I had it when I pulled it out at the station…" She seemed to realize something. "Wait, someone bumped into me right outside the train station…"

"Let's go, then!" The red eyed brunette wanted to run towards Iwatodai Station, but Yukari stopped her.

"I can go by myself, thanks… Um… Wait here, okay?" And with that she left. Hamuko decided that she would wait for her like she asked, but… after five minutes of standing alone, she decided to go look for her, afraid that something might have happened to her friend.

Her intuition proved to be right. Yukari was being surrounded by some punks in an alley by the station.

"What'd you say? You better shut your mouth, bitch!" One of them yelled.

"Can I get a piece of that, Bro?"

"Get away from her!" Hamuko ran into the scene, ready to put up some fight…

"Huh? You want in on this too, sis?"

"Dude, they're both hot, Bro!" …Only to remember that she really wasn't a fighter at all without her weapon; however, using her Evoker against normal people didn't seem fair... Well, she wasn't going down without a fight, that was for sure.

Just then, another monorail finished its journey from Port Island Station to Iwatodai Station. As Minato walked out of the station, he heard some screams on the lines of 'Don't fucking touch me!' coming from a zone where few people wandered around. He took a look, only to find that some punks had managed to back two familiar girls against a wall.

"Hamuko! Yukari!"

Minato ran towards a punk and punched his face with all his strength. The attack was so powerful that he managed to make him fall on his back, incapable to do anything about it. As soon as another guy ran towards him, determined to turn him into Carpaccio with his knife, the bluenet feinted him and kneeled his stomach when he least expected it.

Hamuko used the confusion to kick one of the lackeys of the guy who had been threatening them right where it hurt the most, making him let out a chocked scream and fall on his knees.

"U-Ugh! These guys are fucking nuts, run!" And with that, the punks ran away, scared.

"Hah… Hah… Thanks man, that was… intense." Hamuko managed to comment when the hyperventilation subsided.

"Helping each other and all…" He panted.

"Did I… tell you that I… love your way of getting back my… trust?"

"You girls are a… magnet for trouble…" Minato gasped. "How the hell do you keep getting in these situations?"

"How the hell do you… keep arriving just on time?"

"Wild guessing." He smiled. That sparked the laughter in Hamuko, who really needed it after the stressful situation. Minato soon joined in, and they had to look for support on each other's shoulders not to fall to the ground laughing.

"You two find it funny?" And there went Yukari, ready to ruin the mood!

"You want me to cry or… haha… something?" The brunette gave her friend a weird look. "Hey, aren't you gonna thank Minato for savin' our butts just now?"

"No! I got my wallet by myself! I didn't need your help! I could have handled this alone!"

"**What**?" Hamuko gaped.

"_She doesn't really mean it_." He whispered to her. As he did so, she noticed that Yukari was trembling; she was really scared. "Yukari-chan, receiving help from others is not a bad thing. You should know this after Yakushima…"

Her eyes had a dangerous look. "But I don't want to rely on anybody at a time like this, why do I have to? I'm pissed off at myself! This… This is not different from my mom!" Apparently, even Minato knew about her, so…

Hamuko saw Yukari was shaking again, this time because of the anger she was bottling up. With this she felt she understood her better and… Yup. Lovers Social Link level 5—wait. It levelled up while being reversed? And it still was? What?

"You need to understand that everyone needs help from time to time. And although sometimes we feel embarrassed when we aren't strong enough to face a situation alone, it is much more preferable to getting killed… or worse." Minato spoke calmly, looking at Yukari straight in the eye.

"I… I guess you're right…" Yukari looked down. "…Sorry, I'm gonna go back." And with that she ran away.

The Fools exchanged concerned looks. "That was a great speech." Hamuko grinned at him. "Thanks again for the help."

They began walking silently back to the dorm. "…Hamuko, Yukari's a Social Link of yours, yes?"

"Uh-huh. Why?"

"I got this… tingly feeling from helping her cheer up. It was oddly reminiscent of the one Social Links give; however, she belongs to you, so..."

"Hmm…" She furrowed her brows. "Weird. …Are you sure it isn't any _other_ kind of 'tingly feeling'?" She sneered.

"Any other kind? Wha—Oh God, Hamuko. I'm _**positive**_ it's not that, don't worry."

"Oh, but I wouldn't worry about that…" Hamuko shrugged. "I mean, I've got better things to worry about like… What happened just five minutes ago… A crazy robot girl getting in our rooms… Having to fight Shadows…" She shot an eyebrow up. "You being 'happy' to help Yukari? Not worrying at all. Nope."

"Way to put it into perspective…" He mumbled as they got in the dorm.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the day…

* * *

><p><strong>The Fools' Tournament: now with a 50% more innuendo! (Going beyond the impossible, yep.)<strong>


	46. A new dorm mate

**Author note: Man, I hate RL Wednesdays and in-fic Sundays. Just a thought.**

**So uh yeah. Not much to say today. My head hurts like crazy.**

**Thanks to my beta-reader, Evilshroom!**

* * *

><p>"Summer break starts tomorrow!" Junpei bounced up and down, like he was high on sugar– maybe he was. "Time to meet some cuties at the beach!"<p>

"No school for a month! Wooo!" Hamuko joined him in the cheering.

"And don't forget the festivals." Minato added.

"Yeah, the festivals…" The brunette sounded a bit bothered by those words.

"A couple walking together at a festival… unused to wearing it, the girl's yukata comes loose… summer has begun."

"…Are you a poet now, Minato?"

"No, I'm just making a wish." A small smile broke forth in his face, whereas a scowl formed on Hamuko's.

"Man, I still hafta decide what girl I'll go with!" The boy with a cap pondered aloud. "Dude, why are all the girls in our dorm so damn hot? I mean, we have Yuka-tan, Mitsuru-senpai and Fuuka…"

"Gee, thanks for always leaving me outta the list." Hamuko pouted.

"Uh—W-well, it's just that… we're bros, Hamu-chan!" He chuckled nervously. "Anyway… Choosing will be difficult: Senpai is the smartest girl in the school and the President of Student Council... I bet she only dates uber-nerds. Yuka-tan is pretty damn popular, so she could prolly get any guy she wants... and that just leaves Fuuka for me, but she's super shy…"

"You'd totally freak her out if you ask her to go with you." She laughed.

"Augh… I'll get a girl for myself for sure!" Junpei raised a fist in the air. "…But you'll go with me if I don't, right?"

"…" Minato hung his head low, seeing that Hamuko seemed to be perfectly okay with that idea.

The bell rang, putting an end to their talk…

* * *

><p>Magic class in the last day of school before summer vacations…? Seriously, who the hell cares about alchemy and Jung? Not Hamuko, that's for sure… unless that Jung had something to do with the Jung in Jungian Archetype. …Nah, not even then.<p>

"Freeeeedooooom!" Hamuko picked up her schoolbag and walked out of the classroom. "Bye-bye, everyone! Woo-"

"Wait, Hamuko-san!" A familiar voice called. The brunette held back a sigh and turned around slowly.

"Hey, Yuko-san!" Her smile looked slightly forced. "…Do you need anything?"

"Oh, I just wanted to talk with you about the trip on the first and second of August!"

"Trip? What trip?"

"Oh, didn't you know? Well, I guess that things got pretty hectic now Ms. Kanou isn't here anymore…" Yuko scratched her head. "We're all gonna go to a town in the countryside to play tennis with the students of another school. What was it…? Yaso… something." She laughed. "The good thing is, there'll be food, hot springs and all that stuff at night! …The not so good part is that you and the other girls will begin training here for a week in two days."

"I see… Wait, why are _you_ telling me all this?"

"You didn't hear about that either? Geez…" The tanned girl frowned. "I… quit being the Track Team manager, to become the new Tennis Team manager! You know… I really don't want to have anything to do with Minato and the old team anymore… Well, other than Kazushi, of course, we're still friends, after all."

"I kinda know how you feel…" Hamuko cast her eyes down. "Well, welcome to the team, Yuko-san! And thanks for the info!" She saw the other girl off, feeling that she could understand her a bit. Weird.

"Oh, hey Hamuko." And that was the bluenet strolling into the scene. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you see, Yu-" Did Minato acknowledge that Yuko had quit being the team manager? "Um, someone just told me that I'll have to come to do some special training next week…"

"You too? …The coach just told me that I have to train for a tournament which takes place on the second of August… Supposedly everyone relies on me to defeat a guy called Hayase or something."

"I'll be playing tennis and bathing in hot springs while you do that." She laughed at Minato's perplexed face. "So, I guess we won't be seeing each other much during next week."

"That's right… We haven't been a single moment away from each other since we arrived to Iwatodai…" He sighed. "I never thought I'd say this, but… I'll miss you."

"You'll miss me, huh…?" Hamuko bit her lower lip softly.

"…?" Minato stared at her in that cold, knowing way of his, even if he didn't mean to do so.

"…I just remembered I promised Fuuka I'd show up to the Cooking Club." And with that she ran off, missing Minato's disappointed look.

* * *

><p>"I'm glad to see you, Hamuko-chan!" Fuuka greeted her. "Do you have any idea about what to cook today?"<p>

"Maybe you should choose, Fuuka-chan."

"Oh, I have already chosen!" She giggled. "…But I don't want you to look. You should try cooking something different! I'm sure that you'll be able to make anything with your cooking skills."

"Thanks for the compliment! Um…" Hamuko tapped her chin with her index finger. _"…Truffles?_"

Hamuko had no problem cooking the chocolate truffles; however, once she was done with them she had to reconsider what she was going to do with them: she had cooked them thinking about sharing with Minato, but… that could end bad –or extremely well, depending on who you ask.

Fuuka, on the other hand, was working slowly a few benches away; she was determined to make something amazing…

"Done!" The teal haired girl exclaimed cheerfully. "Here, look."

…Or rice balls, apparently. They seemed to be made with flavoured rice… and they smelled good. Hamuko reached out and tentatively took one… "This is… this is…"

"H-How is it...?" Fuuka stared intently at her.

"This is awesome!" Hamuko raised her hand in the air to do a highfive, and was quickly met by Fuuka's.

"I'm so happy to hear that!" She smiled. "I thought that there would be no way I could mess up making a rice ball, so I did a lot of research. The more I looked into things like what salt, seaweed to use, I got more and more into it..." Her eyes seemed to be gleaming. "I got so excited when I was doing my research, and even more excited when I was making them now." She adopted a thoughtful stance. "...I think the most important thing is the feeling of wanting others to enjoy what you make... I think because of that, I was able to make this taste good. I wonder if this is what they mean when they say 'cooking requires love'." A grin decorated her face again. "...I'm so glad that you like it."

Hamuko smiled affectively at her. Seeing Fuuka improve with her help gave her a really warm feeling… Oh right, Priestess Social Link level 6. Maybe the Fools were getting just too used to the voices in their heads…

"I'll make something that's even better next time!" Fuuka looked determined. "I can't wait to share this with Minato-kun!"

"…What?" The brunette blinked in confusion.

"Minato-kun asked me to let him try my food, because he says he wants to see me become a good cook… Isn't that nice of him?"

"Oh, yeah…" Hamuko frowned slightly. "Real nice."

* * *

><p>"Hmmm…" Hamuko and Fuuka stopped in front of Bookworms. "…Maybe this is a good time to see what's new… Hey Fuuka-chan, you can go ahead to the dorm, I'll go later…" They said bye to each other, and then she walked nonchalantly into the store…<p>

"S-She did it!"

The girl looked ahead, only to find Minato pointing at her in an accusatory way. "Buh what?"

"Oh, Minato-chan, there's no need to lie…!"

"It really wasn't my doing, Bunkichi-san!" The bluenet tried to reason with them. "Hamuko, please, tell them that it wasn't me!"

"Um…?"

"The plan to save the persimmon tree…!"

"Oh!" Realization suddenly hit her– it'd been so long since she last attended a Student Council meeting that she had forgotten that all she was trying to do was convince Mitsuru to help her. Apparently it worked…

"Is that so…? Were you the one who called my son's students?" The old man furrowed his eyebrows, maybe a tad disappointed.

Hamuko was about to confirm that picking up signatures with the help of former students was indeed her idea, when a thought crossed her mind: Minato hadn't taken advantage of the situation. Even though he could have simply accepted the merit of her actions and used her like he used a ninety percent of the people he knew, he actually decided to be honest for once. That was an improvement. "…Oh, you know how Minato is: he's just too modest to take the merit."

Said boy's jaw dropped, whereas Bunkichi just began laughing. "Ahaha, I knew it! You can't trick me, Minato-chan!"

After obtaining Hierophant level 7, Minato walked out of Bookworms and sat on one of the nearby benches, waiting for Hamuko to finish whatever business she had in the book store. The girl walked out happily, holding with her right hand a book called '_Tamaki Uchida, demon summoner 2: Invasion to St. Hemerlin' _and a bento box with her other hand. Interesting name…

"…Why did you do that?" The boy asked before she could even say 'hi'. "I didn't do anything at all for them…"

"I think it's called um… wait, I know this thing… Oh, right! It's something called 'positive reinforcement'." She beamed at him. "You do something good, I do something good for you."

"I don't think positive reinforcement works that way." Minato chuckled. "But I like the concept." He stepped closer to her. "So, does this mean I'm being a good boy…?"

"So far so great." She extended her arm to push him away softly. "You'd better keep it up."

"I'll be on my best behaviour." Both Fools exchanged glances full of affection. "But, I'd be even better if you gave me some…incentive now."

"Oh, really…?" Hamuko handed him the bento box. "There. That way I can kick your ass for eating my food if you aren't good."

"…I would want it any other way." They began walking together back to the dorm. "So um… Hamuko, since we won't be seeing each other much next week… and to celebrate the end of school…" He took a deep breath. "Would you like to go to Escapade?"

"Goddamn it, Minato! I'm not ready to—" She blinked in surprise. "Oh. Escapade. Oh yeah, sure, I want to party!"

"…?" The bluenet gave her an inquisitive look.

"Well, you made it sound like you were asking for another thing…" Hamuko shrugged.

"I am asking you if you feel confident enough to drink together until losing consciousness as we used to do." He explained, rather tongue-in-cheek, yet keeping a certain seriousness.

"Oh, but I know you wouldn't do anything to me." Yet another shrug.

"Oh…?"

"I mean, I'm tired of passing out with you and you have never tried anything weird. And then Aigis took me to your room and everything and… _you_ didn't do anything either."

"What's with that '_you_'? …Are you blushing?"

"…Do you think she was there, staring creepily at us all the time?"

"…What are you talking about?"

"O-Oh hey look, we arrived to the dorm!" And with that she put an end to the conversation. "Hey every—"

"Hello!" The brown haired boy who was with the chairman a few days before Yakushima greeted them. "My name is Ken Amada. I'll be staying here for a while. I'll try to stay out of everyone's way, so don't mind me."

"Oh hey…" Hamuko smiled. "I'm Hamuko Seikatsu, nice to meet you."

"Minato Arisato."

"Nice to meet you both."

"Same here." The bluenet pushed Hamuko discreetly away from Ken, leading her to the kitchen. "Hamuko. Stop looking at him like that."

"He's handsome."

"He's ten."

"...I could have sworn he was twelve."

"Hamuko…" Minato's glare spoke in his place.

"I jest, I jest." She raised her hands in a placating way. "I feel he's a potential Social Link."

"…I don't feel it." The boy furrowed his brows. "…Seriously. I have my eyes on you."

"Augh, I'm fed up with all that 'Hamuko says a younger boy looks cute so she totally wants to screw him, hurr durr' shit." She stomped the ground.

"Oh, so this has happened before?"

"…" Hamuko parted her lips, seemingly ready to retort, but then she just gritted her teeth and glanced away awkwardly. "W-weren't we going to Escapade...?"

"Nice way to change the topic—I mean, sure."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Mutatsu-san…" Minato greeted him as he climbed the stairs slowly. "How's it going?"<p>

"Damn straight, kid…" Mutatsu laughed. "I was just thinkin' you might show up… and here you are."

"Yeah, it happens a lot. Either everyone's always thinking of me or I have a really good timing." He ran a hair through his blue hair, carefully brushing it over his right eye with his hand afterwards.

"Hmph. What's the deal with your hair, kid? Is that the style nowadays…?"

"Well, I used to think it identified me or something before moving here… I was actually thinking of changing my hairstyle one of these days…"

"Hey! What about you shave it off like me? Eh?"

"Keep dreaming, old man." Minato slouched on the leather sofa. "If I do that, my girlfriend will _**never**_ forgive me."

"Your girlfriend…? You made up with that other kid?" Mutatsu raised an eyebrow up.

"Um… More or less?"

"More or less? That's not an answer, kid!" The monk yelled. "Hey ya! Ya! The girl down there!"

Hamuko was sitting on the first step of the stairs, trying to get something out of the conversation. She was sure that those yells were directed at her, so she walked upstairs. "Uh, me…?"

"Yeah, you!" He snorted. "Are you and this kid together now?"

"Um… he's on the sofa with you—oh, you mean, together _**together**_?" She looked at Minato and arched an eyebrow. "No."

"Ahaha! That's what I call a straight answer!" Mutatsu laughed. "This is the proof that you shouldn't expect anything from life, kid." He turned his head to Hamuko. "Huh… If only you wear ten years older…"

"If only you were a million years younger." Hamuko glared at the old man. "…Minato?"

"Don't make your friend wait, kid."

Well, Minato had obtained Tower Social Link level 4 so he wasn't going to wait there or whatsoever anyway. Still… Wow, she hadn't hesitated a tiny bit…

"…That guy seems a total jerkass…" The brunette commented as they walked downstairs.

"I actually find him to be really interesting..."

"Oh. Jerkassery confirmed, then." She giggled at Minato's offended face. "So, um…" An awkward silence took over. "…Dancing with friends is something normal, right?"

"Completely."

"Awesome!" Hamuko took his hand and ran to the dance floor, 'Beauty of Destiny' playing loudly everywhere in the club.

* * *

><p>"<em>Drinking, drinking pure alcohol…<em>" Minato sang while he held Hamuko's shoulders.

"…_Until the next day I can't talk at all! Woo_!"

The Fools couldn't stop laughing all the way to Port Island Station. They had decided to be half responsible and come back before the Dark Hour hit, but… well, let's just say that they couldn't even remember the name of the zone where they lived. During a short period of lucidity, Minato decided to sit down on a bench near the cinema and wait for the effects of the alcohol to wear off a bit.

"Man, I had totally forgotten why I love hangin' out with ya!" Hamuko exclaimed with a slur as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Duuude, yar da coolesht thin' eveeer."

"Y-Yesss, I know." Minato smirked.

"'N' I know ya do." She stared at him with sleepy eyes. "I love ya shooooo much."

"I love you too…"

"N-no, I love ya more. I l-love ya… thish big, man!" She raised her arms in the air to show just how big her affection was.

"Well, I love you… this big!" He mimicked her.

"Ahaha, it'sh a draw then!" She smiled dumbly at him. "H-Hey, let'sh make out."

"Naaah; you'll kick my ass when you s-sober up if we do…"

"Damn…" Hamuko frowned. "I suuuck…"

"O-oh really? Well, crap, we never got that far…" Minato could probably thank the fact that the girl next to him was too drunk to understand that sentence.

"Hey, check out those guysss!" The brunette tilted her head to point at three people walking out of the alley which leaded to what was possibly the most dangerous zone in Tatsumi Port Island. One of them had long beige hair and… yellow eyes, reminiscent of those Theodore and Elisabeth had? –scrap that, they were probably hallucinating. The clothing and other details were difficult to difference in the distance, but he was obviously shirtless. Walking next to him, there was a girl and a boy, probably about the same age as them; the former had red hair and wore a white gothic Lolita dress while the later had blue hair and a green tracksuit on. They left Port Island Station, unaware of the Fools staring at them. A few minutes later, a rather tall boy in a red longcoat left the alleys of Port Island as well. That beanie on his head resulted rather familiar… "A-ain't that…?"

"Huh?" The boy readied his fists as he saw someone running towards him.

"Oh my gossssh!" Hamuko hopped, excitedly. She then proceeded to cling to his arm, needing some support. "Yar Senpai's friend! The one guy who saved our butts! Um… Shinji!"

"You…" Recognition was obvious in Shinjiro's eyes as his gaze become softer. Just like the first time they saw each other, the boy was ogling her, an expression almost as undecipherable as Minato's decorating his face. "There's no way…"

"Aw, ya don't remember me?" She swayed slightly on her feet. "Name'sh Hamuko, Senpai! 'N' I think yar da mosht badass guy ever!"

"Hamuko…?" He narrowed his eyes down at her, troubled or maybe confused. "…You're awfully drunk. Don't tell me you're alone…?" The taller brunet glanced around. He found Minato standing with difficulty a few meters away. "You, shithead! Did you get her drunk?"

"H-hey, who you callin' a shithead?" Minato yelled at him. "You want a fight, son?"

Shinjiro snorted. "Great, two drunken idiots. Go back to the dorm, this place isn't safe for dipshits like you."

"B-But Senpai! I want ya to teach me how to be a great fighter like ya!" Hamuko begged him. Shinjiro's glare, however, sufficed to make both Fools run to the train platform.

* * *

><p>As Hamuko slumped on her bed, her mind a bit clearer, she tried to recall the events of the night. She was probably too drunk to remember everything correctly, but… She didn't remember buying the monorail tickets. Did Shinjiro…? Nah, it probably had been Minato…<p>

* * *

><p>"Aw yeah! Give him a beating, Black Condor!" Junpei shouted as he bounced on the sofa.<p>

"That monster has nothing on you, White Swallow!" Hamuko's yells were less loud –she was pretending that her head didn't feel about to explode after the previous night.

"Why are they giving orders to the television, Minato-san?" Aigis questioned, confused about how the other boy and Hamuko were acting. "Will their words influence the outcome of the program?"

"Um… not quite so, Aigis. Um…" Minato took a sip of his coffee cup. "Uh… _Damn hangover_… Well, you see, they're expressing their desires. Of course, the series was recorded years ago, and its end was set long ago, it's something irrevocable, so nothing can change it; however, since none of us have watched this finale, we can only hope for an outcome which we will enjoy." He drank some more of his black coffee. "Understood?"

"There is an unchangeable fate all these episodes follow; however, you do not know how they will end. Hence, you need to keep watching the series to find out, and so you want to guess and, or, even modify this fate even though it is unchangeable. I… believe I understand; however, it is quite a complicated thought."

"Aigis-san is truly amazing…" Ken commented to Minato. He drank some of his own cup of coffee and cringed –the kid was drinking black coffee, just like him! "I mean… Seeing a robot here was quite unexpected."

"_This dorm runs on 'unexpected'_." The bluenet mumbled. Apparently, the younger boy heard him and gave him a curious look. "Oh, uh… This reunion, for example. It's not common for everyone to gather in the lounge to watch Phoenix Ranger."

"It's a series for children…" The young brunet frowned. How cute, apparently he thought he was an adult… Huh…?

* * *

><p>"I want to go with you, big bwo!" A little blue haired toddler whined.<p>

"Mum says that you're too little to come with us to Port Island because they won't have time to care for you with the case…" An older bluenet explained patiently.

"I'm not wittwe! Gwampa says I'm smawter than owder peopwe!" She stomped the ground, apparently about to throw a fit.

"H-Hey, no, don't cry!" The boy hushed her. "It'll only be a week…Hey, I know! When we're back, we'll go together to the park and I'll buy you some ice-cream! How does that sound?"

The bluenette sniffed. "…Really?"

"Yup! You, Grampa and me will go have an ice-cream once we're back. So wait for us, okay…?"

"…Yes, big bwo!"

* * *

><p>"…Minato-san? Are you okay?"<p>

"Huh? O-Oh yeah, sorry. I kind of zoned out there…" Minato chuckled and then he got serious. What the hell had that been…?

* * *

><p>Hours later, the Fools decided to have a walk around town. In the afternoon, they went to Naganaki Shrine. One of the benches was occupied by a really pale boy, so they sat down on the jungle gym, ready to share the truffles Hamuko had made the previous day. Said brunette looked rather awkward for some reason as they shared the food and spoke about meaningless things.<p>

"So uh…" Somehow the talk ended being about the previous night. "…You know how I said I loved you when I was mega drunk?"

"Um… No?"

"Oh." Hamuko laughed happily. "Then, I didn't say anything."

And she remained close-lipped the rest of the day, despite Minato's attempts at making her talk.

* * *

><p><strong>Let us pretend that I actually have ever any idea for Sunday.<strong>


	47. Rain

**Author note: this chapter makes no sense or whatsoever, it's just here to appease my readers :I**

**Good lord I hate this chapter so much :U Like, seriously. It'd been a while since I last hated a chapter and I personally loathe this one.**

* * *

><p>Twenty-seventh of July, Monday. First day of training… The Fools walked lazily to school…<p>

"I don't want to train…"

"Me neither."

"But, you'll have hot springs when you're done with it!" Minato complained. "What will I have?"

"…A trophy for being the winner and a week of stiffness?"

"Did you just…?"

"Huh?" Hamuko arched an eyebrow.

"Oh, no, I was just talking to myself!" The bluenet laughed at her confused face.

* * *

><p>The days went by rather fast. Between training and Hamuko's job, the Fools didn't see each other more than a few minutes each day –just about enough to share news and thoughts such as "Rio is really fired up! I think she's trying to impress Kenji-kun…" or "Everyone's amazed at my speed!"<p>

Hamuko noticed that Minato hadn't made a single question about Yuko's disappearance from the Track Team, and she found it disturbing. She commented offhandedly how the tanned manager had moved to her team for personal issues, earning nothing but an uninterested "oh" from Minato. He either was colder than ice or was trying to prove to Hamuko that he didn't care about the other girl anymore. Even though she would have somehow appreciated the later, she loathed that attitude too much to find it amusing at all…

* * *

><p>On Wednesday, the dorm alarm woke up everyone during the Dark Hour –how that alarm worked in the Dark Hour will forever be a mystery. Everyone gathered quickly in the Command Room, afraid that a full moon Shadow could have left out the 'full moon' part.<p>

"Buh… We have to get up early tomorrow…" Minato complained as he dragged is feet towards the other S.E.E.S. members.

"Sorry to wake you!" Fuuka apologised. "But I detected a Shadow in the city!"

"Is it-?"

"No, it seems a normal one. Yamagishi found it by chance." Mitsuru explained calmly. Wait, why was Fuuka awake past midnight and with her Persona on? Oh, whatever. "It's near Naganaki Shrine."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Hamuko clenched her Evoker.

"Don't worry, Akihiko went ahead since he was in the vicinity." Why Akihiko was running around the Naganaki Shrine at midnight was something they'd never know. Then again, the Fools were the ones who always were hanging out in the time when the water turned blood, so… "I'm sure he can handle it alone, but let's get ready just in case."

"Gotcha!" Junpei nodded, determined.

Suddenly, a phone rang. Fuuka's Lucia vanished as she reached out for her mobile phone. "Yes, this is Fuuka."

She put the mobile phone in speakers mode. Akihiko's husky voice sounded distorted through the device. "I'm here. Sorry, but I think you guys better come, right away."

"What's wrong?" The red head faltered slightly. "Is it a powerful one?"

"No, the Shadow's been defeated. In fact, it was already defeated when I got here."

"What happened?" Mitsuru insisted.

"The little fella's been injured..." Aki sounded frustrated. "I wanna save him if we can." And with that he ended the call.

"'Little fella'?" Yukari, just like everyone else, was confused by these words. "Who's he talking about?"

"Beats me." Junpei shrugged. And with that they went to meet Akihiko.

* * *

><p>"Oh, God." Hamuko stepped back, hands covering her mouth. Akihiko was crouching by a little dog's side. Said dog was a Shiba Inu with grey and white fur, which looked rather familiar for some reason, completely drenched in blood. He had a fairly large gash in his belly. Minato couldn't avoid observing that while she was used to seeing that kind of scenes in Tartarus, Hamuko seemed really shocked from the sight. She cared more about dogs than friends, nice.<p>

The dog whimpered, apparently incapable to move.

"Koro-chan!" Fuuka yelled. "Are you okay, Koro-chan?" Oh, right, that one dog…

"You know this dog?" Mitsuru inquired.

"Yeah, everyone around here does..." If Yukari said so… "We have to help him!"

"First, we must stop the bleeding."

"Um, shouldn't we just heal him or something?" Minato's sensible suggestion was apparently unheard by the others.

"Man... He's one tough fighter." Akihiko praised the dog. "He defeated that Shadow all by himself."

Junpei gaped. "Wait, does that mean... this dog's a Persona-user?"

Aigis stared intently at the dog. She then turned to the group. "He says, 'This is a place of peace, so I protected it.'" The robot pointed to a corner near the side of the shrine gate. "There are flowers over there."

"Those flowers... They must be for the priest who died in the accident." Fuuka furrowed her eyebrows.

"So, he really was guarding this place..." Yukari reflected aloud.

"Uh, Aigis? Don't tell me you can translate dog language too..." And so Junpei broke the mood.

"Canines do not have their own language. However, speech is not the only means of communication." The blonde explained.

"Dude, you read thoughts?" Hamuko asked with a weird mix of excitement and fear in her voice; however, she soon focused again on the dog. She crouched down next to Akihiko to pet the wounded creature, trying to soothe him. "Will he be alright?"

"I hope so." He smiled at her. "Don't worry. This fella really is a rare breed."

"Confirmed." …Was Aigis trying to be reassuring?

"...He's not the only one." Neither Fool was very sure of what Junpei meant.

"Alright, let's report to the Chairman, so we can conclude this mission. As for a vet... It may be midnight, but I believe I can arrange for one." Mitsuru smiled comfortingly to Akihiko and Hamuko.

"Guys, shouldn't we just heal him and call it a night?" Minato suggested yet again.

"Good job, boy. You're one amazing dog..."

Minato usually couldn't avoid thinking that none of the S.E.E.S. members ever put some thought into their actions –the few times he didn't, it was because Mitsuru said something smart…

* * *

><p>The next night, after training, the Fools went to Chagall Café to see if they could get a break and get to talk a bit more; they hadn't done this before because Minato had been hanging out with a familiar-looking business man and speaking about stock trading all day.<p>

"…So yeah, I really hope Koro-chan will recover; I mean, he's way too cute to be in that state... I wonder if I could keep him once he gets well…"

"…Dogs too, Hamuko?" Minato smirked against his cup of chocolate as Hamuko kicked his shin. He answered by treading her foot softly.

The brunette arched an eyebrow and sighed. "…Kids, robots, dogs…? Got any other things to add to the list?" She began kicking him discreetly under the table, earning an amused look from him.

"What about guys?" He rubbed his right ankle against hers.

"Oh, then maybe I should get back to hanging out with Senpai …" She tilted her head and grinned at his poker face. "…I missed these moments with you…"

"Which moments?" Minato smiled sheepishly as he tapped her foot with his.

"We didn't do these things when we were 'more than friends'..." Hamuko rested her face on her hand and stared at him affectively. They kept their little game under the tablecloth, forgetting their drinks.

"…Playing footsie?" A female voice startled hem.

"M-Mimi-senpai!" She exclaimed as both she and Minato hopped away with their chairs.

"Ooh, sorry, I didn't mean to bother you…" The waitress in a maid uniform laughed. "I just came by to see if you wanted anything else, pick up empty dishes, and oh, you know…" She sighed dreamily. "See if you were… back to the action. But, seeing how sweet you two look together… dohoho…" She smirked. "Did my advices help, Seikatsu-chan?"

"What is she—" Minato blinked in confusion.

"WE'RE JUST FINE, SENPAI." Hamuko yelled. "We don't want anything now, thanks!"

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you lovebirds alone, geez…" Mimi strode to the kitchen; Hamuko couldn't avoid sighing, aware of the fact that she was going to communicate 'news' to all her coworkers.

"…What advices was she talking about?" The bluenet inquired again.

"Eh…?" Hamuko's face went red as a tomato. She glanced away, her brows furrowed in a troubled expression. "…Let's say that she gave me some… ideas for Tanabata."

"O-oh, I see…" Minato's expression darkened considerably. "H-Hey, better finish these cups before they get cold, right?"

They drank while awkwardly staring at each other. "…I never knew chocolate could be so much fun, really."

The bluenet almost chocked on the contents of his cup.

* * *

><p>When they got out of Paulownia Mall, it was not only way too dark and late, but also raining heavily. Damn, that was unexpected.<p>

"I wish we had an umbrella!" Minato complained as he and Hamuko ran to Port Island Station, holding hands under the heavy rain –so they wouldn't get separated, of course...

"C'mon Minato, even I know what being together under an umbrella means." She scolded him jokingly. They got in the train soaking wet, and they had to expose themselves to the weather even more to get to the dorm. If it wasn't because they were more worried about getting a cold before the track tournament and the tennis trip, either Fool would have probably made a comment about the nice view- both were wearing wet _white_ uniform shirts, after all...

* * *

><p>"C-cold…" Hamuko whimpered as they walked towards a wardrobe in the first floor where they kept the towels. Empty.<p>

"I guess they're in the washing machine…" Minato received a troubled look from Hamuko. "Wait, I have a clean towel in the bag I take to Track Team practice." Both teens walked into Minato's room. He picked up the bag which was laying neatly on a corner and revolved its contents. "You can use it; I'll get another one tomorrow."

"B-but you hafta have a shower too. I don't w-want you to get sick!"

"I insist." He handed her the towel.

"I refuse." She pushed it back.

"Hamuko, I can stand chill much better than you can. Go get a shower."

"No, you go f-first!"

And then the lights went off. "Good evening!" Pharos greeted them.

"I guess this means neither of us is getting a shower." Minato hung his head low and sighed.

"Running in the rain?" The little boy asked with curiosity. "That seems fun, but you should be careful; you have to be prepared for the next Full Moon."

"We're ready for anything." Hamuko smiled at him.

"Haha, I know I've nothing to worry about. However, you should still remain cautious." Pharos walked to Minato's door. "I'll come to see you again." And with that he vanished.

"Well, that was random." It was then when the bluenet noticed that there was quite a long trail of blood getting straight into his room; of course, their clothes had been dripping all along. Wait. Their clothes… That meant… "AUGH, damn it!" Minato took his hands to his shirt and unbuttoned it quickly as he realized that it was drenched in blood. He turned his head to Hamuko before taking it off completely, suddenly conscious about her presence. "S-Sorry! Y-you don't mind, right?"

"Oh, no, not at all…" She shrugged as he reached out for the towel to clean some of the blood stains. As much as she wanted to, Hamuko couldn't avoid glancing unabashedly at him, oddly infatuated by the movement of the towel which was going slowly from his lean pectorals to his somewhat toned stomach, and then all the way up again. Once, and again, and again and… Okay, she was beginning to feel awkward, and she wasn't supposed to feel that way near Minato… _anymore_.

"Um… Aren't you uncomfortable wearing that…?" Minato pointed at her shirt which was covered in blood as well. The girl gave him a doubtful look. "I… can lend you a shirt of mine… that can't be too different to your pajamas, right? I swear that I won't look."

"…Not that I care if you look. I mean, I have underwear and that's wearing something, yanno?" Hamuko and her crazy dressing standards.

"Still, I won't do so." He handed her the towel and his pajama shirt; then, he walked out of the room. "Please, be fast; I wouldn't want to take any chances at running into Junpei or something like this."

"Hey, it was you who decided to walk out, not me!" The girl quickly unbuttoned her shirt. "...It used to be the other way around…"

"Huh?"

"You undressing and me promising not to look." She snickered.

"Oh, yeah, I remember that…" He sighed nostalgically. "…Are you done yet?"

"Yeah." She opened the door for him.

Minato stared at her with quite an unreadable expression. "…W-where's your skirt?"

"Over there, with my shirt and the towel." She shrugged. "Bloody clothes are awful."

"That they are…" He cleared his throat and looked down at his own bloodstained trousers. "Mind if I…?"

"N-nah." To say the truth, she was rather uncomfortable with seeing him taking off his clothes. Both of them being so vulnerable… it reminded her of that one night. But she was trying to rely on Minato again; she couldn't think about that. And anyway, underwear was just like swimming suits, and those were perfectly normal, right?

So there they were. Sitting on his bed, in nothing more than underwear, waiting for the Dark Hour to end. Hamuko shot him a bashful glance. "Friends definitely don't do this, right?"

"Well, think about it this way: if this isn't building up trust, I don't know what is." He ran a hand through his hair as he laughed; his chuckles halted when he found out that his hand became a fiery red color after doing that. "I hate the Dark Hour so much."

"Only a few Shadows more and it'll be over." She reassured him. Awkward silence took over again. "You look, um… pretty good… Training sure shows off."

"Really?" Minato smiled leisurely at her. "You look better than in Yakushima, too…"

The brunette raised an eyebrow at the comment. "Checking me out when I was mad at you, Minato?"

"My, sorry for noticing that you were wearing nothing but a little bikini. What kind of horrible teenaged boy am I?" He rolled her eyes at her.

"Keep the irony to yourself." Hamuko grunted.

"Sarcasm."

"What?"

"It's sarcasm, not irony." He explained.

"Well, excuse me, prince, I'm not a master of speech like you."

"I don't think you're a master of anything." Minato sneered.

"Of course I am!" She glared at him. "I am… uh… I am the master of Tartarus! MWAHAHAHA!"

"First, that'd be mistress; second, that's me, sorry." He smirked.

"Ah, well, then I am the mistress of Tartarus! …Gosh, that name sounds so wrong."

"What, are you going to change naginatas for whips and wear yellow leather masks?"

"If you don't shut up, I am going to—" The lights came back, and any traces of blood turned back into freezing water. "I-I'm going to have a shower first!" She got up from his bed and ran out of his room.

"H-Hey, wait! You can't leave like that! Or at least give me my shirt back!" Minato shouted from the frame of his door. In that precise moment, Junpei opened the door of his room.

"I'm glad you're back at it with Hamu-chan, man, but… CAN YOU SHUT UP? I'M TRYING TO SLEEP."

"SHUT UP YOU TWO!" Akihiko's voice sounded muffled through his door.

Minato grumbled, too tired to even shout back at them. Fuck towels, fuck Hamuko and fuck his wet blue hair, he needed to sleep.

* * *

><p>The Fools were walking together to school on Hamuko's last day of training…<p>

"I-I-a…. ACHOO!" Minato rubbed his nose after sneezing. "I hate you."

"I told you that you'd catch a cold if you didn't have a shower." Hamuko snuck out her tongue at him.

"Unlike you, I'm not as stupid as to run around the d-dorm in m-my u-u-under—A-ACHOOOO! …Goddamn it." He sniffed. "…So how the hell did you dry off after the shower?"

"…I'm not giving you back your shirt."

"…Fair enough." Minato moved away from her. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to avoid yet another sneeze. "You're leaving tomorrow, right?"

"Yup." She smiled. "Will you be in the bus station to say bye?"

"I'm afraid not. I still have to train on Saturday. I have to beat Mamoru Hayase… because everyone says so. And I'll be going to bed early tonight to see if that helps the cold, so…" Minato noticed that Hamuko was staring at him. "…?"

"If we aren't going to see each other until Sunday night…" The brunette stepped closer to him. "Erm…" She stood on the tip of her toes to reach Minato's face. She planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled sheepishly at him. "Good luck, champion." She ran away, thanking him for the shirt as she passed the school gates.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter is like putting a bunch of innuendos together and calling it a story. Oh wait, that's the whole fic summary, sorry.<strong>


	48. On a trip

**Author note: hey folks! Let's arrive to 300 reviews before chapter 50 8D**

**Also it was about time I changed my avatar \*w*/ It's from a Minamuko kiss 4 meme I drew out of boredom. This isn't totally a pimping of my dA account SandraMJ or whatever.**

**Oh right the chapter. There are like four… hundred pages of canon stuff. Sorry, I'll make up for all that in the summer holidays. The in-game ones, I mean.**

* * *

><p>"<em>It's… it's hot… too hot…<em>" A room in penumbra. Amidst the darkness, a door appeared, the only discernible item around. The doorknob was cold, which was a refreshing feeling when compared to the increasingly warm air filling the room. The door, upon being opened, gave way to an intense flare which set fire to the previously safe room. The luminescence coming from the flames made it possible to see clearly the interior of the room; there were a bunch of unmade beds and a window. Some toys were laying around, now suffering the anger of the embers dancing in the air. Smoke began to accumulate in the ceiling, prompting coughs in the only person around. That flared dark gray air was unbreathable and impossible to see through and to top that, the fire had overtaken the room completely. Confusing orange lights and black clouds overshadowed every thought while in the distance, some desperate male cries and desperate calls for help could be heard… They sounded too distorted but… were they calling for a specific name? "_Help..._" The words died unspoken, as the world went completely black.

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed, but everything became clearer afterward. Suddenly, it didn't hurt to breath anymore; the flames didn't burn and the smoke had disappeared, instead replaced by green clouds. Was it safe to go out? Little steps broke the silence that had taken over the place, avoiding with difficulty the holes and the debris which had accumulated on the floor. "_Where's everyone…_?"

The skies were green instead of black, and an humongous creepy yellow moon shone proudly in the sky. Tens of sarcophagi surrounded menacingly the front door of the building and there was blood as far as sight could reach. It seemed a scenery taken out of one of those horror films the older children talked about… It… it was too scary… Nervous pants were the only noise in that soundless world, alongside the wail of a kid running for dear life.

* * *

><p>"Hamuko! Hey! Wake up, we're here!"<p>

Hamuko opened her eyes as she felt someone was shaking her arms. "R-Rio?" She yawned. Even though the brunette loved traveling, the journey was longer than she expected; first, they had to take a train to another city, then a bus to another station, and then several hours of train ride… and the scenery was too boring to keep her attention. She rubbed her eyes lazily and looked around. Trees, little houses, hills... "Inaba, huh?" She got up and stretched her arms. Man, talk about weird dreams…"

* * *

><p>"It's a pleasure to meet you." The Gekkoukan tennis team bowed at unison.<p>

"It's a pleasure for us too!" The ones from Inaba answered gladly.

Yasogami was quite a small high school; it was composed of two small buildings, one of three floors and the other of two. The tennis field was shared with the soccer pitch, but fortunately this one was empty. How the hell did they manage to play in such a reduced space?

Rio didn't need more than five minutes to begin giving orders to every single of the tennis players, regardless of their team. That didn't include Yuko, however, and the girl was free to include her wacky ideas into their game. She wasn't one for pessimism, but Hamuko knew that making the loser clean the pitch and do ten wind sprints wasn't very reasonable… Everyone was really fired up and…

* * *

><p>"Whewwww... We're finally finished cleaning up..." Yuko sighed, completely exhausted. …But of course, it couldn't be any other way.<p>

"Okay, time for the sprints, then!" Rio ordered eagerly.

"...Me too?" The bluenette furrowed her eyebrows.

"Of course. This was your idea."

"Yes, Ma'am..."

The fellowship came to an end without any problems, and so they left the school.

* * *

><p>"Hot springs…!" Hamuko exclaimed as they walked out of the local high school. She was looking forward to getting in the thermal water pool and let the stiffness after the training disappear completely.<p>

"Hey, what about we wash each other's backs?"

She gave Rio a curious look. "But… Um… Friends don't… What would Kenji say of that?"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Hamuko? Washing each other's backs is fine, we're all girls!"

"Oh, so it's fine while it's all boys or all girls..." She nodded to herself. "_That's dumb, but whatever_."

"I don't think boys do that…" The team manager laughed. She then took a deep breath and glanced around, ignoring Hamuko's mumbles. "Last year's fellowhop wasn't too far from our school. This place is so laid back... I love it. That shopping district seems pretty lively, though." She turned to Yuko. "What a peaceful town... It'd be nice to live here."

"Are you the club members from Gekkoukan High School?" A black haired girl, a couple years younger than them walked towards them. She was wearing a uniform with the same symbol as the ones the Yasogami High tennis players had in their tracksuits. She had big black eyes and her hair didn't quite reach her shoulders. …She bore a striking resemblance to Rio… "The Amagi Inn sent me to get you."

"Huh? Oh, th-thank you very much." Did Rio notice the similarity too? "Um... You don't work there, do you?"

"No, I'm just helping out." She smiled. "I'm Yukiko Amagi, the daughter of the hostess at the Amagi Inn."

"The hostess's daughter... So does that make you a junior hostess? Cool!" Yuko smiled. "Oh, are you in high school?"

"No... I'm still in middle school."

"You're in middle school and you're already helping with the family business...? Man, talk about responsible..." The team manager seemed impressed. "So are you going to inherit the business?"

"That... I don't know yet."

"...Hey, don't stick your nose in other people's business!" Rio scolded Yuko.

"Yes, Ma'am... Sorry. People are always telling me I'm nosy..."

"Tch, I wouldn't say nosy_…_" Oh. Wait. Did Hamuko say that aloud?

"What do you mean?" Yuko raised an eyebrow.

"O-oh, you know, you're just a curious person." Not like that was a lie… But Yuko sure didn't buy it. "S-so do you like this town, Yukiko-chan?"

"It's alright…" The young Yukiko spoke softly and shyly. For some reason she couldn't quite determine, she reminded Hamuko of Fuuka. A lot. In fact, she would have asked if she could cook if she wasn't for the sudden interruption of a woman– Kasai-san, Yukiko called her- asking for the car keys. Turns out Yukiko had accidentally taken them… Gosh, she really was Fuuka….

The woman left with the car, and thus they headed to the shopping district on foot. It was indeed, as Rio had told them, a lively place. A few students were playing soccer in the street, much to the dismay of the owner of a nearby book store. There was a tofu store next to it –Kujikawa? Wasn't that Risette's surname? It was easy to tell apart the silhouette of hoists in the distance, apparently occupying a big building site.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" A boy was shouting nearby. He seemed to be same age, or maybe older than Yukiko –or maybe that was just his bleached hair making him seem older. The ones who were getting shouted at were definitely the same age as the tennis group. "GET BENT, YOU PUNKS!"

"Whoa, that boy has no volume control." Funny Yuko was the one saying that.

They had to wait a little wait for the bus which would take them to the Amagi Inn, but Hamuko didn't get bored at all; all the people in Inaba looked so interesting and different from the people in the city! From that stern looking man who was running at an incredible speed, who knows where, to that woman hanging around with a Nemes on her head –her face looked a bit similar to Edogawa's…- and even that little tomboy with brown hair, whom Yukiko greeted affectionately and promised to help with her homework.

* * *

><p>The Amagi Inn was placed atop one of the many hills of Inaba. A not-too-dense forest surrounded it, and the view, even before entering, was amazing, and afterward... it only got better.<p>

"So huge... So luxurious..." Yuko gaped as she walked into the room assigned for them. "Is it really okay for people like us to stay here? Won't we get a scolding?"

"Pfft, what?" Hamuko snorted. "You don't know what's luxury until you stay at the Kirijo's. Their house is like, two times this inn!"

"I didn't know you were such a good friend of Mitsuru-senpai!" Rio commented, impressed.

"Oh, no, we're not friends; she invited the whole dorm to Yakushima to celebrate the end of the exams." The brunette received some hateful looks in response.

"You guys are so lucky! I wish I was in the same dorm as you!" Yuko's expression seemed to darken a bit; she probably remembered that Minato lived in the same dorm. "On second thought…"

"Yuko-san…" Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows.

"...Hey, this isn't your room, Yuko!"

"Yeah, about that! You gotta hear this! There was some mistake, and I got stuck in the same room as Kaz!" She sounded really exasperated.

"Kaz... You mean Kazushi?" Rio seemed surprised. "Wait, he's here too? ...Huh? Wasn't Kazushi supposed to take part in the tournament tomorrow?"

"Minato told me that Kazushi hurt his knee in May and then asked him not to tell anyone; so, he can't run anymore." Hamuko explained.

"What? Minato told you and not me or the coach?" Yuko huffed. "Tch… he let his friend hurt his leg like that… He's such a horrible person…"

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows and pressed her lips together, troubled about those words. She didn't like them, but she didn't feel capable to argue them, agreeing with them in the bottom of her heart. Rio apparently noticed her expression and tried to change the subject. "S-So, why bring him along?"

"Oh, well, since he's injured I had the idea of trying a hot-springs cure! And while we're at it, I'm gonna get the most out of this trip by clearing up my skin, too!"

"Huh... Wait. Did you say you were in the same room? Kazushi... is a guy, right?" What a smart question, Rio.

"He's a big ol' girl on the inside, but on the outside, yeah, he's a guy." Yuko laughed. "Ms. Kanou assigned the rooms before leaving, so…"

"D'aw, she was trying to bring about the spark of love… Well, too bad she wasn't aware that you already had a boyfriend…" The female Fool giggled, with probably the most blatant hint of resentment a snicker could ever have. Hamuko herself wasn't too sure whether she did it on purpose. Rio shifted her eyes between the two, not having a clue of what they were talking about.

Yuko released an annoyed sigh; it wasn't clear if she caught the hint. "Kaz is just a big kid to me, anyway... If his mother hadn't spoken to the coach… Ugh! He's such an idiot! A total dumbass! He got me so worried!"

"...Sounds like you two are perfect for each other." Rio sneered.

"What?" She glared at her. "You gotta be jok- Wait, what time is it? Oops, it's time for Kaz's medication. Well, see you later!" And with that she ran out of the room.

The black haired team captain and her roommate exchanged troubled looks. "…What's up with Yuko and you?"

"It's… complicated…" Hamuko grimaced. "Let's say that we had something in common…"

Rio apparently meant to pry, but Yuko came back and insisted on going to the hot springs, putting an end to their talk.

* * *

><p>"Ah…" Hamuko let out a pleased sigh as she walked slowly into the thermal water pool. She slid her whole body except the head in, letting that wonderful feeling of absolute relaxation which can only be obtained with a hot bath blow away all her preoccupations, allowing her mind to wander… more than usual. "Oh, man…" She murmured. "Minato would have <em><strong>so<strong>_ loved this…"

"It'd have been the first thing he loves, then." Yuko growled back.

"That's not…" She didn't dare finish the sentence, incapable to decide who was right.

"You just can't see it because you're friends." The bluenette retorted. "I was his girlfriend, I knew him better…"

"You were… his girlfriend…? But, Hamuko, weren't you two…" Rio asked, earning a curious look from Yuko and a 'DON'T' gesture from Hamuko, which turned into a very bad try at an innocent whistling when she noticed that Yuko had her eyes on her.

"…See?" She sighed. "He's downright horrible. Playing with us like that… who the hell does he think he is?"

"But… but he… He wasn't…" Hamuko tried to argue, but she hadn't any reasons.

"He's horrible! That kinda boy is awful! Cheating on us, even though I told him that I'd already gone through that…" Yuko scorned. "We've both gone through the same; accept it, Hamuko-san: Minato is a bastard, and he'll do the same to you."

"ENOUGH!" Hamuko stood up as she yelled. "I won't let you speak about Minato like that!" Her eyes were glazed, probably the only window to the conflict going on inside her. "You're right! He's all that and more! So what? I am too!" She clenched her fists as she spoke. "I knew what was going on! I encouraged him to be with both, because I didn't care! Because I've done the same a thousand times! And I would have never cared if I hadn't met him!" The glaze in her eyes had turned into moisture running through her cheeks. "You know why? Because he's a great person. He's helped you too, hasn't he? Oh? You were together like… two weeks and he left you? Well, shit, that's horrible of him, I know! So? Get another boy and move on with your life! Live the present, GEEZ! But you know what's different between Minato and me? We're friends. We're fire-forged friends. We've been more than horrible to each other for months, I've made his life impossible, we've lived unbelievable things together, and yet he trusts me, and helps me. And yes, he makes mistakes too... Big mistakes." The corner of her lips twitched upwards slightly. "But so do I." A determined smile appeared on her face even though her eyes were sore from crying. "If you badmouth Minato, you badmouth me. Not another word, got it?" She had to take a deep breath after the speech.

"…" Both girls were gave her a weird look –well, it was more like shocked in Yuko's case. She had just admitted she was perfectly okay with Minato cheating on her, woops…

"…That came out pretty cheesy, didn't it?" The brunette looked at both Yuko and Rio, suddenly embarrassed. "Ahaha… hah… huh… I… I think I'm gonna go watch TV… for a while…"

* * *

><p>Hamuko laid on her futon, staring absently at the TV of their room. Apparently, a big streak of car accidents, mistakenly reported to have been caused by alcohol intake, in Iwatodai had attracted the Junior Detective's attention; the news report explained how he was going to move to the zone for a week, which he esteemed that, with his grandfather's help, would suffice to solve the case. That little bluenet looked and acted so much like Minato...<p>

The auburn haired girl reached out to the bag where she was keeping the clothes she'd worn that morning and the tennis uniform… and her mobile phone. She observed the device carefully… "_Maybe he's sleeping now… He has that tournament tomorrow, after all…_"

As if to answer her thoughts, 'Danger' began blaring out of her red flip phone. "Hamuko here."

"_Hello…_" Minato's voice sounded low through the speakers, and more gruff than she'd even heard before.

"Hey Minato… You okay…?"

"_More or less._" He cleared his throat. "_It's this damn cold…_"

"You should go to bed…"

"_I __**am**__ in my bed_." He chuckled, and then coughed. "_It's just that I… couldn't sleep_."

"You want me to tell you a tale or something?" Hamuko joked.

"_Nah, just tell me how the trip is going; I'm sure it's been so boring that it'll knock me out._" He sneered back.

"It's been lots of fun, actually! We played tennis like losers, but I just had a bath in the hot springs, and it was great!" She smiled even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"_It was great, but…?_" Minato cut her words, all too knowing that there was something going on, being capable to tell only by the tune of her voice.

"You know me too well…" She laughed, although it was a sad laugh. "I got some problems with Yuko."

"_Why?_"

"She was badmouthing someone I… care a lot for." Hamuko began curling a strand of auburn hair that had fell off the messy bun she usually wore. "So, I told her off… and she must be angry at me now. Angrier."

"…_Who was she insulting?"_ A spark of interest was discernible in Minato's voice. _"…Junpei?_"

"Yeah, Junpei, of course, why not…?" She snorted. "Who do you think Yuko'd be talking 'bout, dumbass?"

"_Oh…_" Dull surprise. "_You defended… me? I'm the one you care a lot for_?"

"Uh-huh." She spoke in a low voice. "So you'd better help me get Yuko and Kazushi together to pay me back."

Minato laughed. "_Whatever you say_."

A short silence ensued, during which both teens desperately thought about what to say. It ended with Minato coughing like an old smoker.

"Aren't you tired yet…? C'mon, Minato, you hafta win tomorrow…"

"_Yes…_" He answered with a sleepy voice. "_Have a good night._"

"G'night… Get well soon…"

Hamuko sighed after hanging up. A few seconds later, the door of her room opened. It was Rio. "Hey Hamuko." She greeted her. "We were going to tell ghost stories, but… we need four people for that."

"Sure…" The brunette got up from her futon and walked after Rio. "…Is Yuko mad?"

"You should apologize for yelling at her like that. You yourself said that Minato played with her; it's normal she's mad at him."

"Yeah…" Hamuko was willing to admit to that. She wasn't good at handling that kind of situations– Yakushima, again? "But that was just how I feel…"

"…So you knew he was with Yuko and you didn't care?" Rio furrowed her eyebrows.

"Well he was with me first… Sorta… Um… Look, we never were anything serious… and now we're nothing at all…" The girl tried to explain the situation unsuccessfully.

"I… see?" The raven haired captain arched her eyebrows. "Personally, if Kenji tried to do that, I'd kick his ass."

"Haha, yeah, well… Minato going out with Yuko, even though he didn't like her is probably the least questionable thing he's done." Hamuko received more weird looks from her friend. "It's… very, very, very complicated. Maybe I'll tell you 'bout that, one day… in a lot of years."

* * *

><p>"Um… Yuko-san…" Hamuko walked into Yuko and Kazushi's room alongside Rio. "I-I'm sorry for what happened earlier… and I'm really sorry about what happened between youu two. I… didn't understand what was wrong with that of 'cheating' back then, but… now I can see why it'd hurt some people. Sorry for all that…"<p>

"It wasn't your fault… well, or at least not completely. Anyway… it's no use crying over spilt milk, right…?" Yuko gave her a half smile.

"Right." The red eyed girl nodded, happy.

"What are you two talking about?" Kazushi looked at the girls, confused.

"Oh, nothing…" She smiled. "Kazushi-san, right? I'm Hamuko—oh wait, we already know each other… we trained together, no?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember that. It was fun, we should do it again when my knee is better." Kaz smiled.

"Sure, any day you want! I train with Akihiko-senpai on Monday or Friday from time to time, so…"

"Um… weren't we going to tell ghost stories?" Yuko seemed a bit dismayed –wait. Did she still believe that training meant… oh crap.

"I'll start. I know a lot of stories…" Rio grinned in a rather creepy way.

"...Okay, Rio." The bluenette moved closer to Kazushi and took a deep breath. "Do your worst."

"Is he your good luck charm?" The captain smirked.

"See? Moving on…" Hamuko grinned warmly at the tanned manager.

"I-it's nothing like that! I-it's just…" She blushed a nice shade of pink. "Cmon... Hurry up and let's go in order!"

Hamuko sat down with the others, forming a circle. She noticed there was a remote control on the ground between her and Rio and grabbed it. It looked like a TV remote, except that it only had a button… Cool!

"...Alright, I'll go first." Again, Rio's smile was scary. "This story's about the tunnel we passed through today..."

The female Fool was fidgeting with the weird looking remote when the light suddenly went off.

"Eek!" Yuko almost tackled Kazushi to the ground. "A blackout?"

"Ack, don't choke me! Get off! You're stepping on my foot, too!"

Hamuko looked around. Maybe a bulb had just broken down or something… She pressed the only button in the remote, trying to turn on the TV to see if the electricity still worked… But as she did so, the lights went back on.

"Whew... The lights are back..." Yuko sighed, relieved. "Wh-Where's the phone?" She ran to a table phone nearby. "Hello, front desk? Um, about the blackout just now... There... was no blackout? …Oh, thanks..." She hang up, suddenly really pale. "What're we gonna do? That was a real supernatural phenomenon..."

"Lights always turn on and off, though." Kazushi explained with a dumb smile.

"Are you an idiot? The fact that they went out without anyone touching them means...!" Yuko almost cried. "Ughhh, let's just stop talking about it! I'm pretending that never happened!"

Hamuko kept staring at the remote while everyone else was panicked. …Was the TV broken? She pressed the button of the remote a few more times, but the TV remained turned off… Maybe it had broken down because of the continuous flashing of the room's lights which were making Yuko shriek, frightened… Stupid TV…

* * *

><p>Eventually, Hamuko and Rio went back to their room; otherwise, Hamuko wouldn't have got to sleep that night because Yuko and Kazushi were too freaked out… Pfft, malfunctioning lights were nothing compared to meeting a ghost called Pharos or killing shadows every so often. Being awake during the Dark Hour, seeing how her friends had turned into red glowing sarcophagi, though? Now <em>that<em> was scary.

* * *

><p>The next morning, at Yasogami highschool…<p>

"Well, thanks a bunch for all your help. We'll remember what we

learned here and keep trying our hardest." Rio stepped in front of the group and bowed.

"Thank you very much!" The Gekkoukan students mimicked her.

"Have a safe trip back." The local ones did the same.

"Guess we should go back too..." Kazushi sighed. Dark circles decorated his face. "…You okay?"

"Yeah... I just didn't get any sleep..." Apparently, Yuko stopped screaming at some point in the night. "I saw... people's faces in the walls..."

"You're just exaggerating..." The black haired boy laughed. "Want me to give you a piggyback ride if you're not feelin' well?"

"...You moron! Your leg's hurt!" She yelled. "What're you talking about? I'd rather give you a piggyback ride!"

"Haha. See? You're exaggerating again." They went back to the Amagi inn bickering like an old couple…

* * *

><p>They had lunch in the inn, and in the afternoon, they were ready to begin the long journey to Iwatodai again.<p>

"Please come again." Yukiko greeted them as the bus arrived.

"Oh, thanks for taking the time to come see us off." Yuko smiled at her.

"Psst. She said she saw people's faces showing up in the inn's walls." Kaz whispered to the younger girl.

"Ack, you idiot!" The bluenette yelled, embarrassed.

"Oh, you saw them too?" Yukiko asked with a completely serious face. "There's always a few at old inns, so there's no need to worry."

"Always... a few?" Yuko blanched.

The black-haired girl began laughing. "I'm just joking."

"That was definitely not a joke..."

"C'mon, let's go home." Rio got in the bus.

"Well, then I must part here. Please have a safe trip back." With that, Yuko left and everyone got in the bus which would take them to the station.

"...Don't tell me..." Yuko muttered as she looked out the window. "She's not a ghost herself, is she? I mean, she was real cute... Maybe she was the one!"

"Really cute girls are ghosts? That's all the proof I need to know you're human." Kazushi snarked.

"What? Say that again to my face!"

"Hey, stop tryin' to step on my foot!" The boy tried to defend himself in vain. "...Oh, that reminds me. I got a call about the tournament a moment ago."

"Oh?" Hamuko turned around on her seat to listen the conversation.

"They told me that Niimura at San High was a no-show. Not only that, they couldn't find him at his house, either." Kazushi sighed.

"Does... that mean he's missing? Did he run away from home? Maybe he

was freaked out about the competition?" Yuko panicked. "Or, wait... Is it because of that Apathy Syndrome thing...?"

"No idea... hopefully he shows up soon. He was a great guy..." He furrowed his eyebrows. A beeping sound coming from Kazushi's pocket. "Oh hey, a message. …Minato is going next!"

* * *

><p>The crowd's cheers roared all over the Port Island stadium, motivating the athletes to give the best of themselves. No matter what school they came from, everyone was excited to see the race. "<em>Funny<em>." Minato thought. "_I never knew track had so many fans._" Maybe it was because the swimming competition had just ended and the kendo one was about to start, but, for some reason, everybody seemed to be watching.

Minato walked towards the starting line and put his hands over it, bending his left leg so that his knee almost touched the ground, while he extended the other, resting his right foot on a little bumping post which would give him a little boost when the race began. He took a look at the terraces. There were several 'Go Gekkoukan!' banners, and three or four which had his name– along with little hearts drawn next to it. Ugh… Fan girls. Among the crowd he could make out the faces of Akihiko and Yukari, who were waiting for their own tournaments to start, and so they had decided to watch him. Awesome.

"Ready?"

Minato turned his head to a brown haired boy. He had tanned skin and a confident smile etched on his face. "I always am."

"GO!" The referee shot his starter pistol and the race began.

The bluenet didn't have any problems getting ahead of the others. Used to the long, exhausting, Tartarus escape manoeuvres and the difficult work out for the Track Team, Minato ran like the wind, his trainers barely touching the ground as he sprinted past everyone. There was only one runner keeping up to him; that brown haired boy from before. "_Mamoru Hayase_."

Minato could feel his temples throbbing with every stride, and he had to contain the coughs that tried to make him halt to bring some air to his congested lungs. He had to go on and win… because Hamuko had kissed him expecting him to do so. And not only that, it was his own pride; he had outrun The Reaper, he didn't have any intention to lose against a bunch of high school students! But alas… he was beginning to feel so tired because of the limited amount of air he could get with each breath. He had the magic to cure one inch deep gashes, but not common cold? What the hell…

Oh, there it was. The goal. And he was first. No Mamoru, no average Joe from any other school… It was just the goal and him. And the cold—oh fuck. A sneeze. Minato sneezed, halting for a second or two, and that was enough for Mamoru to run past him at lightning speed… just in time to win.

* * *

><p>Silver medal in the regional competition… second was a very dignified position, shut up. Minato had been defeated by an omnipotent opponent: having wet hair while sleeping. Talk about a stupid way to lose…<p>

"Hey, what's up?" A familiar voice got Minato out of his thoughts. It was Mamoru. "Dude… you were fast. I can tell you've been training." He smiled. "Hey, I was thinking...maybe we could hang out sometime." He extended his hand.

"Sure." Minato shook it in a friendly way.

"Cool. You still need to work on your technique, but if you keep at it, you could be really great. I think you might help push me to test my limits." Well, Minato could have won easily, but whatever. "I usually grab a bite to eat at the strip mall in Iwatodai after school… Stop by sometime if you feel like it. My name's Mamoru... nice to meet you."

After a few congratulations from the rest of the track team and some of his fangirls, Minato took the train back home, too tired to see Akihiko's match and Yukari's competition.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Minato."<p>

The bluenet opened his eyes a bit. His room was dark, but he could tell a familiar figure perched at the edge of his bed. "…Back to getting into my room, Hamuko? What kind of example will you be giving to Aigis?"

"Only this time." She chuckled. "I've just got back, and Senpai told me the results of the race…"

"Oh." Minato huffed. "Whatever he said, I only lost for the want of a dry hair!"

"I know, I know! But hey, second isn't a bad position…"

"Buh…" He rolled away.

"Aw, c'mon…" She leaned over him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "There, a silver medal winner peak. You happier now?"

"I'd be happier if that was a champion French kiss." He arched his eyebrows.

"Don't tempt fate." She scolded him, more serious than joking. "Also, kissing an ill guy? You want me to get sick too or what?" Hamuko stood up. "The full moon's near, man, you need to rest to recover."

"When did you become responsible…?" Minato mumbled, closing his eyes.

"You know better than me." She smiled at him, closing the door behind.

* * *

><p><strong>This was a shitty ending :u<strong>


	49. Sleuth

**Author note: I love this chapter 8D You know what's it like for me to love a chapter? It's like, CRAZY.**

* * *

><p>The lounge was filled with a weird mixture of mangled noises and music pieces, inherent of a TV suffering the rage of a bored teenager zapping through channels on a beautiful Monday dawn.<p>

"Hamuko, what are you doing up so early…?" Minato walked towards the sofa and plopped down next to the brunette.

"I'm trying to find a rerun of yesterday's Phoenix Ranger episode." She pouted. "Blue Swan and Pink Argus finally kiss! AND I MISSED IT!"

"WHAT? I mean- really?" The boy asked, a bit more eagerly than he meant to. "Ahem… I'm sure that it's available on the Internet… So, if it's so important for you, we could prepare some breakfast and go to my room to watch it on my laptop…"

"…Sounds like a plan." She turned off the TV and got up, following Minato to the kitchen. "So why are _you_ up?"

"I've been awake for a while. I feel much better after a good long night of sleep, but going to bed so early has downsides… Oh! Speaking of going to bed early, maybe we should go to Tartarus tonight; I haven't checked the latest requests, and there could be missing people or something." He opened the fridge and took a look inside. There were some scraps of different dishes the S.E.E.S. members had taken for dinner. "Why can't Theodore-san and Elizabeth-san be more normal? It wouldn't kill them to ask for something like, I don't know… a dish of fried eggs and bacon instead of Shadows' guts."

"But Minato, no one wants fried eggs and bacon." Hamuko snorted. "Actually, scratch that, I'd love to have some of that-"

"ALERT, ALERT!" A robotic voice blared from somewhere in the first floor. "Minato-san and Hamuko-san are not present in their rooms! It is indispensable to begin their search ipso facto!"

"Ack!" Both Fools ran to the stairs, praying that the blonde robot hadn't managed to wake anyone up.

* * *

><p>"I think you're using too much oil."<p>

"No, it's you who's using too little."

"It will get awfully greasy if I pour any more."

"It's American; it's gotta be extra greasy, man!" Hamuko squirted some more oil on the pan next to hers.

"Augh! Don't do that to my food!" Minato grabbed her hand and kept it away from his breakfast, staining the kitchen with oil.

"Aigis, help me out!" She commanded.

"Affirmative!" The robot ran towards Hamuko and took the bottle away from her.

"A mutiny!" The brunette exclaimed, offended. "You too, my robot?"

"I am only following my mission to protect both of you. I am confiscating this ingredient to prevent heart malfunctions in the future."

"Gimme that or I'll tell Senpai that you got in our rooms!" Hamuko futilely tried to fight Aigis to get the bottle of sunflower seed oil back.

"Hamuko, your breakfast is going to—"

And thus they emptied the cause of their little, one sided argument on Minato's head.

* * *

><p>Minato walked into his bedroom after having a shower and changing clothes. Hamuko was waiting for him, 'enjoying' her carbonized breakfast. He picked up his laptop and his dish and sat down on his bed, sighing. "Sometimes I think you do these things on purpose."<p>

"Because seeing you covered in oil from top to bottom is my life-long dream, right?"

"You said it, not me… And this being you, I wouldn't be too surprised."

"Tsk..." She shot him a deadly glare. "You know what? You're totally right. I'd have actually loved to see you like that _before _that thing in Shirakawa happened."

"Please, stop bringing that up…" Minato glanced away, looking hurt. "Hey, let's look for an online stream of that episode." As he opened his laptop's internet browser, the Innocent Sin Online game client appeared in the screen. Apparently, Maya had just logged in. "Mind if I talk to her for a few minutes? It's been a while since I last did so…"

"Oh, sure, I mean… It's your laptop, man. Want me to leave or something so you can have some… intimacy?"

"Hamuko, I don't do those things to internet people." He sighed, annoyed.

"Really…? If I remember correctly, the first time I saw you talking to her you only had your boxers on…" She sneered. "Not like there's anything wrong with that, right?"

Before Minato could defend himself, the loading screen of the game client disappeared and Minato's avatar, Tatsuya, appeared in Lunarvale's Hospital. Maya began jumping excitedly as she saw him appear. "Oh hey tatsu its been so long! ^_^"

"_Yes, sorry, I've been a bit busy last month. I had exams and all…_"

"Exams? Ur a student? I thought u were older O.o oh well I guess it doesnt really matter ¬/¬ neway lol were in summer now! we can play games all day long! from dawn to dusk woo! xD"

"_Yeah, vacations are great_." He typed.

"Listen tatsuya! ;)" Maya stepped closer to Tatsuya as the message appeared in the screen. "Nowadays i just log on to MMOs with bedhead and all but when i was little, ppl said i was a real cutie -_-;; guess i missed my chance rite? nobody thinks i'm hawt ne more T_T ur younger than me... do men only want younger women? be honest w/me =3"

"Oh, that's a neat question." Hamuko grinned devilishly. "C'mon Minato, gimme a reason to think you're into lolitas and never let you live it down."

"Hmmm…" Minato raised an eyebrow at her. "…You don't have a clue of your date of birth, do you?"

"Not really…" She sighed, looking a bit down. "Why?"

"Because if I don't know when's your birthday, I can't be honest about what kind of woman I like." He whispered to her.

"J-just tell her anything." The brunette hopped away from him, red tinting her cheeks.

"Alright, then." Minato placed his fingers on the keyboard. "_I like anything._" He smiled at Hamuko, making her glare at him, somewhat embarrassed.

"Nething? 0.0 I guess tatsu is a total flirt xDDD but fair is fair tho =P i go for teenagers, myself ^_^ i'm bad, rite? run tatsu run! xD"

"Yyyyeah…" The Fools exchanged awkward glances. "_So um… Why are you asking this all of a sudden?_"

"Oh! mah rant didnt make sense? i should know better-i teach composition! o_O;;"

"Composition." Minato echoed, surprised. "Hah… it'd be awesome to see Miss Toriumi bitching like a twelve-year-old on the internet!"

"You really think so?"

"Nah, not really."

"Mkay, i'll be calm. i'll compose my bitching carefully for you ;P" Maya's avatar sighed. "One of my coworkers really pissed me off. She's annoying even by phone _ we use to teach teh same grade and we were together ALL THE TIME… its been a while since she left but that kinda thing sticks w/u, u know? ne way, she said she needed some advice, but then she just started bragging! =( some student asked her out time ago, and she married a guy she doesn't like just coz he has money... UGH!" She stomped the ground. "And she acts like its nuthing! omg, rite? i hate skanky hoes liek her! just give puppy-dog eyes and guys do whatever! she even stuffs her bra! lol"

"Don't we all?" Hamuko sighed.

"You stuff your bra now?" The bluenet asked unabashedly.

"What—No!" She scowled. "I was talking about hating that kinda people! …And what's with that 'now'?"

"S-so what do I tell her?" Minato tried to change the subject.

"Geez…" Hamuko took the computer and typed something. "_But_ _I'm pretty sure you don't need that, right?_"

"Stop, Hamuko!" He got his laptop back. "That sounds creepy, damn it!"

"HAHahahahahhahaha!1 xDDDDDD yea, what kind of woman has to use pads for her boobs? i'm fine w/ massaging in teh shower and drnking more milk. All natural ;)"

"Oh God." That was probably the first time Minato had ever seen Hamuko face palm. It was oddly amusing. "I didn't know girls—"

"We don't. Ex 'more than friends' do it for us even when we don't ask them to."

Minato became dead silent after that.

"Omg for reals, i saw Ms. K running in late one time, ok? her pads fell down an it looked liek she had 4! O_O XDDD ...theyre fake for sure =) ...an my school is FULL of teachers like taht! -_-;"

"…Yanno what? That happened to Ms. Kanou once when she was going to the tennis field. Talk about coincidences…" Hamuko commented offhandedly.

"Man tatsuya, talkin to u is better than getting a massage =P ::blush:: complaining online is now an important part of my days off ^_^"

"Well, another level for me…" Minato mumbled.

"We r s'posed to be fighting demons from hell, rite? ;) ...but after what i said, i might go to hell ne way o_O;; well... i rented sum DVDs, sooo... later, tatsuya! thx for chattin." And with that she logged off.

Minato finally found a stream for the chapter they'd missed… but dang, it was awkward. And it only got all the more awkward when Hamuko began prying about that 'now' again.

* * *

><p>Not much happened for the rest of the day. Well, actually… Mitsuru was rather furious about the state of the kitchen, Fuuka was a bit down because the Fools hadn't invited her to cook with them while Junpei was completely dismayed about not having been invited to have his daily ration of cholesterol with them… and Yukari made a weird face when Aigis innocently complained about not being allowed into Minato's room while Hamuko was. Akihiko was too busy coping with Ken's questions about his matches in the boxing tournament to care…<p>

Later that night, they decided to go to the police station to see if any people had gone missing recently and to update their rather outdated equipment. However, they were surprised by monetary rewards from the people they saved previously! Apparently, they'd been keeping them for them for a whole month… talk about an earnest police officer. And so they walked into the little weaponry shop after months without doing so and took a look around. There were some neat weapons… even special guns suitable for Aigis– apparently, Kurosawa'd been already told about her by Kirijo…

"…Are those our swimsuits?"

Minato stopped walking. "What?" He looked in the direction Hamuko was pointing. "…_**What**_?"

"I know right? I mean, three hundred thousand yen for this? Holy crap!"

Minato's hand met his forehead. "Focus, Hamuko, focus. Kurosawa somehow got replicas of our swimsuits. He's got fucking replicas of each of our swimsuits which we only wore in Yakushima for no reason!"

"And I can feel they have a really high defence power, whoa! That's so cool!"

Hand. Forehead. Red mark. "How the fuck does that make any sense? They're swimsuits! Their main aim is letting people go around completely exposed!"

"Awesomeness doesn't need logic, man! But, with all that money we'd be able to buy weapons! But… Crazy awesome clothes… Oh God, yes, I need this!"

"Please, tell me you're joking. No. Just no. You aren't going to go around Tartarus in a bikini!"

"What? Why?"

"I thought we were already over that! You used to wear Battle Panties, remember?"

"Oh, those? I left them because the Angora Sweater had more defence power. Otherwise, I'd still be wearing them in Tartarus." Hamuko explained her reasons with a patient voice, like it was the most obvious thing ever.

"…" Minato looked completely exasperated. "I give up. You can have your stupid logic. You win. Now excuse me while I buy a pair of horribly over-over-over-overprized blue trunks which look stupidly similar to my own and which will magically defend my naked torso from Shadow's attacks, with the money I obtained by selling weird items, getting cards coming out of nowhere and finding chests which make absolutely no sense!"

* * *

><p>"Oh, no!" Hamuko ran away from the Kill Drive's mace-like arms, which had just slammed against Minato. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"<p>

"Just fine." The boy got up with nothing more than a red mark in his chest.

"Oof! You worried me for a moment, man! Pretty lucky you're wearing that new armor, hey?"

Minato didn't bother answering that. Instead, he brought his Evoker to his right temple and summoned Oberon, who in an instant flew past the Shadows and rose its sceptre in the air. This gesture was followed by the sudden appearance of an electric storm which overloaded the Kill Drives, turning them into clouds of black dust and greasy gears.

"So… Are swimsuits the new b-black or what, huh?" Akihiko mumbled, keeping his eyes away from the Fools.

"They're WINsuits!" Hamuko raised her naginata in the air. "They have a high defence power and offer really good mobility, Senpai! Right, Minato?"

"Sure! And if you don't have Zio attacks, you might as well flash the Shadows directly, yay!" Minato shook his head, incensed, after these _really _sincere words.

"You… live your life as you want to; I will not question your clothing choices." Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. "However, I must ask: are those new pieces related to leaving Aigis and Takeba with Yamagishi? Or maybe is it because of the sudden decrease of S.E.E.S.'s savings? I had to use my own credit card to purchase some supplies for the incoming Full Moon before coming to Tartarus, as the S.E.E.S. one wasn't accepted…" Her eyes acquired a dangerous look. "But of course, I trust you aren't foolish enough to spend over half a million yen on buying swimwear…"

"Right!" The bluenet laughed awkwardly. "We have some more judgement than that!"

"Or so I'd hope." The oldest girl in the group chuckled haughtily. "I expect that money to be restored before our next visit; I will not tolerate a dysfunction in our team because you two like exposing yourselves to each other. There are times and places for that, as you will understand."

"T-That wasn't the reason, Senpai!" Hamuko protested. "I mean, why would I want to wear a swimsuit around Minato? He's seen more than that!" …She meant that much more innocently than it came out, really.

All the S.E.E.S. members present in the floor gaped –save for Junpei, who was less than impressed. Akihiko seemed the most shocked by far. "WHAT THE-?"

"Akihiko." Mitsuru hushed him, before rounding on the Fools. "_**What**_?"

"I was in a relationship with Yuko, another junior!" Minato quickly defended himself, trying to mend the mess the brunette had caused. "Hamuko, being my friend, was well aware of the nature of said relationship, hence why she's saying that since I know what a woman looks like I shouldn't be uncomfortable with her looks."

"That makes absolutely no sense." The redhead stated flatly. "...It does sound like something Seikatsu would say." She huffed. "…You've been warned. Let's continue."

"…What was that supposed to mean?" Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows in confusion -no boy wanted to answer that.

* * *

><p>They continued their exploration, managing to find a missing person before reaching the eighty-fifth floor, where the Fanatic Tower was waiting for them. It was composed of some kind of totem formed by three ceramic human faces.<p>

In a rare case of Guardians showing initiative, the Fanatic Tower floated towards them and cast Mazionga, which shocked every single S.E.E.S. member, managing not only to fry their clothes, but also to slow their reactions incredibly, turning keeping themselves healed their man priority –this was difficult without Yukari's wide range healing spells, though.

"Argh! You'll pay for that!" Junpei shot the Evoker and Hermes appeared above him. "Assault Dive!" His Persona flew high, almost reaching the ceiling of the floor, and then swan-dived towards the Shadow, ready to slash it with its metal wings. The Fanatic Shadow quickly floated away, making Hermes crash unceremoniously against the ground, making Junpei wince in pain.

Akihiko ran towards the tower and punched it before it could notice him. Apparently, physical attacks had a great effect on the tower, which is the reason why it moved so fast.

Upon being attacked, the Shadow became furious; it floated towards Akihiko and crashed against him at top speed, ricocheting on him after sending him to the ground, and it repeated the process with everyone. Once all the S.E.E.S. members were on the ground, incapable to move because of the strong Mazionga spell it kept spamming, it began to pick on the Fools, crashing against them repeatedly, much more often than any other S.E.E.S. member. Too dizzy to think of any electricity-resistant Personae, they could only wonder why the hell had it made them its target.

That horrible feeling of being rolled over by an incredibly heavy Shadow stopped after some kind of 'dakka, dakka, dakka' sound. …Shots? Wait!

"_A-Aigis_?"

The robot was, in fact, pointing at the Fanatic Tower, her fingers nowhere to be seen, replaced instead by smokey holes –gun cannons?

"Target confirmed!" Aigis threw her arms back into shooting stance. "Activating Orgia Mode!" Aigis's headphone-like sound devices began spinning at a high speed. The blonde robot dashed towards the Shadow, managing to avoid every lightning –but a few, which she endured and ignored- due to her speed. She shot it at point blank of its lowest head, sending the tower to the ground. This was enough for Akihiko, who was rather resistant to electricity, to get up and charge alongside her. The others soon joined in, in an All-Out attack which put an end to the Shadow. Aigis proceeded to collapse, smoke and sparks coming out of her metallic joints.

"Aigis!" Everyone ran towards her as the electric pain in their muscles subsided. "That was impressive!"

The robot looked up at Minato. "I-I had to protect you."

"But how did y'know?" Junpei asked, surprised.

"Fuuka-san informed me that Minato-san and Hamuko-san were in danger, so I used the last teleport you activated to arrive here, even though Yukari-san trying to prevent me from doing so." A rusty sound could be heard as she moved. "I am afraid that electricity is my weakness; not even Orgia Mode, in which my strength drastically increases, can protect me from it. I request maintenance as soon as we get back to our headquarters."

"You don't need to request our help, it comes given." A proud smile appeared on Mitsuru's face. "Should we continue, Yamagishi?"

"_I can feel that the next barricade is near; I think you can reach it, but p-please, don't push yourselves too hard_."

"Alright then, let's do this." The group began walking towards the stairs.

"I—" Aigis remained kneeling on the floor. Apparently she had difficulties moving. After a few moments of hesitation, Minato headed towards Aigis and picked her up, placing her on his back to give the robot a piggyback ride. Hamuko waited for him to catch up and smiled at the scene. "I apologize for being a hindrance." Aigis spoke in her forever monotonous voice. "Orgia Mode is powerful; however, it requires some minutes of rest after the overheat."

"_O__rgia_. _Overheat_. Pfft…" The brunette did her best to contain her snickers, while Minato just rolled her eyes at her even though he was fighting the need to laugh at the weird image as well. "Err… Want me to carry her for a while?"

"It's fine. Also it'd look kinda awkward if you did." He chuckled.

"Huh? Why?" Poor Hamuko was left without an answer. "...Anyway, if you insist on carrying her… I guess I'll hafta think of something to reward you with." She grinned affectively at his confused face. "Positive reinforcement and all."

"Um…" He gave her a shy look. "Would it be too early to ask you out…?"

"A date…?" She pressed her lips together, seemingly unconvinced.

"I was thinking of going together to the festival. It'll take place in only two weeks, and…" Minato began trailing off.

Hamuko scratched the back of her head and laughed. "Yanno… I think Yukari and Fuuka both wanted to invite you…"

"…Does that mean that you're going with Junpei or-?"

The brunette put a finger on Minato's lips, cutting his words. "It means that they'll whine to me for a week for going with you."

"We… Is it really necessary to let them know that we are going together?"

"Yes, because we'll be just two friends going together to a festival…" She arched an eyebrow. "Right?"

"I-I guess so?"

"The exponential increase of the speed of your heartbeats and breathing as well as the dilation of your pupils when you look at each other indicates the presence of sexual attraction, amiss for friendship."

Both Fools looked at Aigis with eyes wide as saucers. Hamuko even gaped. "Where did you learn that, young lady?"

"My sensors also indicate that the drastic change of your body temperatures signifies—"

"H-Hey, where the hell did the others go?" Minato ran ahead, not letting Aigis finish her speech.

As soon as they reached the barricade and found the fourth Old Document, everyone returned to the dorm… And the Fools made Aigis promise that she wouldn't tell another word of any reactions she observed.

* * *

><p>"Hey everyone!" Hamuko jumped down the stairs leading to the lounge. "Anyone wants to hang out today?"<p>

"Hamuko, summer vacations should be used to relax and rest…" Minato sighed. He then proceeded to smash a lot of keyboard keys together while yelling. "Damn demons! It's impossible to talk them into doing anything!"

"…You should take your own advice." The brunette reproached him.

"I wanted to go buy some ingredients to keep practicing at cooking, Hamuko-chan." Fuuka spoke shyly. "Do you want to come along?"

"Sure!" And with that, both left.

* * *

><p>Minato kept playing Innocent Sin Online until Maya logged off. Bored, and with positively nothing to do in the dorm, he decided to have a walk around town. "<em>I guess I could go buy some music at Power Records…<em>" He thought to himself as he boarded the train to Port Island Station.

Once he left the train platform, Minato walked down the stairs leading to the cinema and the florist. A sudden blow of hot summer air messed a bit his carefully kept emo hairstyle. While he was brushing his indigo hair, he caught a glimpse of a blue thing flying past thing.

"Excuse me, could you please retrieve my cap?" A somewhat childish male voice asked politely in the distance.

Minato, for some reason he couldn't quite pin down, decided to comply and run after the hat, which was stuck on a branch of a high bush. He picked it up and examined it. A blue newspaper boy cap, with a navy blue belt strapped around the base to regulate the width of the cap. Nice hat.

A little blue haired boy dressed in a turquoise short-sleeved dress shirt and a yellow tie–which seemed a bit too long for him- and jeans stopped by Minato, panting a bit. Minato was sure that the small distance he'd run wasn't enough to make any person have difficulties breathing. "T-Thank you for your assistance, mister."

Minato handed him the cap, but didn't let it go. "Hey, wait, I know you…" He narrowed his eyes. "You're that… famous Junior Detective, aren't you?"

"That name is somewhat demeaning…" The younger bluenet cleared his throat and straightened his back as he recomposed his composure. For some reason, however, he kept looking down. "Detective Shirogane, Naoto, is much more appropriate." He nodded his head, even though he didn't look up.

"Minato Arisato." The older boy nodded his head as a salutation as well. "A pleasure meeting such a well-known authority in investigation."

"Likewise. Now, if you don't mind, could you please return me my hat? …It is a matter of utmost importance." There was something off in his prepubescent voice. And his head shape, which ruffled, unkempt locks of indigo hair tried to hide… Naoto looked up slightly, only enough so that Minato could see his long eyelashes… and suddenly everything made sense.

"Of course." Minato placed the cap carefully on …his?... head. "You don't want anybody to find out you're a girl, do you?"

Naoto let out a choked scream and lowered the brim of her cap sharply. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Arisato-san. The only reason I need this hat is because it has quite a deep sentimental value to me…"

"Yeah, of course." He narrowed his eyes and smiled smugly. "How silly of me to mistake you for a girl."

The bluenette mimicked his expression; that was just what Minato did when he wanted to know if someone was lying, and he had never found anyone capable to stare at him the same way, and even keep it up for so long. The sleuth seemed just as impressed with him. She let out a small sigh, and her words were suddenly filled with confidence. "I am afraid that I do not have time to play little stare games with you, Arisato-san. My grandfather will worry if I arrive late." She smiled wryly. "Let's end this quickly. I acknowledge how the world works; there must be a way I can keep you from arousing any doubts about my professionalism to the media and the department… How much will it be?"

"Don't worry, I'm not about to go around telling anyone about your secret. Not like they'd believe me anyway, right?" Minato grinned warmly at her. For some reason, he felt at ease around the younger girl. And stupid enough to refuse blackmailing her for what could possibly be an impressive amount of money, apparently.

"…" Naoto nodded her head, an amused expression on her face. "I must say this was quite an… interesting encounter. Your powers of deduction must be really impressive when you have figured in a few minutes something I have been hiding from the mass media for three years." Whoa, detective at ten?

"Hey, could we… see each other, again? Being a detective has been my dream since I was a child, and…" Minato asked as she headed to the stairs.

At first, the sleuth shot him a doubtful look, but then her expression grew softer, albeit it was partially shadowed by her cap. "I will be residing here with my grandfather until Sunday. I stop working at this hour." She smiled confidently as she turned away and kept walking away.

"I look forward to stumbling into you too!" The bluenet yelled as she disappeared into the train platform. Minato just stood there, in the middle of the plaza, completely dumbfounded. What the hell had just happened…? Why… why did he feel so happy all of a sudden? He decided not to think about it too much and head to Paulownia Mall, following his initial plan. Well, at least now he had something to do during summer vacations…

The day went on peacefully…

* * *

><p><strong>Would you look at that…? B3 Get me a TV Tropes article for all this hard work, people. Please? ;w; <strong>


	50. The Fourth Ordeal

**Author note: hey there folks! You can actually see a bit of the scene below in m Deviant Art gallery, SandraMJ :D And for future reference, Naoto, Rise, Kanji, Chie or any P4 character do NOT appear in P3P, only Yukiko and Kashiwagi do. Any reference I make to them is made up by me, goddamn it!**

**Big, BIG thanks to my beta reader Evilshroom.**

* * *

><p>Minato walked leisurely into the lounge, stopping as soon as she saw Hamuko and Aigis staring intently at each other while sitting on the sofa. "…Hamuko, what are you doing?"<p>

The brunette turned around to look at Minato. She greeted him and then smiled happily. "I'm trying to teach Aigis how to smirk!"

"…Why would you ever do that?"

"For science!" She faced the robot again. "Okay Aigis, once again, pay attention." Hamuko half-closed her eyes, arched down one eyebrow while she slowly cocked up the other and then grinned seductively. "You have to do it like this."

Minato preferred not to think about those bedroom eyes of hers and looked instead at Aigis. The blonde robot tilted her head towards her right shoulder, showing confusion. She then opened her mouth, gritted her teeth and frowned… looking quite creepy.

Hamuko released a tired sigh. "Why isn't it working?"

"This is just an hypothesis, but… maybe… just maybe… robots aren't meant to look provocative." The bluenet rolled his eyes.

"What? Oh, c'mon, that wasn't a sexy smirk, it was a menacing one!" The girl repeated her expression to reinforce her point. "Like… '_**Rawr**_, I'm so evil'!" She brought her eyebrows together, seeing that Minato's face told a lot about how threatening that was.

"Could you… growl like that again?" He got a risen eyebrow in response. "It was just a question…"

"Whatever. You'll see how scary her smirk is once I'm done with her!"

"Have fun with that." Minato headed to the door and closed it behind him.

"…Are threatening smirks supposed to increase the cardiac rhythm of your enemy until they suffer tachycardia?" Aigis asked, staring at Hamuko with those big doe eyes of her.

"Err… Sure, why not?"

"Then, I request you do not use them on Minato-san ever again, Hamuko-san. It would be too dangerous." The robot spoke firmly.

"…Just how nervous did he get?"

"I am sorry, Hamuko-san, I've been instructed not to speak about your reactions ever again."

"Oh, well… let's keep practicing that smirk!"

* * *

><p>"…Waiting for me, Arisato-san?"<p>

Minato looked up from his MP3 player. Naoto was staring at him, arms folded . "You did finish earlier yesterday." He got up from the bench and smoothed the wrinkles of his blue shirt. "Would you care for a cup of coffee, or maybe tea while we speak?"

"I guess you are asking me to accompany you to… Café Chagall, was it?" Naoto didn't wait for him to answer. "I'm sorry, but I have just come back from Paulownia Mall; my current investigation is taking place there."

"I see." The bluenet nodded. "Maybe tomorrow."

"You sure are confident about how interesting you are."

"Well… you have come to see me while you could have simply headed to the station, ignoring me, and I would have never noticed."

"That's right; however, that would have been horribly rude of me." She lowered the brim of her cap politely. "So. If I recall correctly, you wanted to speak with me about my career."

"Indeed. But, please, have a seat."

"Such gorgeous furniture, Arisato-san." She sneered at having nothing but a bench where to sit down. "Well, go ahead and ask what you wish; it is the least I can do for being considerate enough to keep my secret."

"What are you, thirteen? Fourteen at best? How come you've been a detective for three years?"

She seemed slightly offended at the question. "I'm positive that you can deduct that by yourself."

"Ah, indeed. You probably come from a long lineage of detectives, so you need to be trained from a young age to keep the tradition. Your great grandfather was a detective, your grandfather is a detective, your father was a detective…"

"…It's impressive how you even used 'was' for the latest case."

"I figured that that was the reason behind your living with your grandfather." Minato smiled bitterly. "I'm an orphan too, I know that it hurts to talk about things like these. Sorry."

"Don't worry, it happened many years ago– ten, to be precise. I was a toddler at the time of the car accident, so I can't really yearn for my parents." The sleuth took out her cap and ran a hand through her hair.

"My parents died in a car accident as well, ten years ago no less…" Both teens fell into a comfortable, yet somewhat sad, silence. "Was your hat a gift of theirs? You mentioned it has deep sentimental value yesterday."

"This cap belonged to my brother; my grandfather gave it to him. He used to wear it every time we played detectives, trying to solve the simplest mysteries and puzzles, which at the time seemed unsolvable… Hah, we were so childish…" She pressed the cap against her chest –this allowed Minato to notice the fact that she was probably wearing some kind of breast binding. The pressure was probably the explanation as to why she'd become exhausted with a short run the previous day. "My grandfather informed me that he died in the same accident. I refused to believe it for a while, though, as he promised he'd come back…" Naoto suddenly blinked in surprise, a puzzled smile decorating her face. "Would you look at that? You somehow managed to make me babble about my life… Amazing!" She seemed truly impressed. "Had I agreed to that cup of tea, I'd be wondering if you somehow put truth drug in it."

"I have that effect on people." He grinned confidently. "However, I am surprised that it works even on you."

"Are you saying that because we are complete strangers or because as a detective and a celebrity I should be careful with what I say?"

"Neither; it's just that I tend to speak to a… very specific group of people; I'm not prone to entailing conversations outside that limited number." Minato hid the difficult concept of Social Link the best he could. He was sincerely surprised that he was enjoying a conversation with someone unrelated to them. He could somewhat understand it with Fuuka, as he felt she was a potential one, but, Naoto? It was a completely different thing.

"Ah, I see. I too value solitude." She nodded to herself. "_The number of similarities we share is amazing…_" She mumbled. "Anyway, that is a quality inherent of a great detective; perhaps you have some sleuth blood in your veins as well."

The older boy chuckled, a sincere yet nostalgic smile adorning his features. "Maybe so."

They stayed like that a few seconds, until the bluenette got up from the bench. She rested the back of her right hand on her hip and turned around to face Minato. "My grandfather is probably wondering why I haven't returned to the hotel yet."

"You shouldn't make him worry like that." Minato mimicked her. "So, would you like to go to Café Chagall tomorrow?"

Naoto laughed a bit. "Arisato-san, allow me to remind you that I am a male in everyone's eyes but yours. Boys don't go together to cafés unless they are willing to overhear some unwanted comments."

"My bad." He scratched the back of his head. "Then… see you tomorrow here?"

"…Yes. I am about to finish my investigation, so I should have some spare time once it's completed." She put her hat back on, having just noticed that she had taken it out. "Well then, if you'll excuse me…" And with that, she left.

Minato decided to go back to the dorm, only realizing then how stupid buying two monorail tickets for a five minutes long conversation was. Thus, he decided to take the long way, running all the way through the Moonlight Bridge, his mind filled with questions about the fateful night when his life changed… all prompted by that blue haired kid…

* * *

><p>"Hey there, Minato!" Hamuko ran to him and took his hand, dragging him towards Aigis before he could ask any question. "Okay Aigis, do it like we practiced it: smile!"<p>

The robot seemed to hesitate slightly, or maybe she just had some problems processing the expression. However, in a matter of seconds, she opened her mouth a bit with the corner of her lips twisted upwards and her eyelids lowered slightly. Her cheeks were slightly raised, which gave her usually mask-like face a lot of expression.

"Wow." That's all Minato could say, rather impressed by the improvement since the morning.

"I know, right?" Hamuko looked really proud of the robot –or maybe of herself. "They grow up so quickly…"

"Good job, Hamumko." He ruffled her hair.

"…At least you didn't call me Hamtaro." She giggled. "You seem in a good mood. Where have you been?"

"Port Island."

"Why?"

"I…" Minato was about to make something up, but he remembered that lying to Hamuko was a no-go if he ever wanted her back. "I met someone." …Telling her that wasn't probably the best thing, either.

"Oh, cool!" She smiled. As usual, she didn't seem to get the implication behind that phrase. Or maybe she did and she just didn't care. In any case, he became acquainted with the sleuth, that's all. "A new Social Link?"

"No… Not quite so…" He frowned. "And that kind of worries me, you know?"

"Huh? Why?" Hamuko gave him a confused look. "I have lots of friends who aren't my Social Links! Like Kenji… Aigis… Yuko…? No, I'm not a friend for Yuko… the waitresses… all the people I've met until I arrived to Iwatodai…" She couldn't think of any other friends. "…Well, I still have all my Social Links and you as friends!"

"So you think of them as friends…" Minato mumbled. "You're still at rank nine with Rio, right?"

"Yeah. But I plan to go back to practice once school is back!"

"Good luck with that." He sighed. "Hey, we'll have a full moon operation; we'd better go to Tartarus to train so Senpai doesn't get mad at us."

"Alright. But, first, I gotta show everyone what I taught Aigis to do!" She tried to run to the first floor, dragging Aigis along, but the robot was much more stronger than her, and only moved when Minato commanded her to do it.

* * *

><p>Hamuko observed that Minato looked really distant all afternoon long. She tried to ask him about it, but he changed the subject, saying something about reminiscing and getting headaches and what not. Maybe he was feeling lonely…<p>

* * *

><p>They didn't do anything special in Tartarus: kill lots of Shadows with that energy rush, find chests, get Ose– for Minato- and Oumitsunu– for Hamuko- and… few else. Raiding fridges was much more entertaining than that, really.<p>

And so the next day arrived…

* * *

><p>"Hey there…" Hamuko walked towards the table where Ken and Minato were having their beloved coffee while Junpei was gulping down some... was that caramel sauce in his glass? …She had to try that. In another occasion. "Hey Minato! I was looking for you!" She smiled. "Wanna go somewhere together? I haven't paid much attention to you lately and…"<p>

"I appreciate the thought, but I've already got plans for today." He took a sip of the bitter drink.

"Oh. Your new friend, right?" She looked down. "Well… have fun and don't be back too late, we gotta get ready for…" She shot a quick glance at Ken. Mitsuru had asked them not to talk about anything related to Shadows and all that stuff if he was near. "…For tonight's party."

"Party? What party?" Junpei asked excitedly. "Ooooh, right, tonight's party…"

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon enough." Minato got up from his chair and headed to the kitchen to leave his cup in the dishwasher. "I'll be back before lunchtime, so we could eat out, if you want…"

"Sure! See you later in Wakatsu, then!"

And with that Minato left.

* * *

><p>"Such a warm day, huh?" Minato greeted Naoto as he walked towards her.<p>

"Indeed." She got up from the edge of the fountain. "Humid heat is quite annoying."

"Too much for speaking comfortably outdoors." He looked around, until his eyes stopped on a nearby grocery store. "I'll buy you some ice-cream, how does that sound?" He observed that Naoto's eyes widened. "Is everything alright?"

"O-Oh, yes, excuse me… You… reminded me of someone just now." She chuckled nervously. "I wouldn't allow you to spend your money on me, Arisato-san."

"I'm not doing this because you're a girl, as you're probably thinking, but because I have some useless cash in my pocket I'd much rather get rid of."

Naoto reluctantly accepted being invited, and so they got ice-cream cones, the most comfortable way of eating ice-cream while it melts. For some reason, Naoto just wouldn't stop staring at him… Maybe he should bring up some conversation topic… "S-So how's your investigation going?"

"I have already solved the case." She stated, proud. "It was all so simple... Now, justice will do the rest. How that club will manage… only the court will tell."

"You were investigating a club, huh?" Minato could only think about Escapade closing down. He didn't worry so much about not getting hammered in there anymore as never seeing Mutatsu again if it did. Wait, what the hell had even happened in Escapade to undergo an investigation by the Junior Detective no less?

"Didn't you know…? I assumed you were one of my fans, Arisato-san."

"No, sorry; however, a friend of mine is. The last time I heard about you, she was talking about what a cute couple you'd make with Risette."

"I… see? I think I would have rather not heard that…" She pressed her lips together. "However, the fact you are not one of those people obsessed with knowing about my life only makes you all the more puzzling…"

"Puzzling?" Minato blinked, confused about being called that way.

"…Thank you for these delicious moments." Naoto produced a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped the ice-cream remains off her face. "You are certainly making my stay in this city quite enjoyable. I will make sure to pay you back for this tomorrow. Have a good day."

"I'll try to."

* * *

><p>"Oh, there you are!" Hamuko exclaimed as Minato walked into Wakatsu. "Man, you said you'd be here at lunchtime! I'm starving!"<p>

"It's not my fault it's always lunchtime for you." He laughed at Hamuko's offended face. He sat on a chair in front of her and rested his elbows on the table. "I'm sorry, I was having some ice-cream with my friend."

The brunette looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "Minato Arisato, having some ice-cream with a friend who isn't a Social Link…" She rested her face on the back of her right hand and wiggled her eyebrows. "…It's a girl, isn't it?"

"No! Well yes, but… Sh—he…" Minato furrowed his eyebrows. "…He's a very confused young lady."

"Wow." A smirk appeared on her face. "…I never knew you were into that kind of thing."

"I'm not; I don't think of her that way." He scowled. "I feel some affection towards her, but it's not anything like what I feel for you…" He reached for her left hand which was laying on the table and clasped it softly. "It's more like… some sort of fraternal affection."

"Uh-huh… It's not like I'd care, anyway…" She looked at Minato's hand with interest. It felt so warm over her own skin…

Minato looked at her straight in the eye. His expression then softened, seeing that she didn't really mean that. He took her hand to his lips, looking for any kind of hesitation in her gaze before speaking. "…I love you, Hamuko."

"I love you too." She gave him a half smile and then flicked his forehead with her free hand. "But you'll have to keep waiting in the friend zone."

"Have I ever told you how amusing I find your idea of what the friend zone is?" The boy let go of her hand and etched his hands under his chin. "So did you order anything yet?"

"They should bring the fourth serve of sushi any moment now."

Minato stared at her with a blank expression. "You know that we have to return six hundred thousand yens to S.E.E.S. bank account, right?"

"…What does that have to do with ordering an appetizer?" She snickered. "…Hah! Fooled you! It's only the third!"

* * *

><p>The day went by calmly, and so the Dark Hour arrived…<p>

"Well, it's a full moon once again." Ikutsuki spoke to the teens reunited in the Command Room. Fuuka was a few meters away, trying to see if she could find the full moon Shadow with her Persona, Lucia.

"Any luck, Yamagishi?"

"Yes, I've located it... and this time, it's not just an ordinary one." Apparently, she was still thinking about that night with Koromaru. …Whatever happened to that dog?

"Now, that's more like it." Akihiko smirked.

"It's by the deserted houses in the northern part of Iwatodai. But, there is one thing that's strange... It seems like it's underground... almost 10 meters." Lucia vanished and Fuuka walked towards the others.

"It must be in some kind of basement..." Yukari suggested.

Aigis stood up. "According to my records, there is no structure in the area that matches those criteria. However, in the past there was an underground facility that was used by the military."

"The military?" The brunette asked, surprised. "...Is that true?" Yeah, no questions about why she knew that or whatever.

"Well, the architectural and geographical data for the area were uploaded into her memory bank." Oh. Thanks Ikutsuki. "Then again, the information hasn't been updated in a decade."

"That is correct." Aigis nodded.

"Uh, wouldn't that be a good idea?" Junpei said something sensible.

"So, how should we interpret this?" The silver haired boy clenched his fists, desperate to go to wherever the Shadow was.

"There's no way of knowing without actually going there..." Fuuka spoke shyly.

"It seems war's scars may be deeper than we think..." Was Mitsuru making a pun? "The situation is still unclear at this time. Therefore, we will wait until we arrive to determine who should be deployed."

"Agreed."

"Understood."

"Wait, why don't we just go all together against the Shadow? Yanno, it'd make fighting a lot easier, and we'd have enough healers!"

The S.E.E.S. members began to walk out of the Command Room. Minato stood by Hamuko's side and patted her shoulder. "Logic is not appreciated here."

* * *

><p>The teens ran to Northern Iwatodai, and following Fuuka's guidance they ended up in a little cave by the shore. They walked through the tunnel until they walked past an humongous door that almost yelled 'it's a traaaap!'. But of course, it was the Dark Hour; everyone was a coffin but them.<p>

"The target should be around here..." Fuuka scanned the place with Lucia.

"Well done..." An unfamiliar voice attracted everyone's attentions. There were two people in the gates! Wait… A really pale guy with grey hair and golden eyes, going around shirtless and with some weird tattoos on his shoulders… and a blue haired guy with a military-looking green jacket and a grenade in his hand. They seemed really familiar… Oh wait fuck, a _**grenade**_?

"Who are these guys?" The teal haired girl yelled. "Lucia didn't sense a thing 'til now!"

"This is the first time we've met in person." The grey haired man spoke… with quite an attractive voice. But that wasn't the moment to think about those things. "My name is Takaya. This is Jin. We are known to some as Strega." He smiled. "We've been keeping an eye on you... From what we hear, you've undertaken a "righteous" battle to save the world." He put a hand on his hip—or rather, on his revolver. "But, we've come here tonight to put an end to that dream."

"What?" Akihiko yelled. Sincerely, he was voicing everyone's thoughts.

"You've gained new allies, yet this land still crawls with sin. Tartarus is towering as beautifully as always..."

"We gotta put an end to the Dark Hour! Normal people can't defend themselves from Shadows!" Hamuko tried to reason with them.

"So what?" Jin snorted. "If the Shadows and the Dark Hour disappear, then so will our power. ...And we can't let that happen, now can we?"

"Power...?" Mitsuru's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're Persona-users as well!" Was that revolver a Evoker or what?

"Why don't you use that pretty little head of yours for a change?" Takaya narrowed his creepy golden eyes. "Only a select few wield the power of a Persona... And the Dark Hour is a frontier that is ours alone to explore... just like the Tower of Demise..." …Tartarus?

"THAT's your reason! ...Are you crazy?" Yukari gaped. "There's no telling what will happen if we don't do something about the Shadows!"

"What difference does it make...? There will always be disasters, whether they are caused by Shadows or arise from human folly. No one can predict the future, anyway. But, that is all beside the point... Surely you will acknowledge the sense of significance the Dark Hour has given you."

Both Fools looked at Takaya with badly disguised interest.

"Do you wish to return to your pathetic, ordinary lives?"

"...Huh?" Junpei's eyes widened as well.

"You think I like this?" Yukari looked at Akihiko, wanting some support; however, the boy was looking down.

"I don't enjoy this one single bit." Fuuka agreed.

"You've each got your own reason for fighting." Jin spoke firmly. "'Justice' is only an excuse... And that makes you all hypocrites! So I say, to hell with you!"

He kicked some sort of machine by the gate, and the door immediately began closing.

"Wha...!" Akihiko ran towards the door.

"Have fun in there." Jin sneered as the door closed completely.

"Dammit..." The silver haired boy banged the door with all his strength to no result. "They locked us in!"

"We will be alright." It wasn't easy to tell whether Aigis was being objective or trying to calm them some way. "Rather than wasting our energy, I suggest we deal with the Shadow first."

"You're right." Yukari sighed. "If we lose our cool, then they win."

"The Shadow's moving!" Fuuka stated all of a sudden. "I think it's noticed us!"

"Alright, let's concentrate on our original goal." Mitsuru commanded. "We can look for away out after we've won. Everyone, prepare for battle."

The group decided to split up, considering that there was a chance those mysterious guys could come back and try to attack them directly or something. Thus, the Fools quickly picked Akihiko, Yukari and Aigis, and ran deeper into the tunnel, following Fuuka's directions.

* * *

><p>"Is that a… skull?" Hamuko backed away when she saw one of the many skeletons laying around the place. "Gosh…" She felt a hand grabbing her own and screamed, scared… It was Akihiko's hand, not a skeleton... In all honesty, she was a bit surprised that it wasn't Minato's, but he was some meters ahead, examining a book one of the skeletons held in its hands. However, he was looking at them, apparently having heard the scream.<p>

"Don't worry, they can't hurt you…" Akihiko reassured her. "I'm here with you, alright?"

"I'm… I'm not a kid, Senpai…" The brunette shook his hand off and went on. Soon, they arrived to the deepest part of the tunnel, which was in complete darkness… The fire coming from a cannonball against the wall allowed them to see their objective: a goddamn tank.

"_The Shadow's using the tank as armor_!" Fuuka yelled the obvious.

The roar of the tank's motor as it ran around allowed them to locate it better. Aigis's shots provided some lighting to the room, allowing the others to run, trying to avoid being rolled over by the tank's heavy wheels. The bolts proceeding from Polydeuces's Zionga attacks helped as well, letting the Fools' Personas slash and strike the tank as they wished.

"Any luck detecting weaknesses?" Minato shot his Evoker, mentally commanding Ose to attack the Shadow with all its fury while he ran to a safer position.

"_I can't tell anything apart!_" Fuuka apologized. "_I think it's Arcana is the Chariot or the Justice… or… I-I'm sorry, I just can't analyze, I don't know what's wrong!_"

Yukari cast a small tornado which made the tank raise its wheels a bit –there was something yellow in the base, which looked a lot like a mask.

The Shadow rushed towards Hamuko who was in the middle of an evocation, too busy blowing up her head figuratively to jump away. Fortunately for her, Minato caught a glimpse of this with the short illumination provided by a lightning and ran towards her, tackling her to the ground from behind so they could fit under the tank instead of being tread on by its wheels. The bluenet could feel both of their heats beating faster, almost in unison, as the tank ran barely an inch above them, crashing against Oumitsunu, instead. Once it had left them behind, it named Yukari its new target and headed towards her.

"M-Minato, t-t-that... I-I… Thanks…" Hamuko panted as she spoke, obviously hyperventilating. Being rolled over by a tank which weights several tons is never fun, but that had been rather exciting, in a weird way. "Can you… move now…?"

"Huh? O-Oh, yeah, sorry…" After all they were wearing that… swimsuit armor. Minato's legs wobbled a bit as he got off her.

Once they pinned down some kind of movement pattern for the tank, their attacks became much more effective, as they spent less time fleeing. Once the Shadow became tired, it began making weird noises. Suddenly, it got on its… hind wheels… and the turret jumped out, revealing an angel-like creature with a flamethrower. Its mask looked like a knight's helm.

"_So that's why I sensed two entities!_" Fuuka exclaimed. "_Chariot__ has more energy remaining than Justive. Be careful; they both have a spell called 'Samarecarm' which restores any wounds_!"

"Fantastic," Minato muttered, before an idea struck him. "Aigis, how quickly could you take down the turret?"

"Utilizing my Orgia mode, I can enact massive damage to the Shadow within a very short period of time. I will, however, be overheated and defenceless for a short time afterwards, though the mode itself incurs no lasting damage." The robot replied.

"Orgia mode?" Hamuko asked. "Sounds like fun."

Minato sighed. "Time and a place, Hamuko. Right, Aigis, give me a quick speed boost, and get ready to activate that mode and unload on the Justice. Akihiko, weaken the Chariot's armor. Yukari... stand by to pick up the pieces if I mess up. Hamuko, help Aigis take out the Justice if this works. It needs to go down before it can use that move."

"Wait a second, what the hell are you pl-" Hamuko was interrupted.

"Now!"

Bolstered by Sukukaja, Minato ran nimbly at the Justice, avoiding its powerful fire by mere inches at times. He ran straight at the Chariot, which accelerated toward him, intending to reduce the Fool to a red smear.

With a wide grin, the blue-haired boy leapt up, vaulting off the tank's body as Justice opened fire, riddling the weakened chassis with wide holes. The Chariot collapsed, no longer possessing the energy to do battle. At the sight, the remaining Shadow began glowing gold at the turret, preparing a Samarecarm spell.

"Activating Orgia mode!"

And in a hail of gunfire, and a few powerful swipes from Oumitsunu's powerful arms, the Justice fell to the ground, alongside the Chariot, the both of them fading into black ichor.

"Efficiently executed," Aigis said calmly, before falling to her knees, steam rising from the odd mechanisms in her ears.

"…So what now?" Hamuko asked staring at the darkness.

"Mitsuru-senpai is probably requesting help up there…" Minato sighed. "Let's take a rest..."

They slumped on the ground, tired after the battle. Hamuko kept glancing around nervously, so she tried to break the silence, whispering in a low voice to Minato. _"…What did that skeleton's book say?_"

"_It was a journal. All those skeletons were engineers. They died here, constructing that tank, with the aim to protect their beloved ones_." He explained.

"_They died trying to save others…?_" The brunette sounded somewhat sad.

"…_Would you like to know why?_" Minato moved towards her and surrounded her shoulders with an arm, bringing her closer to him. "_They didn't have friends with magic powers to help them_."

Hamuko giggled and rubbed her cheek against his chest. For the first time in quite a while, she felt comfortable in his arms. The bluenet tentatively put a hand on her hair and began stroking her hair. "…_You just love petting me, don't you_…?" He tried to lift her hand, but Hamuko tugged at his wrist, preventing him from doing so. "_I… I really like it too…_"

"_I know you do_." He smiled at her. "_You know_… _I just thought that maybe we could blow up the door with our Personas and get out of here_…"

"_Nah.._."

They stayed like that, hugged to each other hidden by the darkness, unconcerned about having to wait for someone to rescue them… In fact, Minato was more preoccupied about the face they'd make when they saw them in a swimsuit down there…

* * *

><p><strong>The cool, interesting part of the battle (you know, the one which sounds like it was written by a native. Because it was.) was written by Evilshroom because I commented how much I hate writing battles! Thanks a lot for that, man!<strong>


	51. An offer

**Author Note: It's always hilarious when you guys don't review chapters I actually put effort into, and review all the ones I hate :I**

**So have I ever told you to read Persona 3: Memories of You by Ryouga Zell? It's my preferred novelization ever and it needs much more love now the author is halfway through writing chapter 6! :D**

**Thanks in advance to my beta reader, Evilshroom.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>When Minato walked into the lounge that morning, he found Hamuko dozing off. A book with the word 'Kuzunoha' written on big letters covered her face. All too cute, but he wanted to sit down and play Innocent Sin Online, so he crouched down, took the book and brought his face next to her ear. "Good morning!"<p>

"AIEEEE—Oh… it's you." Hamuko stretched her arms. "Hey there." She sat up on the sofa, leaving space for Minato to finally sit down.

"A boring read, sleeping beauty?" He slouched on the headrest next to hers and overlooked the page where she had stopped reading.

"N-nah, it's pretty…" She tried to hold back a yawn. "…Cool, but I'm too tired to read... It was written by uh… Johei Shirogane. He's a detective or something…"

"…Did you say Shirogane?"

"Um, yeah? Why?"

"No, no reason…" The bluenet left the book on the ground and opened his laptop.

"…You hadda wake me up for that?" She glared at him.

"Yes. Oh, do you want me to pet you to sleep like last night?" He smiled flirtatiously.

"Sure! And then I can totally curl up on your lap and purr like a kitty!" The girl brought her eyebrows together. "…That was meant to sound sarcastic."

"Uh-huh…" Minato nodded slowly. "I'll… play Innocent Sin Online while you ponder the difference between kink and sarcasm."

"Huh… In that case, you'll hafta lemme watch." Hamuko crawled towards his end of the sofa, snatched his laptop from his hands and sat between his knees, head resting on his shoulder while she held the computer. "You'd better pray no one walks into us like this…" She smiled seeing Minato's somewhat joyful expression at her display of confidence around him reflected on the screen. "It looks like Maya is… texting to herself..."

"I hope tatsuya gets here soon _" Maya walked around the place. "I'm not even complaining today or ne thing... so rare =P but i have to tell tatsu cuz he's my MMO partner! i'll be brave -_-;; *^_^* ...i'm so lame! i'm blushing for reals! oh noes... now i'm starting to get sweaty =/"

"_Getting sweaty_?" Minato typed, arms surrounding Hamuko's shoulders as he spoke.

"O.o tatsu! Watcha doing there! I didnt notice! O/O!" Maybe she was taking the RP part too far. "I wanted to tell u sumthin last time but i chickened out... ::blush::" The girl kicked the ground softly, embarrassed. "U know how i said i'm into teenagers? well i've thinkin about one of my pupils a lot lately…"

"Oh God, no." Minato tilted his head to look at Hamuko, trying to receive some funny comment. She… seemed oddly okay with that.

"What do you mean… 'thinking a lot'?"

"G tatsu, u r dense! xDD i'm kinda...'interested' in him. OMG i said it!1 O_O;; ;P" Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh. "None of the male teachers r even in my league, so i gave up looking for b/fs work i never thought i'd fall for a student! 3333333 goin for younger guys is kinda new for me _"

"Why, ugh, no, why?" The bluenet smacked his hand against his forehead. "This Social Link is so fucked up."

"Yes, but… Yanno, I'm kinda curious…" Hamuko smirked as she typed something. "You like him more than me?"

"0.0 err… hmm... that's difficult, tatsu! coz hear he's kinda quiet, but real mature an intense looking (and hawt) ;P i luuuuuuv watchin his expressions in class coz he always has the same one xD is that bad?"

"Sounds like a certain someone I know."

"But he's one of my students! =x he jus transferred in this year after his parents died (i will comfort him!) maybe i can abuse my power and convince him i'm a guidance counsellor _"

The Fools exchanged meaningful glances. "N-no, what are the chances?"

"U don't need to be jealous he's jus sumone i like, rite? tatsuya is the only game partner for maya ^^; no worries."

"Eight level…"

"I haven't made my appt yet, but i'm goin to go to a salon *_* Minato-kun will fall in love w/ me before the weekend 33333 alrighty tatsuya, i gtg let's think positive!" Maya's player signed off.

"…"

"…"

"…No."

"…"

"Nonononononono. NOPE." Minato braced himself to Hamuko more strongly. "Ms. Toriumi is NOT a COUGAR, AUGH. N-n-no, let's be objective, there are many people named Minato out there, who are quiet and hot and whose composition teacher likes bitching."

"I… doubt so?"

"I refuse to believe this." Minato freed Hamuko from his grasp and got up. "I'm… I'm just going to pretend that that just did NOT happen. It didn't happen, okay? Ms. Toriumi is not a scary shotacon. No no no…" He headed to the door and left. "Just, NO."

* * *

><p>"You look a bit absent today, Arisato-san."<p>

Minato looked up from his bowl of gyudon. "Err… Sorry, I'm a bit tired. Last night was long and… something weird just happened but I'd rather not talk about that."

"I… see?" Naoto cocked up an eyebrow.

"Oh, no, it wasn't like that… Me and some friends got stuck in an elevator. We had to wait for some technicians to get us out of there."

"Sounds like you had a harsh time."

"Oh, no, it wasn't harsh at all…" He had to fought back the rush of blood to his cheeks. "S-So! Thank you very much for this lunch! It's quite a disproportionate payback for the ice-creams."

"Much more healthy, as well." She chuckled. They fell into a comfortable silence while they ate. "I… told my grandfather about you- your great detective skills!" She quickly corrected her words. "He said he'd be really interested in meeting you; would you mind if he comes to our next reunion?"

"I don't mind at all." The bluenet smiled. "Speaking to a detective of such great renown as Johei Shirogane."

"Have you heard of him?"

"Ah, no, not quite, honestly, I just found out today that he wrote the Kuzunoha saga, and even that was merely a coincidence… The friend I spoke about yesterday, Hamuko, loves those novels. She was… reading one this morning."

"I see…" Naoto etched her hands below her nose. "Your expression softens considerably when you speak about her."

"Does it…?" He laughed softly. "Could you… sign an autograph for me, please? I'd like to have a memory of all these conversations." Maybe a memory which can replace the ones from earlier that morning, hopefully.

"It'll be my pleasure." Naoto brought out a small batch of notes, probably where she wrote thoughts about evidences and other, from a pocket in her trouser and a blue ball-pen from the one in her shirt. She quickly scribbled some words on the note. "For you." She took another note and wrote something as well. "And for your friend. However, I have one request: don't read either of them nor give them to her until I leave. Could you promise me that?"

"Of course." Minato put a hand over his heart and put the papers carefully folded into his short's right pocket.

"Thank you… I'm… I'm glad to have met someone I can speak comfortably to…" They continued eating in silence, and parted ways when they finished their lunch.

* * *

><p>"So Ms. Toriumi does have the hots for you…"<p>

"Shut up, Hamuko…"

"This explains why you're so totally the teacher's pet."

"Shut up, Hamuko…"

"Oh, oh, what if we call her Maya in class some day to see if it really is her?"

"Hamuko." He looked up from his sofa. "No."

"Gee… You sure seem affected…" Hamuko scratched the back of her head. "Err… Wanna hang out or something to keep yourself busy? There's a bunch of Requests we can complete in the streets of Iwatodai, you know? I've been putting off a particular one…"

* * *

><p>"…So why did we have to come to Aohige?"<p>

"Because we need some cat food for the Request." The brunette explained patiently.

"Hamuko, they don't sell cat food in pharmacies…"

"Here you are, your five bags of Super Cat Food." The scary looking pharmacist handed Hamuko her order. "Thanks for shopping."

"…Why doesn't anything make sense in this city…?" Minato slammed his hand against his face –outside of the pharmacy, of course.

"I don't know, but this is convenient for us, so don't complain." She gave him a few bags to carry. "Alright, I remember Theo said that the cat was in the alleys of Port Island Station…"

"Oh, that's why you're bringing me along? Are you scared of being alone there?"

"Minato." She put a hand on his cheek and smiled warmly. "You're the _**last**_ person in the world I'd take with me to a dark alley." What. "This is just so you don't have to repeat the Request."

"…Thanks for… caring?" Minato followed her out of Paulownia Mall, completely dumbfounded.

* * *

><p>"It must be that skinny kitty over there, the one that punk is giving some food—Hey…" Hamuko's eyes lit up. "Senpai!"<p>

"Huh? Oh, it's you clowns…" Shinjiro got up and stopped Hamuko by resting his hand on her forehead as she tried to run towards him to hug him. "Is she always like this?"

"No, she used to be worse." Minato sighed. Last time they met Shinjiro, Minato thought that Hamuko was acting like that with him because she was completely hammered, but apparently, she was just infatuated with the older boy. Huh.

"You were feeding this kitty, Senpai? That's so kind of you!"

"I…" The shaggy haired boy's eyes widened under the shadow of his beanie. He looked like a psycho.

"Oh my gosh, you're badass AND adorable!" She giggled, escaping the barrier imposed by his hand to give him that hug.

"Adorable? What the fuck?" Shinji scowled and pushed her away –much more softly than one would expect seeing the angry look on his face. "Whatever. I'm outta here; you guys leave now or don't expect me to come save your sorry asses if you get in trouble." He stomped his way away from the place.

"But Sen—" Hamuko couldn't run after him because Minato took her hand.

"We're here to feed the cat some more." He stated pretty dryly.

"…Right." The girl furrowed her eyebrows as she saw the brunet disappear behind the ruins of a house.

"I don't think we can give it five bags in a single day, though…" Minato pondered aloud as he took a look at the food they had bought. He then looked at Hamuko again; she had her sight fixed in the place where she had last seen Shinjiro. "Hamuko, what's up with him?"

"Uh…" She finally turned around to face Minato. "I had heard that sometimes you meet people who remind you of other people. But… But I don't know anyone he reminds me of…" She looked incredibly troubled and confused. "Forget it. It's probably just that I feel he can be a Social Link of mine."

"Alright. But please, be careful; you shouldn't throw yourself at punks, it could end badly…"

"Are you a punk and you never told me, Minato?"

He frowned and sighed. Apparently, no matter how much trust she regained, she just didn't intend to stop twisting the knife every so often. "Let's just feed the cat and get out, okay?"

In the end, they only managed to make the cat eat the contents of one bag, yet it still looked way too skinny. They'd have to go feed it another day…

The day continued silently, even though Hamuko tried to bring up some conversation topic a few times during the afternoon.

* * *

><p>The door clicked and step sounds filled the room. "Minato?"<p>

"Hey there." Minato rolled on his back.

"Did I wake you up?"

"No, I was awake, don't worry." He sat on the edge of his bed. "Did you want anything?"

"I just wanted to say apologize for what I said earlier…"

"Don't worry, it's comprehensible that you still don't believe me. I don't think I would believe myself if I was you, either."

"I-it's not that I don't… Well, I really try, but… I believe you but…" Hamuko sighed and rubbed her temples. "I know you're trying really hard to show me you would never do something like that… but y-yanno, I never thought I'd say something like 'it's been only a month!'."

"Take your time. You can't rush forgiveness. I'm happy with knowing that you are trying to believe me. Just… try not to rub it in so much, please…"

"Will do…" They stared awkwardly at each other. "Um… a hug?"

"Sure." Minato wrapped his arms around her. "Hey, isn't this—"

Before Minato could finish his phrase, the Dark Hour hit, making both feel slightly dizzy. "Hi, how are you?" Pharos smiled at them. "I remembered something else..."

Minato broke the embrace to talk to the black haired child. "Enlighten us."

"The end won't be brought about by anyone in particular... It's coming because there are many people who wish for it... as if it was destined from the start." He sat next to them. "But, doesn't that seem like a strange thing to wish for?"

"The end? Death or something?" The bluenet asked with curiosity.

"Nobody would ever wish for death, right?"

"There are many who would disagree." Pharos chuckled creepily. "It's good to know that you don't want it... Well, enough about that for now. There's something else I wanted to tell you today..." He seemed to hesitate a bit. "Soon, the poisonous flowers will bloom... One in your own garden, and three in the garden opposite yours. I don't know whether or not this has anything to do with the end, but you should be careful."

"Do we have a garden?"

"I think it's an allegory, Hamuko."

"Ali who?"

The kid's laugh got them out of their little banter. "Don't worry, I don't get it either. I just wanted you to know... that I'm worried about you." He gave them a carefree smile. "I'll come again if I find out anything useful. That's what friends are for, right?" That was enough for the Death Social Link to reach level 5. Such a weird Social Link, when had it even reached level 4? "Well then... Good night." He turned to Hamuko. A wide grin decorated his face. "My dearest..." And so he disappeared.

"…You know, I wonder where Pharos goes when he disappears…"

"Aren't you creeped out or something at the fact that he just called you 'his dearest'?" Minato sighed. Yeah, of course she wouldn't be. "Anyway… Isn't that my shirt, Hamuko?"

"Y-yeah… I… usually wear it to sleep…" Her face blushed crimson. "It's a really comfy shirt… I can give it back to you if you want, though…"

"T-that won't be necessary." He quickly stopped her from pulling up the hem of the shirt. He smiled nervously at the curious look she gave him. "I uh… it's better you don't go around the dorm in your underwear, right?"

"Oh yeah, good point." She nodded. Well she was still wearing only a long pyjama shirt when she left his room, but whatever.

* * *

><p>The next day, both Fools were awakened by Elisabeth and Theodore, who were calling to tell that another barricade had fallen. Later, Mitsuru told them about showing everyone something important that night –and also reminded them about the lack of funds… Something told Minato he'd have to go to Hamuko's beloved maid café if they ever wanted to gather enough money to pay back.<p>

"Good day." A deep voice made Minato detour his sight from the fountain. The man who had just spoken had a stern face and looked in his thirties at best, yet he had carefully brushed pale grey hair with some weird locks which looked like sideburns –it was a weird colour, in fact, it looked dyed. His impressive grey eyes, shadowed by his black policeman cap, suited his sickly pale skin. He wore a cloak over a black long sleeved shirt with matched his black trousers –he didn't seem to mind the summer heat. There was something special about that man, which had a voice that didn't fit his somewhat youth look. "I am Johei Shirogane."

"I'm Minato Arisato."

"No, you are not." The man looked down at the bluenet. "Follow me."

Minato didn't ask where they were going. He felt obliged to comply to the orders of that family… "Where is Naoto?"

"She is packing her suitcase. Thanks to you, she had completely forgotten to do so earlier." They kept walking away from Port Island Station, following the road which took to Paulownia Mall. "Minato Arisato is your current name. Somewhere around sixteen years old. Your blood type is O. You have resided in a total of four cities. You have resided in three orphanages since your parents died on November 1999…"

"How do you know all of this?"

"I am a detective. Anyhow, my granddaughter told me some interesting things about you. Dangerously interesting."

"What do you mean?" Minato had to speed up to keep walking at the same rhythm as the older man.

"I know everything about you, young boy. I do indeed know more about you than yourself." Johei stopped abruptly and faced Minato. He stared at him with an unreadable expression for a few seconds and then put a hand on Minato's shoulder. "Have you truly dared to forget me?"

Minato observed the man. He studied that stern face, those powerful grey eyes, so similar to his own, and that unnatural grey hair –black would look better. He took in every detail of its pose, so unexpected from a man his age –his age? Did Minato know his age? The old man seemed ready for the action, like he was always ready to face someone. His hands were the only thing other than his voice which hinted at his seniority status; they had wounds and scars… Some looked like teeth marks, even. Those looked really painful, and used to impress him as a child, even more so when he heard stories about demons causing them, to which he laughed. Wait what? "Ugh… You…" Minato clutched his head. It pained him to think about that.

Johei sighed. "Allow me to assist you." The old man reached into his pocket and brought out a wallet. He overlooked its contents until he found a specific piece of paper. It seemed to have been kept with utmost care. "Stop hurting yourself."

Minato gritted his teeth and ignored the other male. He wanted to remember…

"Stop right now. Do not taunt your parents' memory making me believe that they didn't teach you to have respect for your elderly."

"What?" He looked at the white haired man white eyed. "D-don't you dare speak about my parents! I don't care who you are, Sir!"

A slap stopped Minato's rant. "My boy, you have become substantially less smart than I remembered you." He shoved the photography into Minato's left hand –the other one was busy trying to soothe the pain on his cheek.

Judging by its quality, the photo seemed to be a few years old. It was a family photo in which five people appeared: three adults, one of which was a blue haired woman; the other two were two black haired men, one of which had a hat and a lot of silver hairs. In the foreground, there was a boy with indigo hair brushed to the right part of his face, which was partially hidden by his blue newspaper cap. This familiar looking boy was holding a blue haired toddler's hand, while the girl smiled cheerfully. A large poor of water and some fountains could be seen in the background. "Ah yeah, this was taken in Ueno Park. It was one of those few occasions in which grandpa wasn't busy travelling around Japan. We asked a random bystander to take a photo, and he seemed amazed because the great Shirogane had asked him to picture him and his family…" Minato chuckled. His laughter suddenly died, and he could feel himself blanch. He looked up at Johei, completely shocked. "Who ARE you?"

"I am Johei Shirogane." He took his hat out and carefully placed it on Minato's head. "Who are you?"

Minato fell to the ground. It was all too much. Sudden images filled his mind; he remembered a lot of moments with his parents… all from years before their death. Any memories of the accident remained away from his mind, probably for the best. He also remembered… her. Naoto Shirogane. A faceless blue haired toddler who had been haunting him for years. His sister. Good lord, she had changed so much… "What…?"

"I promised Naoto I would look for you, even though I eventually let her think you were dead. I have been tracking you down for years." Johei spoke firmly and monotonously. "I have known all along that you were alive; yet, there are circumstances which prevented me from taking you back with us. I am sure you will learn about them in the correct moment; I quitted being an active participant of history long ago to fund a family…" He got his hat back. "I have been watching your every action for years. I have been thinking of ways to allow you back in Naoto's and mine lives… And I finally came to the conclusion that you need not fulfil your role in history if you do not want to. I know how difficult being the chosen one is." He looked down at his scarred hands.

"Wait… does this mean you know about…?"

"I am perfectly conscious of _**every**_ activity you have been up to. I am merely a bystander in your history, my grandson, and I have come here to give you a chance, now fate has decided that Naoto would find you in a small oversight of mine. Come with us back to the Shirogane Estate. You will live with us until you are eventually needed again. You will retrieve that which you have been yearning for so long."

"I… I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't even know you until ten minutes ago!"

"I understand you are confused, this is quite a big amount of information to take at once; however, you only have until tomorrow to make up your mind. You have exactly until the moment my watch marks fifty-five minutes, fourteen hours of tomorrow, when our train will leave from Iwatodai station, to make your decision whether to go back with your family or stay here continuing the path the Norn sisters had set for you."

"Only a day… to choose such a thing?" Minato yelled a hand pressed strongly against his forehead. "Grandfa—Johei-san, what non-sense are you saying? Please, tell me you're joking, you CAN'T be speaking seriously!"

"Choose wisely, my boy." The old man walked away while Minato just watched him leave, completely incapable to do anything about it.

Eventually, Minato dragged himself up and somehow managed to arrive to Port Island Station, the worst headache he had ever had in his whole life hitting his temples like a hammer with every step.

He arrived at the dorm, and slammed the door shut, earning the attention of all the people eating in there. They soon however went back to paying attention to their own dishes. The bluenet took a look around: Ken, Yukari, Fuuka, Akihiko and Aigis. …He was better off going to his room. Yeah, punching the wall until his knuckles hurt and he slumped on his bed, exhausted, made him feel so much better… but it still didn't solve the problem. The problem. Let's see: some guy who claimed to be his grandfather and was aware of the 'extracurricular activities' S.E.E.S. did was offering him to go back and be family, ignoring completely that there were cosmic powers expecting him to do shit with people and fight Hamuko—oh. He reached into his pocket and produced his mobile phone out of it. He quickly texted Hamuko something, and the answer arrived just as fast.

"_Hangin out w/ Saori-chan! sum bitch came by n slapped her for a stupid reason but i gave er a piece of my mind aw yeah ]BD level 5! x3 y?_"

"_Just wondering if you wanted to go to Escapade tonight_."

"_U dont hafta ask man! __=D c u thar tonite_!"

* * *

><p>The evening arrived pretty quickly, as Minato spent the afternoon absorbed in a weird mixture of napping and reminiscing. He put on some nicer clothes and headed to the club.<p>

"Well, hello there!" Hamuko greeted him with a smile and two glasses of vodka. "For you!"

"Ah, thanks…" Minato reluctantly took the alcoholic drink to his lips while Hamuko dragged him to the dance floor. 'Dunno-what-FES sounded all over the club, and it had a really nice jazzy feeling to it; seriously, the club management sucked at danceable music. They needed more Risette.

"…Are you okay, man?" The girl asked, concerned. "You're kinda zoned out."

"Ah… I…" He looked down.

"Hey…" Hamuko caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. "What's up…? Your eyes look all sore…"

"I…" The blue haired boy bit his lower lip and glanced away. A few seconds later, he almost threw himself on Hamuko, giving her a rather strong hug. Albeit he startled her at first, she eased when she heard him sob slightly. She had never thought she'd see stoicism personified shed a tear…

Pushing him away a bit, Hamuko took his hand. "Let's talk somewhere less crowded." She leaded the way to the stairs leading to the VIP zone. "Well?"

"I'm… trying to figure out how to say this… Remember how I said you aren't alone when you're with me…?"

"I'm always going to remember it for the mood-killer that came after that." She took a sip of her drink.

"Well um… what if I… left Iwatodai?"

The female Fool chocked on the vodka. "You WHAT?" Her eyes widened. "No." Her mouth fell open as she saw he was being serious. "W-why? What happened?"

"I met some… relatives of mine… They want me to go with them and gave me until three p.m. tomorrow to decide… But I don't think I will…"

"What? What the hell, Minato?" She yelled all of a sudden. "You met your family! That's freaking awesome! And… you're always complaining that nothing here makes sense! You have your chance to get a normal life again, isn't that what you wanted? What the hell is keeping you from saying outright 'yes'?"

Minato placed his hand under Hamuko's chin and made her tilt her head up to look at him. "Important things. For instance, I promised myself that I wouldn't let a certain someone feel alone ever again…"

"You are gonna leave with them tomorrow. Or I'll get mad, we won't speak ever again, and we'll be both alone anyway." She placed both of her hands on his shoulders. "Minato, I don't know who you've met or how you did so, but man, I wish I were you right now." She smiled at him; a pretty forced smile it was. "And uh… a-about the Personas and all that… I'm pretty sure that S.E.E.S. will manage…" Her lower lip trembled as Minato stared at her rather apprehensively. "I'll even tell Igor or something, too, and… oh God…" She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. "I-I don't want you to l-leave me. Of course I don't want you to leave me alone, I love you!" She sobbed into his shoulder. "I love you, b-but you hafta do it for me, okay? You… hafta leave tomorrow, and live with your family, and be happy and what not, you hear me?"

"Hamuko…" She hugged her back, strongly.

The brunette pulled away, laughing sadly as she dried the tears on her face with the back of her hand. "W-Well, since this will be our last night together… err…" She whimpered some more. "Let's… just enjoy it, shall we…? So you can have a beautiful memory or something…"

They would have liked to get out much later, but the club apparently had a curfew or something since the investigation. Hamuko didn't have much trouble managing to drag Minato into Print Club, because, as she said, she uh… wanted a last photo –conveniently skipping that she broke the old one. After a bajillion failed pictures, they finally settled for a new one. It was just Hamuko resting her head on his shoulder, as the camera failed to capture their linked hands. Still, the smiles they were exchanging said a lot as well…

And so the day came to an end…

* * *

><p><strong>Spoiler: no he doesn't leave :V Too tired to proofread, too tired to send to beta reader.<strong>


	52. Festival

**Author note: alright, first, there won't probably be an update until next week, as I'm going to Luxemburg on Saturday and I won't come back to Spain until Monday night. **

**Second, CHECK OUT THE TVTROPES ARTICLE -and contribute to it- WOOOOO!**

**And third I was thinking of making a cover picture for this fic. One more fitting than the previous one. Got any ideas? :o**

* * *

><p>The Fools decided to name the couch their bed when they arrived at the dorm at dawn, after a tiring night roaming the streets of Iwatodai.<p>

"Stop licking my ear… I'm not in the mood…" Minato grumbled in a low voice.

"I'm not licking you…" Hamuko mumbled back. "So stop nuzzling my hand…"

"I'm not nuzzling your hand…"

"Woof, woof!"

"…I think I like it better when you purr, Hamuko…"

"I'm not the one barking…" The brunette yawned.

"Woof!" The barking became louder and louder, but the teens were determined to ignore it… until something bit Hamuko's cut and sewn and dragged her to the ground.

"Aw what the-?" Before she could finish her phrase, a gray furry thing began licking her face. Hamuko stared at it until her vision became clearer. It was a gray dog with a yellow suit with cute angel wings on its back. A smile formed immediately in her face. "KORO-CHAN!" She hugged the dog with all her strength. "YAAAAAY! You're fine!" She laughed while the dog wagged its tail happily. "Hey, Minato, look at this! We have a new dorm mate!" As she pronounced these words, her expression darkened considerably.

"Good morning to both of you…" Minato got up from the couch and smiled sadly at her. He petted Koromaru's head while the dog gave him a confused look.

Hamuko got up from the ground and followed him to his room with Koromaru by their side. "You haven't packed anything, right? I'll… I'll help you."

"That won't be necessary…" The boy opened his wardrobe and began putting all his clothes on the bed in an orderly fashion. "I'm used to this…" He sighed. "I still have to tell S.E.E.S. about this… inform Gekkoukan… do so many things in such a short time…"

"Sorry for making you stay up so late… I'll… I'll handle talking with everyone later, okay? They… probably wouldn't let you leave if you told them…" She looked at Koromaru. "Something tells me that that meeting we missed yesterday had to do with him… We missed your last meeting…"

"Allow me to remind you that you are encouraging me to-" Minato received a strong hug as an answer. "Ssh, it's okay… I mean, this isn't the last time we'll speak… We can call each other, right?"

"I-I'll call you everyday and tell you who we're doing with the Shadows and how school is going and… and how Aigis is growing up!"

"Aigis, huh…? How are you going to tell her this?"

"I'll… I'll tell her that you're just leaving the house, because you now have another family… but you still love us the same… and… and it's not her fault and…"

"She's not a little girl, she's a twelve years old robot. She'll get over it, don't worry."

"Y-yeah… That's.. right, isn't it…? Of course…" She sobbed. "Don't leave! You told me you wouldn't leave me alone!"

"Hamuko, _**you**_ want me to leave." Minato sighed. "Make up your mind."

"I… know! You hafta go with your family, man! And if you don't I'm gonna kick your ass until you can't ever sit down again! B-but…" The brunette wailed.

"You could try to make sense… for once… Ah, fuck it." Minato pressed her closer to himself. "This is probably the cheesiest phrase I could ever say, and the stupidest, since all the feelings come from the brain, but… you're not alone. We'll always be together. I'll be always thinking of you, because you'll always be in my heart." He placed a hand on the base of her neck. "And I hope I'll be in yours."

"Y-yeah…" She hiccuped a bit as the tears stopped leaking down her eyes. "But watch that hand, you… "

"Woof, woof!" Oh, wait, Koro…

The bluenet laughed a bit as he pulled away from Hamuko. "Look after her, alright?"

"Woof!"

"Hey, I'm the one who has to look after him, not the other way around!"

* * *

><p>The hours went by quickly, mostly occupied by packing up, dealing with doubts, rescuing a cool red pen from Koromaru's suit and hiding from other dorm members. Sometimes at the same time. They finished at half past two, and before they noticed, it was a quarter to three, so Minato had to run to the station alongside Hamuko.<p>

"Alright! Where are your relatives? I wanna meet them!" Hamuko looked around excitedly.

"…There they are."

"Where—Oh my…" She watched breathlessly as Minato walked towards Johei and Naoto. "Don't tell me you… and them…"

"So you chose to come with us, huh?" Johei stared down at the bluenet.

"Indeed." Minato nodded and then hung his head low.

"I see." There was some disapproval in his voice. "Go say bye to your friend. We'll depart soon."

Minato walked towards the brunette. A half smile decorated her face. "Yanno if this wasn't so sad, I'd..."

"…Be squealing because you've been with the Junior Detective's brother all along without knowing it?"

"Well I was going to say that I saw Raidou Kuzunoha in person, but yeah…" An awkward silence took over.

"This might be the last time we see each other…" Minato stepped closer to her. "…You don't have anything for me?"

"…You can't expect me to kiss you or something and then let you leave, can you?"

"…Of course not." He wrapped his arms around her and shortened the distance, planting a kiss on her forehead. "I did bring something for you, though." He reached into his pocket and brought out two carefully folded papers. "This one is for you."

"Huh? What is this?"

"I don't know. Naoto told me not to open them until she left. Maybe it's important, or maybe it's just an autograph." They exchanged troubled glances. "Do you think this will be a goodbye?"

"Just a… call you later?" She tried to smile as convincingly as possible. "Well ah… Make a lot of friends, have fun and don't get in trouble, okay?"

"Will do…"

Minato never though that he'd ever care about leaving a city. He never thought he'd be bothered by seeing someone watch the train leave, either…

"Take care!" Hamuko yelled. "Come visit some day!" She waved her hand in the air as the train disappeared in the distance. She stood there a few seconds until she came to terms with the fact that Minato's train wasn't suddenly going to come back. "Well… he's gone… Minato is gone…" The brunette walked out of the station with a straight face, but by the time she had arrived to the dorm the tears just wouldn't stop. Funny, she had said bye to loads of people through her life, but none had managed to affect her so much. Ah, probably it was one of those stupid aftereffects of love… In any case, she couldn't just go back home and tell everybody what happened in that state; Naganaki Shrine was the place she chose to cry her heart out. She sobbed inconsolably, not quite sure why, while a familiar sick-looking boy did her best to ignore her, quite fruitlessly.

"You're disturbing my peace." He sighed. "What could ever make you do that?"

"I'm… I'm sorry… Err… you see… the boy I love… left."

"You mean he died?" The boy with beige hair asked quite coldly.

"Oh, no! He just left the city…"

"Then you have absolutely no reason to disturb me." He folded his skinny arms over his chest. "I'd write about this unfruitful encounter in my journal, if I had my red fountain pen…"

"I'm not very sure about the meaning of what you just said, but… I have a pen if you want it." Hamuko reached into a pocket in the side of her cut and sewn and took the pen she'd found on Koromaru's suit that morning.

"My pen!" The boy seemed delighted. "…Maybe… this wasn't such a meaningless talk after all… My name is…" He coughed. "Akinari Kamiki."

"I'm Hamuko Seikatsu." A tiny smile appeared on her face. "You… You're that Striped Shirt, aren't you…?"

"Yeah...? Oh, I remember you." Akinari's eyes lit up. "You're the girl who was playing with that elementary school girl. And I guess the guy was the one leaving…?" He didn't wait for an answer. "It's been a while since I last saw Maiko-chan. She was very... bright. Her face shone with the warm light of new life."

"Yeah…" A fast thought crossed her mind: what if Maiko had gone ahead with her idea to leave…?

"...And then there's me, cooped up in here, struggling to breathe. Compared to her light, I'm but a vanishing shadow. Misery is a harsh mistress."

"Are you sad as well, Akinari-san?"

"Sad? I feel as though I'm lying in an unyielding darkness." He frowned. "...Can you understand how I feel?"

"A… bit?" Hamuko knit her eyebrows together as the sick boy's expression turned into an angry one.

"No, you don't have any idea! No one does! You don't know the first thing about what I'm going through!" After raising his voice, he wheezed. Hamuko only stared at him, shocked, until he got his voice back. "Any day now... I'm going to die. I have a genetic disease without any known cure. Unless you're in my situation, you can't understand what it's like. You have no right to compare your little love problems to that." He released a tired sigh. "...But I prefer that no one can relate to it. I wouldn't wish this on anyone."

"Can I… do anything for you? Anything to help?"

"There isn't anything you can do to slow this down or make things better."

A dense silence took over. Hamuko felt like an immature child, being scolded for her recklessness, comparing dying to losing a friend? What was she thinking about? …She really didn't know how to talk to a dying person as she knew perfectly that pity was rather offensive most of the time…

"Sorry about that." Akinari spoke suddenly. "I didn't mean to make things worse… I didn't mean to depress you more…" He ran a hand through his whitening hair. "I haven't spoken to someone my own age in a long time. ...It's natural for those in darkness to yearn for the world of light, even though they cannot understand it."

"No, you didn't depress me… You actually… gave me a lot of perspective, yanno…? I… Thank you… Thanks a lot for speaking to me…" She gave him a warm grin.

Akinari seemed surprised by this, but he gave her a pleased smile of his own. "I'm glad we could meet... If there's a god, I'll be able to thank him soon enough..." The familiar Social Link voices and a card informed Hamuko that she had just formed the Sun Social Link.

"Thanks a lot for the talk, but I still hafta go tell my friends about what happened… I'll… come back again."

"I would rather you did not. You only live once, right? So why waste your life among the dying? …Goodbye."

Hamuko wasn't happy when she left the shrine, that was for sure, but she wasn't so sad either. Hearing about others being in worse situations always made her feel better, as much as she despised that. She walked back to the dorm and sat down on the stairs, thinking about what she'd say. "'Hey, Minato left to reunite with his long lost family?' No… 'Hey, it's not that Minato has abandoned us, and it's not like it was totally my fault!' Ugh…" She ran a hair through her auburn hair. Just then, she heard something falling to the ground –it was a little paper. Apparently, she had been clenching it all along…

"_She who desires_

_My brother's heart, are you not?_

_I wager a week. _

_-Shirogane, Naoto._"

"…"

* * *

><p>The days went by extremely slowly in the cramming sessions at school which Mitsuru had organized for them –and apparently, only remembered to communicate on Sunday when the Fools weren't present. "He's gone on a trip with some friends!" had been the excuse Hamuko gave everyone when they asked about Minato's absence –she practiced saying that phrase once and again until she sounded convincing enough. She should have just told them the truth, but… she accepted the Junior Detective's cryptic bet. The first night she called Minato and asked how the famous Shirogane Estate was, his answer made her laugh hysterically: "This place is WEIRD."<p>

Minato was positively disappointed. He knew Johei was an extremely cold and sensible man from what he'd seen the previous day –and when Minato said someone was cold, it meant he had ice in his veins- but he'd sincerely never expected him to do what he did: he introduced him to Naoto as his new pupil. "I cannot let her know you are her brother just yet." Johei explained. "It would not benefit either of us if she found out that I have been lying to her all along." He went with it, only being able to ask himself if he really was such a manipulative bastard as well. To make things worse, Johei refused to tell him his given name, for he was just as good with his current one.

"They also have food at specific hours… And Naoto doesn't go to school because she's being taught by Johei himself, so she still has classes; he said he'll give me some lessons too!" Minato whined, despite the fact that he was genuinely eager to be receiving lessons from one of the greatest detectives in history.

Johei, seeing that the boy seemed much more focused on the mobile phone than on his teachings about deduction, decided to confiscate it 'for the good of your education'…

* * *

><p>The slow summer days went by with no trace of a call by Minato. "Two days and he already forgot me, huh…?" She tried not to give up her hopes of hearing from him, but after the long sessions with Edogawa, she only looked forward receiving calls which never arrived. And so the flame of their love began extinguishing slowly, day after day… and with every day which passed, Hamuko felt more and more alone, still thriving for proof that Minato was out there, thinking of her as he promised. She also tried to call, once and again, and again, and again… to no avail…<p>

* * *

><p>"Johei-san, please, I really have to call her!" Minato demanded the old detective, while Naoto only watched the scene with a somewhat troubled expression. "She must be getting worried!"<p>

"She is a grown up who can most likely wait for your call until you learn some manners."

"No, you don't know her!"

"Minato-kun, cease your stupid behaviour, you are not that indispensable to anyone!"

"But—" He futilely tried to protest. "…Yes, sir…"

Naoto could only watch him walk away from the room.

* * *

><p>Time kept going, and so it was Friday, the last day of cram school. Hamuko only needed three days to jump to the conclusion that Minato wasn't going to call her again; he was probably too busy with his family, or he had found new friends, or another girl or... Well, good for him… She… She could do that too… She decided to take Akihiko's invitation to the Festival on Sunday… Hamuko didn't need Minato for anything, she could fill the hole he left with any boy, of course!<p>

* * *

><p>Minato was already depressed by Saturday. Alone except for the short talks with Naoto and the stern man who seemed to be acting so strictly on purpose, almost exaggeratedly. He could feel his powers weakening from the lack of contact with the others, but that wasn't what worried him the most…<p>

"Arisato-san, are you unhappy here?" Naoto asked that night, while they both were sharing some dinner alone, as her grandfather and Yakushiji, their butler, both left to attend a case.

"I… Yes, I am…" Minato sighed. "Of course I am, Naoto-kun." 'Kun' was the honorific Naoto was apparently most comfortable with...

"You… miss that girl, right?" She shot him an inquisitive, yet concerned look.

"We were going to go together to a festival tomorrow. See I… I couldn't take her to last month's festival, and I wanted to make up for that… I guess she'll just have to go with someone else, though…"

"…Why are you here?"

"…" He smiled sadly. "You're smart. You know it perfectly, don't you?"

"Of course I do. I knew who you were from the very first day…" She mimicked his expression. "…Our grandfather isn't usually like this… I… I never thought he'd underestimate my powers of deduction so much…" A sigh escaped Naoto's lips. "I became a detective to retrieve you..."

"N-Nao—"

"And I already achieved so." She chucked. "I know you're alive. That is enough for me. You have your life and your new family, which I, after ten years, have no right to take away from you; I only ever wished to know what had become of you. I never lost faith in your promise to come back..."

"…You're certainly something, Nao-chan."

"H-hey! Nobody is allowed to refer to me in such a derogatory way! Not even my family!"

"Haha… I wish… I'd have got the chance to spend more time with you… To see you grow into the magnificent detective you will become…"

Naoto lowered the brim of her cap. "You fulfilled your first promise. The ice cream was quite delicious. Vowing to meet again should suffice for me to forgive your absence."

Minato got up from his chair and embraced Naoto. "I'll miss you…"

"I'll miss you too, my brother…" She hugged him back. "If you tell anyone that you received an embrace from the Junior Detective, I'll track you down and shoot at you until you look like a strainer."

"Don't worry." He pulled away. "I'll tell them the Detective Prince did."

Naoto's eyes widened in surprise. However, she closed them and smiled leisurely, pretending that the new nickname hadn't actually made her quite happy. "I believe a train will leave tomorrow at ten A.M., destination: Iwatodai Station. You should arrive there around dusk… So, ah… rest well tonight."

"Thank you…" Minato smiled. He left the dishes on the sink of the kitchen so Yakushiji could wash them later, and then headed to the door.

"Kitaro." Naoto called all of a sudden. "I… wasn't sure whether grandfather had told you."

"Kitaro Shirogane…" The bluenet mumbled. "…I think I like Minato better."

* * *

><p>Sunday. A whole week. And still no trace from Minato… Hamuko had a great respect for the Junior Detective but… the little guy had totally failed in his prediction. Well… She'd better get getting her yukata ready and tell everyone what Minato was up to later…<p>

* * *

><p>"It took you long enough."<p>

Johei's deep voice was as startling as always. All the more when Minato was about to sneak out of the manor. "What do you mean…?"

"I knew you wouldn't escape your destiny. I was just speeding up the process." The cryptic old man smiled. "I will give you a lift to the station."

The journey in car was rather silent. "…How do you know about my destiny? That is beyond any detective's powers…"

"…Being the Chosen One is a recurring thing in our family… It's just that our circumstances are rather different…" He chuckled haughtily. "Naoto will have her role in history as well…"

"Ghost's word?"

"Grandfather intuition." The man reached into his pocket and handed Minato his mobile phone. "Do not call anyone just yet."

"Huh? Why?"

"Let's say that I'm… making you a favour."

* * *

><p>The Naganaki Shrine was truly beautiful, all set up for the festival. Orange lanterns lightened the walkways of the shrine, and the stands invited the visitors to test their luck in different games or try the delicious cuisine, making the usually calm place an hectic playground for a night were fireflies– and other less pretty insects, such as mosquitoes- danced without any pattern or preoccupation.<p>

"Don't get separated, there are a lot of people here…" Too bad the company wasn't the best one…

Hamuko liked her Senpai quite a lot, as she felt that, despite his awkward antics and somewhat violent ways with others, deep down the boy only wanted to protect her, but, it was something surprisingly… platonic; and he thought of her as a child, anyway. And that wasn't good when she had agreed to go with him only to try and mend up that feeling of inner despair she hadn't had in months… It was quite disturbing, how only a week had managed to do that to her… "It really is kinda crowded in here… Don't you want to go somewhere else…?"

"Hmm… Yeah, you're right! Let's go play Lucky Draw!" The boy held her hand and took her to the stand with the game. …He just didn't seem to have any interest whatsoever in her… Or maybe he was just immature like that…

"_C'mon Senpai, I'm wearing this to impress you_…" If Minato was there, he probably would have made a big deal of her wearing her pink yukata, and told her something like 'you aren't wearing the sash correctly' or something… But oh well. Hamuko took a look around, bored of seeing the silver haired boy getting mad at himself for not being able to pull something with a prize… She could see Mitsuru and Aigis in the distance, playing some other game. Aigis seemed to be delighted with all the new things she was learning… Farther off, she could see Fuuka and Yukari, praying for something in the offertory. Junpei was nowhere to be found… She sighed, bored out of her mind… But, just then, she saw a boy with blue highlights make his way into the crowd quite gracefully. He seemed to be looking for someone… "_What are the chances…_?" "S-senpai-"

Akihiko seemed completely infatuated with the little game… So much that he didn't notice Hamuko leaving his side, ready to follow her heart… okay, that sounded cheesy. She actually followed the blue head until the takoyaki stand… No one there. Another sigh escaped her lips; had she just imagined it? Oh well… At least now she had an excuse to try the takoyaki.

Hamuko walked off the lit path, afraid of getting food all over her yukata if she bumped into someone. She headed to the enormous tree by the shrine and sat on the fence…

"Good evening." A extremely familiar voice whispered in her ear while she was busy eating absentmindedly.

She almost choked when she heard that. "M-Mi… Mina…"

"Minato. Had you forgotten me already?" He grinned.

"W-What are you doing here? When did you come back...?" She yelled. "Shouldn't you be with—"

"I ditched them." A wide grin broke forth in his face. "I couldn't miss this festival..."

"B-But…! How… How the hell did you dare do that? They're your family! They-!" Her words were cut when Minato placed a finger over her lips.

"I realized I have a new family…" His voice grew softer. "They're still my family, but I have more important people… I have you… and everybody else…" He cupped her cheek and smiled. "But especially you…"

"Then why… didn't you take my calls, why didn't you call me… I… I missed you… so much…"

"Crazy detectives and their educational methods." His chuckles came to a halt when he felt something pressing into his chest, making him lose balance –that was Hamuko pounding him to the ground. "Hamuko…"

"I told you that I didn't want you to leave me…" She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, so she did both. "But… But…"

"I'm not going to leave you… ever…" Minato got up with some difficulty and helped the brunette up as well. "I'm here with you, alright…? I'm not going anywhere…" He soothed her for a little longer. "Now… Let's eat that takoyaki, shall we?"

They ate silently, even though they had a thousand questions about the previous days…

"You… are looking really good tonight… better than usual…" The boy commented, sounding rather impressed. "But you aren't wearing the collar properly."

"I um.." She put a dumpling in her mouth. "Thanks…"

"Oh, wait, you have a little something on—" His initial intention when he placed his thumb on her lower lip was to whip off the stain of mayonnaise, but instead his eyes got fixed in her mouth. He ran his thumb over them carefully as his gaze went up to meet hers. Cobalt and crimson clashed, in a battle for superiority which neither could win. And so, he waited for her to make the first step, not wanting to startle her, and let her come closer, shortening the distance, until there was nothing between their lips any more. It was oddly chaste. And it kind of fitted reaching level 6.

"I… wanna go slower this time…" She muttered while her lips continued caressing his, a bit more eagerly. "I'm not sure I… trust you already…"

"You're supposed to… let go when you say that…"

"I know…"

They kept reminiscing better times, until Akihiko finally began missing Hamuko…

They'd have time to talk another day.

* * *

><p><strong>Man what a cheesy chapter.<strong>


	53. Level up?

**Author note: Ah, feels good to update. And now inflate my ego—I mean, engross the TVTropes article, please :3 C'mon guys this fic is loaded with tropes. I'll draw a free commission for anyone that writes more than five valid new tropes in the article :U**

* * *

><p>The previous night had ended pretty hectically. For the -what, third time since he arrived to Iwatodai?- Minato had been caught in a rather… romantic attitude with Hamuko. And of course the tall silver head had his reasons to look mad like a bull –what if it was like the last time he'd interrupted them?- however, maybe he was a bit too mad. Not as in 'jealous boyfriend mad' but more like 'overprotective brother mad'.<p>

"You-!" Akihiko yelled, snapping Minato out of his thoughts. _Fuck_.

He sincerely wouldn't have expected the next part. "Leave my boyfriend alone!" That's the last thing he'd seen coming when Hamuko stood up in front of him. Maybe a scream, maybe a reprimand, maybe a 'go ahead and punch him'… but not being called her boyfriend. She'd called him a boyfriend. Whether it was to stop Akihiko or she really meant it… he wouldn't find out because Akihiko began telling him off for the irresponsibility of leaving for a week without previous notice and dragged him to the dorm saying that Mitsuru would have a word with him. Well uh… way to kill the mood.

* * *

><p>And so, after a long lecture the following day… "You should have told us yourself, much earlier, Arisato. What if we had decided to go to Tartarus and you hadn't been present?"<p>

"Yes, my apologies. It'll… never happen again…" Minato bowed once and again until Mitsuru finally walked away of his doorframe. He picked his laptop up and exited his room, closing the door with a sigh. He got to the end of the corridor right in time to being glomped by a cheerful brunette running down stairs. After the initial shock he sat up and ogled the girl crushing his ribs. "Well, hello there… Tackling me so early in the morning…?"

"I'm glad to see you, that's all." She giggled. "I mean, you know that thing of… 'Don't know what you got till it's gone?'"

"You've taken a liking for sayings, haven't you?"

"Maybe, but point is… I'm not gonna wait for you to be gone again to miss you…" A smile broke forth in her face. "So I'm gonna tackle you all I want… and more." She stuck her tongue out.

"Hamuko…"

"That being said…!" She linked her arm with his as they walked downstairs. "I'm gonna keep an eye on you _all the time_. You make a mistake; go a step back; just gimme a reason to think you're gonna do something like what happened last time, and we'll be done for." The cheerful smile in her face, contrasted her completely serious tune. "Got it?"

"Ah… yeah, of course…" Minato chuckled to himself. No matter the situation, the girl apparently always had some words to completely break the mood. Ah, well… "Hey, did you have breakfast yet?"

"No—oh look at that!" The brunette pointed at the screen of the laptop. "It seems Ms. Toriumi wants to play with yoooou…"

"No. No Hamuko, see this? This is not Miss Toriumi. It's some old guy in the internet. Who fell in love with me. Not Ms. Toriumi. Most definitely not her. Now I'm gonna play for five minutes, then have breakfast, and then go on with my life happily."

"Attention players, although we initially planned to allow 'Innocent Sin' to run indefinitely... recent feedback has shown that player participation is not adequate to continue. We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience this causes for active players. However, the servers will remain open until the official end date. We hope that you understand and that you enjoyed your time with 'Innocent Sin.' The Game Screen: Sincerely, -'Innocent Sin' staff."

"Ohohoh… I mean… Oh no… I'm gone for a week and this happens…" Minato smiled sheepishly at Hamuko.

"...U got that message from teh admins, rite tatsuya? T_T it said their cancelling innocent sin. ...think its for real?"

"_**Impossible**_!" Sarcasm overload.

"I know rite! how dare they! =/ i finally found a place to let out my frustation and now this!" Maya stepped closer to Tatsuya. "Tatsuya... do u think we'll still be able to see each other? T_T"

"Errrrrrr…"

Hamuko snatched Minato's laptop. "_But of course_."

"Yaaaay tatsu! ^_^ well defeat them together!" Maya jumped up victoriously.

"Give me that!" The bluenet stole his laptop back. "_Although… I don't think there's anything we can do…_"

"Tatsuya, sumtimes in life u have to stand up for urself. times like these." She nodded to herself. "Im gonna send them a log fo the convos we've been havin together here ^_^ if they knwo this game is important to us, maybe they'll reconsider =D"

"I don't think it works that wa—"

"Shush, let Ms. Toriumi dream."

"Even tho tatsuya's just some lonely kid and maya likes to b**ch too much... ;) that shouldn't matter!1 (to tell u the truth, i kinda hope ur a handsome guy tho...)"

"Auuuugh…"

"Don't worry, maya will protect u! we'll always be partners, k?"

"Alright, that's beautiful, she cares about me, level 9, good…" Minato let out a tired sigh.

"Alrite! i'm gonna go write my email w/ our convo log! ^_^ don't mess w/ maya & friends or u'll regret it! MwahAHaHhaHa! next time we'll celebrate our victory, k? bai!" And with that she signed off.

"Celebrate your victory, huh…?" Hamuko wiggled her eyebrows.

"No more level ten parties ever…" He hid his face in his hands while the girl just looked at him inquisitively. "L-let's just have some breakfast, shall we?"

* * *

><p>After a quick breakfast, the Fools headed out of home at Minato's request. Hamuko suggested going to Naganaki Shrine, to see if she could find Akinari. The sick boy wasn't there, but they managed to stumble upon something just as interesting…<p>

"You!" Someone yelled from inside the jungle gym. It was a familiar, childish voice… Kind of like…

"Maiko-chan!" Hamuko yelled as she got up from the bench. "W-what's with that bag?"

"It seems quite heavy…" Minato commented.

"You two forgot about me again! And my parents kept fighting and fighting!" Maiko pouted. "So I decided to skip cram school and finally run away today, but here you guys are!"

"Yeah, it's kinda sarcastic…"

"Ironic Hamuko, this is ironic." He sighed. "So are you sure you want to run away?"

"What he means is…" The brunette glared deadly at him. "That you can't do that…"

"Of course I can!" The little girl smiled victoriously. "I brought a lot of snacks, and my health insurance card!"

"Oh God." Hamuko took a hand to her forehead. "Maiko-chan, you—"

"But this place is too easy to find! I'll have to find somewhere else to hide…" She nodded to herself. "Well, either way, I'm going to try! If I hide very well, my parents will get worried and will have to look for me!" She seemed all fired up. "Well, I'll miss you two! If you find me, bring some Mad Bull, okay?"

Reaching level 6 made the Fools zone out enough time to let Maiko run away. Even though Hamuko managed to convince Minato to help her look for the girl, she was nowhere to be found in Iwatodai… As the evening came, they gave up and decided to come back, ready to resume their search the following day.

* * *

><p>"Don't worry…" Minato kissed her forehead. "That child will be fine…"<p>

"Hmm…" Hamuko sighed. "Yeah, she will…"

"Cool, so now we finally have time for ourselves…" After drastically changing the topic, Minato slumped on the sofa and patted it, inviting Hamuko to take a seat by his side. "You know what I want to talk about, right?"

"Yeah …" She bit her lower lip. "Look, that thing of boyfriend… it's um… Pre-empty-whatever." The girl nodded to herself. "I need to spend more time with you before I can really call you anything for sure… But uh… Since we're talking about this… err… now we're maybe kinda sometimes something… and summer is coming to an end and we'll hafta go back to school and…" Hamuko began trailing off. "…What do you think of others knowing about us?"

"…You can't imagine how much I missed you." The bluenet wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I missed you so much that I realized something… I don't give a damn about what others think anymore. I only want to be with you, so if you don't want to hide it when others are around… then we won't hide it."

"R-Really?" Her red eyes were glistening. However, her expression became rather serious as she spoke. "It's better they don't know."

"Huh?" He blinked in surprise.

Red tinted the female's cheeks as she looked up at Minato coyly. "I brought you enough problems last time, 'cos I didn't understand that the others would be mad if they saw me with you. I wanna be happy with you, but not if that brings us trouble... I guess we needn't hide it from everyone, but there's a couple Social Links, both yours and mine who are better off not knowing." She shrugged. "That being said, you seem to have killed my chances to get it on with Senpai and Junpei. You must be proud, man."

"No I didn't, you did…" A smile broke forth in Minato's face. He reached out for her face to put away a few strands of auburn hair. "You aren't the birdbrain I fell in love with..."

"The what-"

He decided to stop the incoming angry words, blocking her mouth with his own. "I didn't think it was possible, but I like you even more now."

"Honest, or you're just playing smooth talker?"

"I'm a honest smooth talker."

She cocked up an eyebrow. "Yanno... I kinda miss that emo prick who didn't know shit of kissing." She grinned devilishly, the corner of her lips perking up in a dangerous way. "Oh, wait, you still don't..."

"Objection…" Minato's hands travelled from her shoulders downwards while their gazes remained locked.

"Watch those hands, hon…" Despite these words, Hamuko couldn't prevent herself from smirking as he licked his lips seductively. She was being frank when she said she missed the old Minato; that guy who didn't start any romantic move without stuttering and blushing, now scared her, inspired few to no trust in her, and reminded her of previous bad experiences with him; however, she knew that deep down he was still the same asocial and perfectionist sap she'd met months prior. And she was still the same at the core, not the somewhat constant teenager she'd learnt to be, but just a crazy big girl. The real question was, how really dee- Oh look, Koro!

He claimed another kiss, way sultrier than the previous. He roughly sucked, almost bit, her lower lip while his hands settled on her hips, moving carefully not to startle her. That was really the last thing he wanted, kill the trust he earned through trying to become a nicer person. A good boy, as he'd called it. Funny, he had always been one of those, straight-laced and upright, look, don't touch, and overall don't become attached to anyone… and there he was now, an unwilling chick magnet, still yet to find what the hell made him act like that… but Hamuko had definitely been a horrible influence. However, hearing her moan at whatever he did always used to pay off for all that, and it still di—oh wait, she wasn't...

Minato moved his head back, concerned about the unexpected lack of response. "Sorry, d-did I scare you? Am I going too fast?"

"No, it's just… Koromaru..." The dog was staring at them with those big red eyes of him. It was a tad awkward, but... "We… shouldn't kiss in front of him."

"Why?" Minato couldn't help but ask. She had never had any problem or whatsoever trying to kiss him with people around.

"He's a Social Link of mine."

"A Social Link." Minato stared at her with a blank face. He eventually rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"I fed him some hyper frozen dog food I cooked ages ago and he's been your replacement since then." She giggled as she scratched the dog's head. "Ain't that so, Koro-chaaaan?"

"Arf!" The dog wagged its tail happily.

Minato looked at the dog. Then at Hamuko. The dog. Hamuko. "It's not even a 'he'. It's a DOG. It's a fucking dog, you can't tell me you have that kind of bond with a dog. That's just _**wrong**_."

Hamuko shot him an incensed glare. "If that's what you think of my friends, you can go bite yourself." With that, she grabbed Koromaru and walked out of the lounge.

"W-wait! I didn't really mean that! I-I was just surprised! That's all!" He got tired of yelling and slumped on the sofa. "_Cock-blocked by a dog. Yeah, okay, whatever, it's still better than getting interrupted by Junpei_." Minato released a tired sigh and walked into the kitchen, where Hamuko had last gone. She was staring at Koromaru as he scratched his ear with his hind leg.

"You have itches, Koro-chan?" She asked, concerned. "…Wait here, I'll go get Fuuka-chan!"

"Woof!" The dog perked up his ears as she walked upstairs. He then turned his head to Minato and barked.

"You did it on purpose." Minato's statement was answered with a pleading look. "Oh, come on, I look dumb enough talking to a dog about girls! Quit doing that puppy eyes thing! We all know you're really cute, you don't have to prove it!" He narrowed his eyes at the dog. "You're good. …Too good."

* * *

><p>"So you think he might have fleas?" Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows.<p>

"As a matter of fact, the inverse case would be the most correct way to put it." Aigis stated.

"…Was that a joke, Aigis?" She asked excitedly.

"Do you think she can joke?" Fuuka did that derpy cross-eyed expression she always did when she was confused. "Anyway, if he does have fleas, it'll probably be enough with brushing his fur and… Oh?" The teal haired girl halted, a surprised look on her face.

"Ahaha! Stop licking my face! No Koro—Pfft…! You're cute, but not that cute!" Minato kept yelling at the dog while he tried to sit up from the sofa where the canine had cornered him.

"Hamuko-san, help him." Aigis requested with her robotic voice. "Koromaru-san claims that Minato-san should not bite his new friends."

"Bite his new friends?" Fuuka asked confused.

"I believe he refers to—"

"Oh, Aigis, honey, it's a bit too late to translate dog-speak, you should go recharge your batteries..." The brunette laughed awkwardly as she pushed the robot away. "Koro-chan, stop that." The dog whimpered a bit as he walked back to Hamuko. "Awww, who's a good dog? You! Who's gonna get a nice fur brushing? You, yes, you!"

"Who's gonna take a shower to cleanse all this mutt drool? Me!" Minato stomped his way away from the lounge.

"Ignore that grumpy guy, you're a great, not drooly dog… " Hamuko tried to scratch Koromaru's belly, but he growled at her. "Huh…?"

"He doesn't seem to like that…" Fuuka's observation was followed by the boring Social Link voice informing of how the Strength Social Link had reached level 2. "Oh well, let's brush him!"

* * *

><p>The Fools were walking together around the Iwatodai Strip Mall the following day…<p>

"…So by that logic if I called Yukari a 'mutt' it wouldn't be an insult?" Hamuko sneered.

"Hamuko, stop calling Yukari things. She's got more things to call you back." Minato reprimanded her.

"I'd like to see her try." She snorted. "Well, actually not, I still have to make up with her or something…"

"I seriously wonder how you didn't manage to reverse or break it earlier." He sighed. He soon stopped walking and slumped on a bench. "Well, yet another day of no luck finding that girl…"

"We should bring Aigis or something. She'd probably use some kind of crazy Shadows radar to detect her if we brought her some kinda clue…" She pondered aloud, making Minato laugh.

"Hamuko, she's not a sleuth..."

"OOH! Reminds me…!" Hamuko ran to Minato's side. "So did you get the Junior Detective's contact info?"

"I did." Indeed, that was the little autograph Naoto had given him—the number of her mobile phone, and an order to call whenever he needed her. Minato knitted his eyebrows together, seeing that her eyes were gleaming with excitement at the thought. "I'm pretty sure you're not… his kind of person."

"But! But! Risette! And him! And you!" She whined nonsensically. "I mean c'mon, you're my boyfriend! Share the good stuff, man!"

"…You don't really get the concepts of 'boyfriend' and 'love' yet, do you?" He rose an eyebrow.

"Of course I do! A boyfriend's a guy who's your friend, and whom you love! And love is… that weird thing which tickles you pink, makes you sigh like you were completely bored when you're not and stirs your stomach worse than five extra big ramen bowls."

"…Are you sure you aren't mistaking indigestion for love?"

"Ha-ha." She laughed sarcastically. "Only for that, you're gonna hafta buy me something."

"And now you're mistaking boyfriend for credit card."

"Now, now, we both know that the only difference between those two is that I'd kiss one of them…" She winked at him. "Now seriously, you shoulda explain me what a boyfriend's supposed to do. But, first, credit card function!"

Fortunately for Minato, the only thing Hamuko wanted to buy was something new to read in Bookworms. He didn't say anything while she ran around the store trying to dig up some cheap manga, not to keen on having to spend yet another day looking for Maiko if he reminded her.

"So Minato-chan, did you hear the news? Lots of ex-students have gathered during the vacations to demand that the Persimmon Tree wasn't cut! One of the organizers came by earlier today and said 'Let's protect the tree together!' and he's got a lot of signatures! My dear son was so loved…"

"That's really great, Bunkichi-san!" Minato was genuinely happy about them. They had indeed gone a long way trying to protect the tree…

"And it's all thanks to you, Minato-chan! You're such a nice boy!"

"Ahaha… uh… yeah… about that-"

"Woooow, for real?" Hamuko didn't so much 'jump into the conversation' as 'almost crash against the till'. "That's awesome, Bunkichi-san! Oh! Oh! I bet they even took out those cartels saying it'd be cut down!" The brunette hopped happily while her boyfriend stared at her with a bemused expression. The power of insistence, as it seemed, actually had rewards. It also brought a very nice Hierophant level 8.

"We should go check it out." He suggested, a bit too cheerfully for his usual calmness. "I guess the school should be opened for those going to cram school."

"Neeeat! This means I get two hit two birds with one stone! Wait for me at the Station!" And with that, she ran off.

* * *

><p>"…Two birds with one stone?" Minato spoke calmly with Bunkichi while they waited for Hamuko. "I wonder what she was talking about…"<p>

"Ah, youth. I remember when my Mitsuko was that energetic." Bunkichi chuckled happily. "She used to always drag me here and there, making all the girls jealous, since I was quite popular."

"You know, I can kind of relate to that… Oh look, there she is… Wait, who's that-"

"Sorry for being late!" Hamuko excused herself as she reached the station. She smiled at Minato's shocked face.

"Our arrival was delayed because Hamuko-san had problems adjusting her winter uniform to my body shape." Aigis explained, unaware of the odd looks she was receiving from both males.

"Winter uniform? But, today is very hot—um, what was your name, dear?" The old man asked politely.

"I am Aigis, an anti-shad—"

"An American transfer student!" Minato quickly interrupted her, at the same time he glared at Hamuko.

"Yeah! That's why she speaks weird! S-So if she says anything bizarre, it's because she doesn't speak Japanese too well." She forced a smile while Minato pushed her into the train.

"What the hell, Hamuko? What is she doing here?"

"Oh, well, you see, she'd asked me several questions about school, and Ikutsuki-san said she was ready to go out, and…" Her words died as the bluenet's glare intensified. "…I wanted to see what happened if she met someone who didn't live in the dorm, okay? It's not just for my curiosity, it's for the benefit of science!"

The boy let out a tired sigh. "Okay, whatever, but you have to keep an eye on her the whole time, got it?"

"Yay, thanks!"

"So American, huh…?" Bunkichi asked with curiosity as he and the robot entered the wagon. "What zone are you from, A-e-guess-chan?"

"I was manufactured in Yakushima." The blonde robot explained calmly.

"Yakuahima? But aren't you Ameri—"

"S-She is American! Well, her parents are, but she was born in Japan!" Hamuko intervened. "Y-You know, like that one famous kung-fu fighter? Err… Lisa 'Ginko' dunno what?"

"Ooh, I see…" Bunkichi nodded to himself, fortunately oblivious to the fact that that didn't explain why she couldn't speak Japanese properly.

* * *

><p>When they arrived to Gekkoukan, the gate had already closed. However, Hamuko and Bunkichi had absolutely no reservations or whatsoever about jumping it to get in.<p>

"Is this not unlawful entry?" Aigis asked as she stared at Minato while he helped the old man to sneak in.

"It's not when it's for a good thing!"

"Hamuko, don't say that! Unlawful entry is never good!" Minato retorted. "We're doing it because… uh… we were allowed to do this, hence it's not unlawful entry."

"Then why are you not in possession of keys?"

"Err… Because… Oh Aigis, don't you want to see a really pretty tree?" Hamuko ran across the gardens of the school, looking for the gym.

There it was, the persimmon tree, growing solemnly in its place as usual. Bunkichi and Hamuko were really happy to see that they had indeed removed the warning signs, and even Minato seemed rather glad. Aigis couldn't understand the beauty of the moment, comprehensively, but her words cheered them up, nonetheless. "This tree seems about to bear fruit."

And so, with the promise of seeing the persimmon tree grow even more, visiting school another time –opened, preferably- and after Bunkichi had told his son how beloved he was, they parted ways –Bunkichi decided to go back to his house, whereas the Fools and their robot headed to Paulownia, as it was already time for Hamuko to attend her job.

* * *

><p>"Aaalright, two chocolates!" Hamuko left the cups on the table and then held the tray against her chest with a smile. "Enjoy it! Oh, and Aigis, don't forget that you hafta brush your teeth once you get back home to keep them clean, or you'll get caries!"<p>

"I do not suffer from that kind of human afflictions, Hamuko-san."

"Brush them anyway." Hamuko huffed and left to go on with her job.

Minato chuckled as he drank his cup, seeing that Aigis looked rather dumbfounded. "I do not understand why Hamuko-san behaves in such a way. I am the one supposed to protect both of you, so obviously I am capable to protect myself and determine when I need maintenance."

"I don't know either." He shrugged. "I guess that she just really likes you, but I'll ask her some other time."

They continued drinking calmly, albeit Minato was a bit worried about Aigis's capability to ingest drinks. She explained that she was given a pyrolysis system which allowed her to imitate human eating habits without having to worry about the food remains getting stuck in any mechanical parts. …Nice.

"Oooh heeey!" That voice. Oh God. "What's a boy like you doing with a girl like her…?"

"U-Usagi-san, was it?" Minato asked while the waitress smiled knowingly at him. "J-Just having some chocolate with a friend."

"Chocolate? Aww, a good looking young boy shouldn't have chocolate… or at least not in a cup…" Mimi chuckled haughtily. "Ah, just kidding…" That was not what her tune said. "So how's the chocolate, hm?"

"My gustative sensors indicate that it has got a worrying amount of sugar." Aigis stated dryly.

"Huh?" Mimi's chuckles turned into loud laughs. "Oh my gosh, where did you get this girl? Ahaha…!"

"A-America…" The bluenet hid his face with the cup of chocolate.

"American? Oooooh that's so cool! And she's really cute, too!" The waitress seemed euphoric. "Oh! Would you be interested in getting a job here, dear? An American maid would attract lots of consumers! Or you could cook something American in the kitchen! Kokku-san would love that! Or-"

Mimi's offerings came to an end when Hamuko dragged her away. Knowing that there were crazier people than her always reassured Minato…

And so the day came to an end… not without a previous scolding from Mitsuru after the robot informed her of that day's activities, and her wish to go back to school to inspect it better.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter is kinda like 'this happened' and then 'this happened' and then people did shit. Aka I don't think anything really happens.<strong>


	54. Visit to the shrine

**Author note: where all the reviewers in this town, what's a girl supposeeeed to do~ Did they all run off when they knew, that I was writing 'round, wri- I mean hi guys enjoy the chapter, even though it almost seems like I give dull titles on purpose.  
><strong>

**And double thanks to Evilshroom for betaing and writing the battle scene 8D**

* * *

><p>"Yo Minato!" It had been quite a while since he had last heard that voice.<p>

"Oh… hey Kenji." And he really didn't want to keep a conversation with him, even if it was by phone.

"Hey, since we haven't hanged out together in a lot of time... I was thinking that we could go to the movies marathon and then go have some ramen later. Junpei and Kazushi are coming too!" Kenji's voice sounded as stupidly cheerful as ever. "C'mon man! Ramen and cinema day, only the guys! You in?"

"Uuh…" Hanging out with a guy he couldn't become any closer nor more distant to, another who still looked at him weird from time to time and Kazushi, who was only a level away from joining the first… Yeah right. He needed some excuse…

"Hey man." Hamuko tugged at his free arm. "You ready for looking for Maiko-chan?"

Ugh. Difficult decision. Oh well, better go with the one which would grant him some time alone with a girl. And also he was kind of worried about Maiko. "I've got things to do." He hung up and turned to Hamuko. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"…So, you see, Hamuko, there's some kind of… hierarchy in relationships. First, you have friends. Close friends are people you have some affection towards."<p>

"What kind of affection?"

"Almost fraternal affection. It means you think of them as family."

"I know what fraternal affection is, thank you." Hamuko mumbled.

"Good, next level is 'friends with benefits'. It's a step further than friends, and a step below boyfriends."

"So what's the difference between those kinds of friends?" She inquired.

"You wouldn't do the first kind."

"I wouldn't?"

"…You shouldn't." Minato cleared his throat. "So yeah, basically, there's nothing other than physical attraction for those, not love."

"But I love my friends. All of them." Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows. "Just, not in the same way I love you. They don't make me feel all weird."

"As I said, affection and attraction are two different things, whereas love is some sort of mix between both. Apparently, you are unable to tell them apart, and that means…" He pursed his lips and then looked at her with a weird expression. "…I don't even want to know what it means."

"…?" Before Hamuko could get to ask what was wrong with him all of a sudden, something caught their attention. It was a cartel with Maiko's photo- a middle aged couple was posting them all over the strip mall. Apparently, they noticed that Minato and Hamuko were staring at them.

"Hey, you!" A brown haired woman wearing a beige dress and heavy make up ran towards them. "H-have you seen a little girl? S-she's in elementary school and she hasn't been home in two days a-and..." She spoke quickly and stuttered a lot, so a tall black haired man in formal attire, whom Minato guessed was her husband, stepped in front of her, rubbing his temples like he had a headache.

"Stop assaulting everyone and calm down, dammit!" He shouted.

"Calm down? Calm down?" She seemed hysterical. "She's been gone for two days! What if something happened to her?"

"It's your fault for forcing her to study non-stop! I'm surprised she didn't run away earlier!" The man raised his voice even more. "We already warned the police, what else do you want to do? This is ridiculous!" He then turned to the Fools, a hint of recognition in his eyes. "You're Minato and Hamuko, right? ...I heard about you from Maiko. She used to talk about how she skipped piano classes to hang out with you two…"

"This is the first I've heard of it!" The woman yelled in shock. "What the hell did you do to my daughter? Where are you keeping her, monsters!"

"What the hell? We'd never do anything to Maiko-chan!" Hamuko yelled back. "We've been looking for her since she told us she ran away!"

"S-She told you that personally?" Maiko's father blinked in surprise. "She… She left us a note…"

"She's never done anything like this before!"

"It's your fault! If you two hadn't treated her like you did this wouldn't have happened!" The brunette growled.

"Wh- ...You don't know anything!" Maiko's mum seemed about to cry. "Why, Maiko...?"

"_Hamuko, let me handle this_." Minato whispered to the incensed girl, wrapping an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. "We achieve nothing arguing here. Let's look for her."

"Y-Yes, you're right…" The man sighed. "If you have any idea where she is, I'm begging you to tell us."

"Let's see, um… She had a lot of snacks, but she probably ran out of them by now, so she could be trying to buy some more. Let's see… She asked us for a mad bull if we tried to find her…"

"…Hey, didn't she ask for the same when we met her?"

"Yeah, she asked for that and…" His eyes lit up. "Takoyaki! She must be hiding somewhere around Octopia!"

"That takoyaki stand? It's worth the shot, let's go!" The group ran to the east zone of the Strip Mall, where Octopia was located.

"Aw, 400 yens for one package?" Maiko pouted as she looked at the dumplings.

"There you are!" Maiko's mum ran towards her.

"Mom! Dad!" The little girl shouted in surprise. "Oh... you came too? Well I... Um... I..."

"Are you okay, darling? Are you hurt? What happened...?" Her mother asked while tears rolled down her eyes. "Where have you been?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay... I've been sleeping at Erika's…"

"Oh, what a relief..." She sighed, and right after she gritted her teeth in anger. "How dare you run away from home! Do you have any idea how worried I was? You almost gave me a heart attack, young lady!"

"Geez, calm down! Can't you tell she's scared?" Maiko's dad tried to calm her down.

"Y-You guys made me worry too! I was so scared... You said you were getting a divorce, and I didn't know what to do! I don't want you to get divorced because of me...!" Maiko sobbed and then began wailing disconsolately.

"Oh, so that's what this is all about..." The man glanced away. "We're really sorry, Maiko. Why don't we go home and talk about this?" He looked at the Fools. "I'm not sure what to say... Thank you for your help…"

"Y-Yeah, thanks…" Maiko sniffed, trying to hold back her tears, but she flashed them a little smile. With that, the Hanged Man Social Link reached level 7… "...Bye."

They saw the family off, probably to Paulownia, to call off Maiko's disappearance… Minato was about to suggest going on with the walk, now unworried, but, when he turned to Hamuko, he was greeted by the sweetest expression he'd ever seen her with. There was a hint of nostalgia in her smile, though.

"What is it?" Minato finally dared ask.

"Happy families… they always make me kinda…" She mumbled something between chuckles.

"Huh?"

Hamuko puffed up her cheeks and glanced away, a tad blushed. "I said that I… I wanna have a family too…"

"You want a family…?" The boy was genuinely surprised to hear her say that. …Hamuko didn't seem the kind to… Well, there was probably a lot about her he didn't know, and vice versa, but…

"One day. With a guy who doesn't make me feel alone." She breathed. "Someone like you."

"You and me… having a family?" And she was the one who wanted to go slow…

"But you already have one. And you left them." She made a 'hmph' sound. "That tells a lot of you as a father."

Minato blinked in surprise. "I left them for **you**."

"Same thing, you left them." She turned away from Minato. Barely three seconds later she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, disregarding the fact that they were in such a public place. "…And I feel horrible for being so glad you did. I shouldn't be able to trust you yet, yanno?"

"You… trust me now?"

"Well… You think I'd kiss a guy I didn't trust?" Hamuko put her index finger over his parted lips. "_**Don't**_ answer that." Her lips replaced the digit.

"Ooooh, so that's what you meant when you said you had things to do!"

"Was that a kiss with tongue?"

"Get a room, guys!"

Minato sighed as Hamuko let him go. "What are you doing here, guys?"

"Tsk, tsk, ditching us to hang out with your girlfriend…" Kenji shook his head disapprovingly.

"Girlfriend…" Hamuko echoed. Minato hadn't actually explained her which was the main difference between friends and that. She'd have to remember to ask later. "So does that mean you ditched Rio to go with the guys, Kenji-kun?" She smirked. "Sausage fest much?"

"W-WHAT? IT'S NOTHING LIKE THAT!" The brunet yelled. "I didn't have any plans with Rio, that's why I'm hanging out with these single losers!"

"Who you callin' a loser, you henpecked moron?" Junpei growled. "I coulda been doing something interesting instead of watching a stupid movie about sports!"

"Hey, it wasn't stupid!" Kazushi frowned. "And I could be in rehabilitation or hanging out with Yuko right now, guys!"

"So you're finally going to rehab?" Minato smiled.

"So you and Yuko are closer now?" Hamuko queried with more interested than she intended.

"So I'm the only one without a girl?" The boy in the cap gaped. His expression became all gloomy. "Guys I… don't feel like ramen anymore…"

"Yeah, me neither…" Kazushi and Junpei walked away.

"H-hey, wait guys! …Good job, dude." Kenji glared at Hamuko.

"Sorry…" The brunette cast her eyes down.

"She didn't do it on purpose." Minato glared back at him. Kenji just shook his head and then continued his path to Hagakure. Hamuko just hung her head low all the way to the dorm. Well, she and Junpei agreed to use their frustrations for something useful: Tartarus!

* * *

><p>The exploration went smooth as usual, even more so since both Fools made a quick stop at the Velvet Room to get a handful of new Personae and a rather… insistent request to hang out the following day. Babysitting, <em><strong>yay<strong>_. And so, they continued their exploration through Yabbashah... until they reached the ninety-eight floor, where the next Guardian awaited them...

* * *

><p>"Magical Magus?" Hamuko asked with a raised eyebrow.<p>

"That appears to be the name I'm reading from them, Hamuko-chan," Fuuka affirmed.

"But that's... that's so stupid! It's redone!"

"Redundant," Minato corrected automatically.

"That!" she agreed, incensed. "Ooh, we're the _Magical Magi!_ Have you met our brothers, the Towering Towers? Let me introduce you to our cousin, the Slicing Sword!"

"Hamuko..."

Any efforts to calm her down were for naught, as she stomped off toward the three guardians, who had been regarding her behind inscrutable masks the entire time.

"I swear, even if they _weren't_ in the way, I'd still beat them up, just for having such stupid names!"

"Hamuko-chan, be careful! I sense that their magic attacks are on the same level as the Intrepid Knight's!" Fuuka warned.

"Really?" she said sarcastically. "The _Magical Magi_ have strong _magic_? Well, I guess I can't expect creativity from Shadows with that n-"

She was cut off rather abruptly by the impact of three separate Bufudyne attacks. With a cry of alarm, Minato, Junpei, and Koromaru leapt into the fray.

"Try physical attacks!" Minato shouted, summoning Cu Chulainn for a Torrent Shot. Junpei attempted a Kill Rush on another, while Koromaru lashed out with his knife, darting around the slower moving Shadow. None of the attacks had much effect.

"Damn," Minato swore. "Fuuka, are you getting a reading on these guys?" he asked without much hope. The guardians were notoriously difficult to find weaknesses on.

"No, but they seem to be resistant to all forms of physical attack!" she reported.

"Maybe we ought to try elementals?" Hamuko offered from beside him.

"Looks like our only choi- wait, Hamuko?" He jumped in surprise. "Didn't you..."

"I had Sarasvati on before I went in. Lucky, huh?" she said cheerfully.

"Yeah. Be careful, will you? Alright, Cu Chulainn!" he roared, bringing the Celtic hero out for a powerful Mazionga on the Magi, who were distracted with Koromaru's flashing speed and attacks. That drew their attention away from the dog's fierce, if somewhat ineffectual attacks. One in particular focused its attention on Minato.

He braced himself for the incoming Bufudyne when...

"Hermes!"

A powerful blast of fire knocked the Magus to the ground. Surprised, Minato turned to look at Junpei, who offered him a grin. Minato grinned right back.

"Well, alright then. Koromaru, Junpei, they're weak to fire! Hit them with everything you've got!"

Unfortunately, the Magi seemed to have caught on to their tactic. Koromaru's next blast of fire rebounded off the targeted Magus and singed his fur.

"Koro-chan!" Hamuko cried out. "Minato, that one in the back is casting some kind of shield spell!"

"That Makarakarn is only good for one attack," Fuuka informed. "If you can get it to wear off, and then do a follow-up attack quickly afterward, before another Magus can recast it, you can knock them down."

"Ooh, my time to shine!" Hamuko chirped happily, as her eyes shifted slightly, indicating a shift in Persona. "I'll just use Sati here to take down the shields, since she's not hurt by fire, then Ju-"

She was cut off... again... by a Bufudyne, this time sending her sprawling to the floor. After a quick once over to make sure she would be alright, Minato sighed and switched his own Persona, narrowly avoiding a Bufudyne that would have done the same to him.

With a pull of the Evoker's trigger, and a cry of "Orthrus!", the weak fire spell he slung at the Magi was rebounded back at him, to no effect. Hamuko staggered to her feet, and saw the Magi unprotected.

"I really, _really_ hate these things. I hate their spells! I hate their shields! I hate their names! And I _hate_," she said, ducking a Bufudyne, "how they keep on cutting me off! Junpei-kun! Koro-chan! **Kill them with fire! Sati!**"

Little remained of the redundantly-named Shadows after that. After the battle, they walked back to the dorm, Hamuko in a much better mood.

* * *

><p>"Junpei really gave it all in Tartarus, but he's been kinda gloomy since yesterday…" Hamuko commented as they walked out of the dorm. "I guess he feels lonely…"<p>

"You should hang out with him once we're done with the date…"

"Huh? But aren't we gonna go to the cinema afterward?"

"What?" Minato looked at her wide-eyed.

"It's… kinda like a tradition by now." She beamed at him. "Also there's this one adventures film set in Sumaru City which I've been meaning to watch for a while…"

"'Watch' meaning 'have some popcorn and enjoy the film', or 'watch' as in, 'have some popcorn and enjoy each others' company'?"

"Huh… Yanno, going to the cinema only to make out sounds pretty dumb to me now..."

"Yeah, we can go watch the film and make out later." He pressed his lips together. "Unless that's going too fast."

"French kisses four days after making up? It actually sounds rather slow to me." She shrugged. Well… "Also… We've kissed like that before. I don't know why you'd have any doubts about doing that again…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that... being mad for a while doesn't erase the fact you've done it before. So it's like you never stopped doing it, and if you never stopped doing it you shouldn't be worried about starting to do it again." Hamuko shot him a troubled glance, seeing that the boy looked even more confused. "I mean that I'm fine with anything we used to do, for as long as you ask nicely."

"That's... good… but… incredibly stupid. You can't pretend you trust me that much." Or, she was empiric to the extreme. "Who the hell taught you about relationships, Hamuko?"

Minato caught a glimpse of a flinch as she glanced away, completely ignoring his question.

* * *

><p>"So this is a shrine..." Theo looked at the offertory while Elisabeth wandered around, examining every single item she stumbled upon.<p>

"It's very similar to a temple!" She stated enthusiastically.

"I see... I'm sensing mysterious presences here... They're different from the Shadows."

"Oh, you sense them too?" The female in blue asked to her brother.

"Indeed, there's one right behind Hamuko-sama..."

"PHAROS?" Hamuko spun around to see what was behind her, and fell in Minato's arms. "N-No Pharos?"

"They were kidding." Minato glanced at the Velvet Room assistants. "I think."

"The first order of business is to worship at the shrine, correct?"

"Do you remember how to do so, Theo?"

"Of course I do, sister!" He pouted. "See? I even brought my own wallet!"

"That's my Theo!" After this exchange, both began dumping an uncountable amount of coins into the offertory box… So many, in fact, that they were oozing from it! Hamuko's eyes were gleaming.

"You're not going to steal from a shrine." Minato frowned.

"It's not stealing if it's not inside the offertory box!" She exclaimed. "C'mon man, we have to give back six hundred thousand yen!"

"No." His glare sufficed to make her give up.

"I have finally finished presenting my offer…" Elisabeth stared at her empty purse.

"It is traditional to wish for something, sister!" Theo stated excitedly. "You just have to swing the rope and call out your wish!"

"Is that so…? Then, a fountain spirit resides here, as well? Well then, even though we don't usually reside in this world, let's bring upon ourselves some 'divine grace'…" And with that, both assistants began swinging the rope. Then they exchanged troubled glances. "So what should we ask for?"

"I do not know… But it would be improper not to call out a wish..." The blonde in blue looked at the Fools. "Ah, of course. I'll wish for your safety, Hamuko-sama!"

"I prefer you wished for my monetary fortune." She mumbled under her breath.

"Should I do the same for Minato-sama…? No, Minato-sama doesn't need divine protection, I shall make sure he is fine personally…"

"I wish that my dear friend remains..." Theo's words stopped when he noticed that they were being looked at. "W-Would you perhaps mind... not listening? It's odd, I admit, but for some reason I don't feel comfortable knowing that you're listening..."

"Aw, Theo, don't be so shy. Hamuko-sama will be happy to know that you care about her welfare."

"Do you think so, sister?" With that, he began whispering his wish. "Everything will be all right now. You'll be protected for all eternity." He smiled. "Do you intend to pray for anything?"

"Um…" She turned to Minato. "What about I pray for safety and you pray for money?"

"I've got better things to pray for than that!"

"Oh really? Like?"

"Well, I could pray for… having good luck in love." He smiled flirtatiously.

"You're already lucky at that. In any case I should be the one praying." She snuck her tongue out at him.

They began praying silently, who knows for what.

"...It isn't mandatory to call out one's wish?" Theo asked, surprised, as the Fools stopped their prayers. "If that's so, then why didn't you... Well, never mind."

"So have you been granted with 'divine grace'?" Elisabeth queried.

"We can check out the fortunes to find out…" Hamuko suggested. She walked left of the offertory. "Here."

"Ooh! Paper fortunes!" The girl with platinum hair exclaimed.

"What are those, sister?"

"It's a game where people entrust their destiny to a slip of paper, and exult in the risk!" She examined the strips of paper. "I see, there are many possible destinies written on them… We have to try this, Theo!"

"I-I don't know.."

Elisabeth puffed up her cheeks. "Well then, wait while I work on obtaining all of them."

"That's not how you—eh, whatever." Minato scratched the back of his head. Why try, huh?

"Oh, hey guys!" A childish voice claimed.

"Maiko-chan!" Hamuko ran towards her, leaving the assistants with Minato. "How did it go yesterday?"

"Well… They talked to me about why they were getting divorced. I was sad, but I listened to what they said." She looked at Hamuko shyly. "...Did I do good?"

"You listened to them like a grown up, good job!" The older brunette congratulated her. "So, what happened?"

"So, Mom and Dad... They said when there's no love, it's hard to still be married." She sighed. "...They said not to worry, because they would always love me. ...I told them that they're still not allowed to get divorced. Even if you don't have love... you still have to try!"

"I see…" Hamuko nodded to herself. Love keeps people together…

"Hey, so... I have to choose whether I want to live with Mom or Dad... But I can't choose that! You decide for me, okay?" Maiko beamed.

"Hmm… Well, if you hafta choose… your dad seems a pretty cool guy…"

"We can't choose that for you, Maiko-chan." Minato's voice startled Hamuko.

"But I really don't know!" She released a big sigh.

"Who seems sadder?" Hamuko's question made Minato glare at her.

"Mum… has been crying a lot lately…" Maiko adopted a thoughtful stance. "Mom might move somewhere far away, so if I went with her... I couldn't play with you anymore! ...That would be bad. I'd miss you too much."

"Maiko-chan…" With that, the Hanged Man Social Link reached level 8. "We'd… miss you a lot too…"

"Hey, it's time I get home… Or mum will get mad for skipping piano classes." Maiko chuckled sadly. "Will you… hold my hand on the way home?"

Hamuko quickly grabbed Maiko's hand, but then she turned to Minato. "Will those two be alright?"

Minato glanced at the Velvet Room assistants. Elisabeth seemed to be trapped in the jungle gym, and Theo was hiding under the slide. "They will be fine." With that, he took Maiko's free hand and together they walked her home, looking like a family...

By the time they were back, both Elisabeth and Theo were trying to keep their balance on the horizontal bar, for some reason beyond their comprehension. And then Theo fell down.

"Hah! I won the battle for endurance!" Elisabeth yelled proudly. …Yeah.

"See? I told you they'd be fine."

Eventually, they decided to leave and head to Paulownia, while the assistants seemed busy discussing something about feelings. Once in the Velvet Room, they were given something called 'Book of Ancients' which would allow them to fuse Thoth.

* * *

><p>There was some dense silence between the Fools as they headed to the cinema, and it didn't get better when they arrived there. There hadn't been any kind of argument, but, Hamuko seemed really distant and thoughtful since they'd left Maiko.<p>

"Hey, the film's about to start."

"Huh?" Hamuko snapped out of her thoughts. "O-oh yeah, the film…"

The film started awesome… And with every minute it turned more awesomely ridiculous. "_Mayans in Japan, why not_?" He whispered between chuckles. "_You look kind of bored…_"

"_I think it's the first time ever I've come to a cinema to actually watch a film_." Indeed. She'd gone other times to make fun of Minato and bond with diverse people... But not to specifically pay attention to the film. It was boring. "_Hey, what about you… wrap your arms around me…?_"

Minato did as asked, and immediately she leaned on the armrest, staring at him expectantly. "_Are you sure you want to do this_?"

"_Yes. We're going slow, right_?"

"…_Do you even know what going slow means?_"

She blinked. "…_Not… going fast_?"

"_I need to have a talk with you._" And so they left the cinema while the film was still going -anyway, they had missed two minutes of that film, so they couldn't understand it any more. "Let's see, Hamuko, what's going slow for you?"

"Err…"

"Let's try a different approach." He sighed. "How fast are your relationships?"

"Um… I guess that like what we had back then… but… much faster. Say… a week instead of a month."

"…" Minato nodded slowly. Maybe he was getting to things he didn't want to know about. "…Why?"

"Because, that's the normal thing, right?" Dense silence. "Right?"

"Not… quite." The bluenet knit his eyebrows together. "Who told you that?"

"…" Hamuko looked down. "What's a boyfriend supposed to do?"

"Huh?"

"You never told me what makes a boyfriend different from a friend."

"Changing the subject…? Well... Your partner is supposed to be someone you love and who loves you back. Not just physical or intellectual romance, there must be some kind of link… The perfect partner would do anything for you, and know you'd do anything for them, asking only in return some loyalty. I think." Yeah, Minato wasn't precisely the most experienced guy in relationships.

"…Really?" Silence took over again, during which they saw Junpei trying to hit on a red haired girl with a white gothic Lolita dress, sketching something. "…I don't even remember his name."

"Whose name?"

"My first boyfriend's." She pressed her lips together and inhaled deeply. "… I said that I was feeling alone, he answered he could help; I asked how, he told me when." She snorted at the accidental rhyme. "He said that it was fine even though we'd been only dating for a few days. Then, he got mad when I told him I still felt alone and called me a slut when I decided to look for someone else. Rinse and repeat with every boy after him… until you." She looked at Minato. "You… you are different from the others… that's what I wanna think." Both teens grimaced at that last part.

"God…" Minato held her strongly against himself. "No wonder you are as messed up as you are…"

"Says _**you**_?" She grumbled as he rested his chin on her head, but soon she gave in to the warmth of his embrace. Too warm indeed. Way too warm. "Hon, it's blazing hot here under the sun…"

"Want me to let you go…?"

"No… Let's just… hug somewhere else…" They got up and headed to the station, hands on each others' waists. "So uh… How was yours?"

"Mine…?" He arched his eyebrows.

"Yanno what I'm talking 'bout." Hamuko smirked. "You keep asking things about me, but I too wanna know everything about you, including that."

"Ah, well, uh… I-I don't know, I haven't had any other… occasions to judge… Ask Yuko… Better yet, don't…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I… didn't enjoy it, if that's what you're asking…"

"Say whaaat?" She rose her eyebrows up.

"I was thinking of you the whole time, how could I?" The girl in his arms got quite rigid. His eyes widened as he realized what he had just implied. "W-WAIT, NO, I DIDN'T ME-" Too late, the girl had already left, shaking her head disapprovingly.

…At least Hamuko had a fun night playing catch with Koromaru –quite a good way to get Strength level 3- and giving Minato glares which could almost rival with Mitsuru's.

And so the night went on…

* * *

><p><strong>Now you'll be left wondering just how creepy can Minato really be. Cue evil laughter.<strong>


	55. Parting ways

**Author note: guys, you know I hate being a reviews whore, but you're kind of upsetting me. The amount of updates is directly proportional to the number of reviews. 0 reviews, 0 updates, dearies ]:/**

**Anyway, I came here with an offer you won't be able to reject. I'm putting up a new poll for a Christmas gift for you all: you get to choose one of the following extra chapters: **

**a) A non-canon Christmas episode, which would be like a lot of WAFF sprinkled with… Japanese Christmas-y stuff, if you know what I mean. **

**b) Some kind of hilarious UFO ending, completely non-cannon.**

**c) The Shirakawa Boulevard Ship Tease version I intended to write before changing it to the actual one… Don't worry, this one doesn't have anything non-consensual. If you know what I mean, again.**

* * *

><p>Friday, 21st of August… The summer vacations were slowly coming to an end… But there were more interesting things than that happening at the moment…<p>

"Hamuko, hey, open up… Come on, I'll let you play Innocent Sin Online… I'll let you talk to Maya!" Minato insistently knocked on her door, trying to prompt an answer from the girl behind it, to no avail. "Don't be like that… You just misunderstood what I said!" …No answer. "If you don't say something, I'll… barge in! …Well, it wouldn't be barging in since the door is actually unlocked, but you get the idea." … "Three, two, one…" He pushed down the handle of the door, and opened it a bit. He fully pushed it opened seeing that there was still no response.

Minato stood at the doorframe, an amused smile decorating his face; apparently his- most likely still peeved- girlfriend wasn't neglecting to answer on purpose. He found her sprawled all over her bed, her trademark bushy ponytail was gone, letting her auburn hair tumble off her shoulders. Her long wavy hair almost completely hid _**his**_ blue pajama shirt, as it appeared to have been accidentally rolled up by the friction with the mattress, leaving really little to the imagination. However, he was surprisingly more attracted by his shirt than her lingerie, as she seemed to have developed quite a liking towards it… So much that he was yet to decide if hearing an explanation along the lines of '_it's because it has your scent_' would be creepy or incredibly arousing. Probably the later, if it was she who said that.

Before his mind began wandering into exponentially less innocent matters as he finally took note of her dressing situation, his cobalt eyes detected a grey item in Hamuko's arms. Koromaru. And the dog seemed to acknowledge his presence as well; nonetheless, he was just staring at him with sleepy red eyes, either realizing that he needn't bark at the boy, or being plain too tired from playing catch all night with Hamuko to do so. This allowed Minato to realize that he'd never even thought about where Koromaru slept before…

In any case, 'fascinating' as the scene was, the bluenet couldn't avoid feeling a tad bothered by the fact that it wasn't him in the bed with her. He could easily disguise this feeling later by simply teasing her about 'sleeping with a dog', but… disregarding what happened in Shirakawa, to which he was still trying to find an explanation, he was still only a boy wanting to go a step further with a girl who'd manage to destroy his wish to be alone completely, amen of a few neurons lost by love's thought-overshadowing action. Then, he shouldn't feel so bad thinking of her that way… she'd forgiven him, right…? So… Maybe he could wake her up with a kiss or something. Couples do that… and they were a couple or something now, no matter what Koromaru opined.

"Minato-kun?"

There were not enough swearwords in the dictionary to describe what Minato felt when he turned around, only to find Yukari behind him, a disbelieving eyebrow almost meeting her hairline, wrinkling her usually perfect skin. _**Oh crap**_; we'll use that to define being caught- by a person who obviously liked him, as he'd observed by the glances she'd given him the few times they'd seen each other at the dorm during the vacations- leaning in towards a sleeping girl and her dog with the intention of stealing a kiss.

"What the hell are you…?"

"I… e-eh…" Minato stammered. He _**rarely**_ stammered. For once in his life, he didn't have an excuse ready to explain the situation.

"Huh…?" The sound of crumpling blankets behind him only managed to make the situation even worse. Hamuko looked in his direction, rubbing her eyes lazily. "Minato…?"

Alright, that was it, he'd made a big goof, and Hamuko would think the wrong thing, and Yukari would do so too, he'd have to respond to Mitsuru's endless interrogations, Hamuko would tell them what happened at Shirakawa, Akihiko would beat him to a pulp, and he'd lose any chance he'd ever had to get in her p—to regain her trust.

And then Signs of Love began blaring all over the room.

Hamuko reached out for her mobile phone. "…Yeah? Oh, Theo…" She yawned. "You want us to go to the cinema together…? Sure, I'll tell Minato…" She hung up and stared at both teens in her room, now fully awake. "What are you two doing in my room?"

"That's what I wanted to know." Yukari retorted, looking expectantly at Minato.

"Ah, well, y-you see…" Minato's mind was working at full speed. "Elisabeth called me, asking if you wanted to go to the cinema!" He lied. "That's why I came here… to tell you!" If Koromaru teeth-baring was anything to go by, he could probably thank the fact Hamuko couldn't speak doggish– and convince Aigis not to translate anything for a while.

"Couldn't you have like… waited for me to get up or something? Oh well…" She sighed. "What's your excuse, Yukari?"

"_**What**_? …Why do I even bother…?" Yukari seemed quite… whatever she was, it looked like a mix of surprise and annoyance to see that Hamuko didn't have any problems with him being in her room. However, she refrained from commenting on it, mumbling something under her breath instead. "…So who are these 'Theo' and 'Elisabeth' you guys are talking about?"

"Uhh…" The red eyed girl looked at Koromaru, who in turn tilted his head in confusion. "They're… Bebe's… cousins."

"Bebe? The foreign guy?" She blinked, maybe a bit surprised at the fact that she hanged out with him.

"They, uh, came to visit, and we're showing them the city." Minato continued Hamuko's excuse. "So yeah, we'd better not make them wait…"

Yukari only stared at them as Hamuko sat up and Koromaru began bouncing on her bed. "…Cover up." And with that she left.

"…You should do something about all that tension between you two…"

"Whatever, just close the door." She yawned again and stretched her arms as she left the bed and Koromaru. "So why did she—oh." A quick glance downwards told her everything she needed to know. She looked up to see Minato's slightly blushing face. "You did this?"

"Of course not." His words were answered with a cocked up eyebrow. He choked a bit as Hamuko began removing the blue clothing, as if it was usual for her, perfectly fine with his presence.

"Are you sure?" She… probably wasn't doing it on purpose, but… bending over to pick up a tank top from a pile of clothing on the ground while scolding Minato made the former action a tad less effective.

"I'm positive." He managed to keep an uninterested face for as long as she had her eyes on him. "What would I do to you, Hamuko?" Maybe that wasn't the best way he could have said that phrase, considering past experiences.

"Oh, I dunno, you're the one who fantasizes about me." She shook her cut-and-sewn and slowly slid into it, proceeding to observe the bluenet in front of her a bit more thoroughly from a closer distance while she lowered the orange shirt. "What's wrong, hon? Am I giving you a _hard_ time?"

Minato arched his eyebrows. She was definitely doing it on purpose– testing him, maybe? "I really came here only to wake you up… except not because of a call from Elisabeth. But, if you want me to leave, then I'll leave you alone."

"H-Hey, I was kidding!" She desperately grabbed his hand as he approached the door. "I've broken into your room a thousand times, yanno you're free to get in mine whenever!"

"Seeing the state this room is in, I highly doubt I'll be doing that any time soon." The bluenet smiled deviously. "I'll help you clean up for a kiss."

"You're cheap, hmm?" Hamuko surrounded him with her arms and leaned closer to the taller boy, until their bodies met. "Oh! Um… D-Did I really…?" She giggled awkwardly, pulling away. She looked at him, a bemused smile on her face as her eyes scanned him from top to bottom. "I'll… put my skirt on first…"

"Must you…?" He groaned.

"S-sorry about that…" She forced a smile, but it looked more like a wince. They remained silent while Hamuko finished dressing and Koro kept rolling on her bed.

"So… aren't you going to give me a hand…?" Minato's sudden question was accompanied by a quick glance down and a smile.

"I'm sure you can **help yourself**." She exited her room, not before giving him a rather strong backslap. "Try to make it sound more suave next time, will you?"

"…I was talking about cleaning your room, idiot." Minato mumbled as he slowly followed her out, having to bear Koromaru's growls behind him in the way.

* * *

><p>"I have been wishing to visit one of these cinemas for a long time! Images moving at own will, as if they were alive, only restricted by the screen's power…" Elisabeth spoke to herself while they waited in the queue.<p>

"Maybe we should obtain one of those screens! They could be able to restrain Shadows as well, if they hold the power to use fantastic creatures to entertain people!" Theo joined her in her crazy imaginings. "Furthermore, these 'films' should provide a nice explanation to our current feelings…"

The Fools were a few meters ahead, about to get their tickets.

"So what are they playing…? …Tearjerkers?" Hamuko asked in disappointment as she looked at the billboard.

"Countless hours of drama. But alas, it's for them." Minato pointed at the assistants, who were now busy throwing coins at the fountain by the cinema. The bluenet was tempted to ask for 'two adults and two children' tickets at the counter, when he noticed Hamuko had run to the fountain with them to 'save the money'. "Three children and an adult."

* * *

><p>The cinema was way more crowded than the previous day- drama, it had that effect on people- so the Fools had had to sit on a couple of seats to the left of the room, separated from the main line, which offered a rather poor sight of the screen. Hamuko and Minato were trying to decided whether having had to be separated from the Velvet Room assistants was a good or bad thing… Oh well…<p>

Hamuko had been sighing during the whole film, earning more than a weird look from Minato. "It's boring", she'd said, "and that bed scene sucked, bed sheets don't work that way" she added a little sniff, "but that story's sooo pretty... I think I'm going to… c-c…"

"That's pretty much the point of tearjerkers." Minato comforted her.

"B-But, why didn't anybody think of using a Phoenix Tail?"

"Eh. The best you can do is just give up trying to look into logical things. That's what I did, and things are looking up."

The second film had been somewhat more intense, and the ending, in which the protagonist has to leave his best friends– and… harem…- to go on with his life had managed to make Minato tear up a bit.

"Aww…" Hamuko sneered as soon as she realized this. "Yeah, nobody should leave eight girlfriends behind, hm?"

"Some of us are happier with one." He grunted.

"You didn't ask your girlfriend if she's happier with you." She whispered.

Minato turned his head to her and smirked. He quickly left his seat and leaned over her, propping himself up on the armrests. "Isn't she?"

"She is. When you're not being a creep." She frowned.

"Huh? What do you—" Before he could do anything to prevent it, Hamuko had pushed Minato away from her and back into his seat, sitting on his knees. It was her turn to be towering him.

"She doesn't trust you being on top." She stated with a innocent smile as she pressed herself against him. She lowered her head towards his with parted lips, ready to get up-to-date with an activity they hadn't engaged in almost two months.

"Minato-sama, Hamuko-sama!" Two yelling voices called out for them, earning hushes all over the room.

Hamuko reluctantly got up and sat down again on her own seat, just in time to see the assistants arrive. "'Sup, guys?"

"We ran out of these… imploded salty corn seeds!"

The glares the Fools were giving them could melt glass, but the blondes in blue didn't even seem to notice.

"Okay, I'll get you some more popcorn." Minato sighed as he got up and led the assistants out of the room.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later he was back with two people carrying king-size popcorn packs.<p>

"Well, then…" Hamuko assumed he previous position.

"You know, that… kind of killed the mood."

"Now you say it… what if they come back again?" Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows.

"Maybe if you sit a bit… closer to me…" He flashed her a seductive grin seeing that she seemed a bit doubtful. "…I'm just trying to set up the right mood."

"Set up _**which**_ mood, Minato?" She teased him.

"This one." He pulled Hamuko towards himself..

"We need some more caffeinated drinks."

Hamuko and Minato stared at both assistants with a blank face.

"…Is your seat inadequate for you, Hamuko-sama?" Theo inquired innocently, seeing the girl was sitting atop Minato.

"Gosh…" Hamuko got up and dusted her skirt. "Y-you want some more Cielo Mist? This way…"

…Maybe extra large refreshments would keep them busy for a while, but...

* * *

><p>The Fools exchanged awkward glances. "So you wanna… try again?"<p>

"You know they're going to come back." Minato ran a hand through his hair.

"…Right, and we agreed to keep it secret." She sighed. "Um, how many films are there left?"

"Two."

"_Yay_." Hamuko slouched on her seat, resigned to keeping her lips busy with her soda. She could feel Minato's gaze on her. "What?"

"Oh no, n-no, nothing." He rubbed his nose.

"Hey… is that… blood on your fingers?"

"…Popcorn?"

Man, what a long film.

* * *

><p>"So that is love." Elisabeth spoke to herself. "What a extraneous feeling! The people in the screen began doing senseless things as a result of experiencing that euphoria!"<p>

"Love makes people crazy." Minato explained.

"Some more than others." Hamuko remarked with a hint of bitterness.

"It seemed indeed a slightly familiar feeling…" Theo mumbled. "Well then, I'm glad we have obtained some food for thought. Let us head back…"

* * *

><p>The Fools were walking back to the dorm, when they found a beloved young Social Link buying takoyaki at Octopia.<p>

"Guys!" Maiko exclaimed as she ran towards them, almost throwing her pack of dumplings to the ground. She embraced Hamuko tightly.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I… I was afraid I wouldn't have a last chance to see you…" She sobbed against her shirt. "I made a decision… I'm staying with my mum, because she's the one who needs me the most and… We're leaving tomorrow night…"

"W-What?" Hamuko's mouth fell open as she stared at her with a expression full of sorrow. "But… What about your dad?"

"He'll be fine without me…"

"T-then… W-what about… us?" Minato was about to comment on how selfish Hamuko was sounding, but he decided to abstain from doing so. He felt rather sad as well, but, he knew that as soon as they leveled up a pair of levels more, she wouldn't matter anymore, and THAT was sad.

"We'll… we'll still be friends, right?" The girl was tearing up a bit.

"You…" Hamuko kneeled on the ground to return the hug. "You're more than a friend to me… You're like my sister… My daughter even."

"Like your daughter?" She echoed, laughing as she tried to hold back her tears. "Then him…"

Minato had never been someone who appreciated group hugs, but he could make an exception just that time. "We'll miss you, Maiko-chan."

"You can't ever forget about me. Promise, okay?" She pulled away and extended her pinky finger.

"Promise." Hamuko extended her pinky as well.

"…Promise." The bluenet agreed reluctantly, completing the triple pinky swear, similar to one they did with the same girl months before. With that, the Hanged Man Social Link reached level 9.

"...I need to get ready to move, so I'm going home now." Maiko beamed at them. "See you tomorrow at the shrine!"

"Hamumko." Minato grinned in a mocking way.

"G-got any problems with that?" She huffed.

"…I find it very sweet." He stroked her cheek softly as he kissed the trace left by a stray tear.

She giggled as she relished on the caresses. "Maybe you wouldn't make such a bad dad after all." The brunette took a deep breath. "C'mon, let's go back…"

* * *

><p>Hamuko seemed rather down the rest of the afternoon, so Minato decided to help her cheer up doing one of her favourite things…<p>

* * *

><p>"More vodka! Woo!" Yeah, she couldn't remember sadness past a certain amount of alcohol in her blood. What? It was more amusing than whispering nice things until she fell asleep, and he got to talk to a Social Link of his. All profit.<p>

"Yeah, that's a good thing to wish for!" Mutatsu laughed heartedly. "But you kids got enough money?"

"We're full of debts." Minato brought Hamuko closer to him as he took a big glop of his bottle of brandy. "But, whooo cares?"

"Tsk, you'll do when you get my age, kid! ..Do you know what the average lifetime income of a white-collar worker is? ...Including a retirement fund and an annual pension? 250,000,000 yen! Hmph, that's not even close to a lottery jackpot!"

"Eh, we don't hafta give back so much money! Only errrrrrr… Half a million isn't so much!" She pouted. "Hon, you done yet?"

"Level five, yeah." He got up and pulled Hamuko up as well. "Well, later Mutatsu-san."

"See ya kid…" He slouched against the sofa. "Oh, and kid…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't waste time…"

Minato walked downstairs, led by Hamuko. A song they had never heard before began blaring through the speakers; it was definitely Risette's voice.

"Man, you friend's sooo fun! Crazy old man…" Hamuko laughed as she leaned against Minato and poked his chest. "And you sir? You're the best boyfriend eveeer."

"Yeah, I know." He snickered while he reached out for Hamuko and put his hands fairly low on her back.

He couldn't quite decide whether Hamuko was trying to be menacing and failing when she smiled at him or… "No one to interrupt us now, right?" Or that.

"Taking advantage of a drunken boy…?"

"I'm a horrible person, I know…"

"…_And that was True Story by Risette!_" A male's voice echoed throughout the club. "_We'd like to use this moment to remind you all that Risette will be visiting us on Saturday fifth of September! Buy your tickets for the concert before they get sold out!_"

"SAY WHAT?" Hamuko pushed Minato away. "Risette is coming HERE? THE Risette? TO GIVE A CONCERT? _**AIEEEEEEEE**_!" She squealed gleefully. "OH! I hafta go buy tickets! Screw the money! Tickets for everyone! RISETTE RISETTE RISETTE!"

Well, that was… something… And by the time she was back, the club was already about to close. …Oh well.

* * *

><p>"…Shines peacefully tomorrow, TRUE STORYYYY!"<p>

"…Done trilling?"

"Yep." Hamuko removed her headphones and smiled. "This song is just so awesome!"

"Yeah well. It's Maiko-chan's last day here. You'd better not scare her like that…" Minato sneered.

"Hey, you shouldn't be mean to your girlfriend!" Maiko laughed as she clasped Hamuko's hand.

"I'm not being mean, I'm being realistic!" The three burst into laughter. "So, what do you want to do today, Maiko-chan?"

"I want to play with everything!" She yelled as she dragged the Fools towards the playground.

They spent a delightful afternoon together, sliding once and again down the slide, trying to be the one to jump higher on the horizontal bar– Hamuko and Maiko versus Minato, ruh roh!- and playing King of the Hill on the jungle gym. As dusk arrived, Maiko jumped down the metallic structure, followed by Minato and Hamuko, who fell rather unceremoniously.

"Whew, I'm tired…" Maiko huffed. "We've played enough for you to remember me, right?" She fell silent as she contemplated both of them.

"We will always remember you, Maiko-chan." Hamuko smiled warmly. "Don't forget us either, okay?"

The younger brunette nodded. "…Dad said, even though we're apart, we're still family… An' I think that goes for you and me, too. So, I don't have to be sad."

"Maiko-chan…" Hamuko's eyes were getting all glazed.

"Family is very important." She grinned. "…You think I'll have a family of my own one day?"

"Of course." Minato patted her head. "I'm sure you'll find someone nice and have a happy life together… Maybe you'll even have children…"

"I sure will!" She agreed. Silence took over again. "…Will you two have a family too?"

"H-Huh?" The brunette blushed crimson red. "W-well, ah… That's… Actually… I-I'd like to…"

"I'd… like to too…" The male Fool glanced away, kicking the sand of the playground softly while Hamuko looked at him wide-eyed.

Maiko seemed delighted with these answers. She reached into one of the pockets of her jacket –one had to wonder how could she wear that, hot as it was in the place- and brought out two bead rings, shoving one into each Fool's hands, while they just looked at her, confused. "C'mon! What are you waiting for?"

Minato looked at the ring on his palm and then at Hamuko. He smiled as he understood what Maiko wanted; he took the ring and slid it into Hamuko's ring finger, who, although she didn't seem to understand the gesture, mimicked it.

"Alright, and now close your eyes!" The child demanded, and so they complied. There were clanking sounds inherent of climbing on the jungle gym which ceased when Hamuko was pushed against Minato, her lips accidentally– or not so- landing on his. Their eyes flew open at the touch, and they turned around to see Maiko beaming at them. "When I'm old enough, I'll buy a plane ticket and come back to meet you and your children!" Her words died down a bit. "S-So don't forget me…"

The Hanged Man card appeared in their minds. "_Thou art I... And I am thou... The bond thou has nurtured hath finally matured. The innermost power of the Hanged Man Arcana hath been set free. We bestow upon thee the ability to create Attis, the ultimate form of the Hanged Man Arcana..._"

Minato had already experienced that in two previous occasions, but this was something new for Hamuko, who blinked in confusion.

"B-Bye!" Maiko ran away, trying to hide her sadness.

"Maiko!" Hamuko yelled as the girl disappeared in the distance, but she couldn't hear her anymore…

"Well, welcome to the Max Social Links experience…" Minato sighed. "How do you feel now?"

"I… I feel happy." She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Happy?"

"Yeah, I mean… She's gone but… But I feel like we'll never be apart… or something…" Well, that was… unexpected. Minato only felt a bit disappointed at himself for still being unable to care… or wait, did thinking that he should care count as caring? "…Has she just… married us…?"

"Indeed." He smiled at her. "Hamumko."

She turned even redder. "She forgot to say… 'you can kiss your wife'."

"We need to repeat, huh?"

"I was just sayi—" Minato grabbed her shoulders and captured her mouth with his own, leaving no space for banters as they finally got away with the kiss they'd been meaning to share for a while… or maybe a bit more hungry than the one they wanted. Not like either Fool was going to complain. Because you know, they couldn't complain with their tongues busy. Or something. But they still were in a public place…

"Wow…" She pulled away, running her fingers over her lower lip. "That was… intense…" A smirk appeared on her face. "Much better than I remembered. You've gotten better at this, huh...?"

"Only for my wai-fu." Minato rubbed her nose against hers prompting some giggles. He wrapped an arm around her as they walked back to the dorm. "So does this mean we get a wedding night?"

"Keep dreaming." She tapped he chin with a finger, thoughtfully. "Better yet, _**don't**_."

And so the day went on… With a few glares from Yukari, who seemed a bit irascible at the fact that he Fools were acting a bit more playful than usual that evening. Eh, Akihiko seemed a bit upset as well; he still seemed to have some problems coping with the idea of 'those two being together' for some reason… probably several, which as Hamuko reproached Minato, he shouldn't even need to ask.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter is like dumping a bunch of innuendo in a cauldron, then dumping some sweetness, stir them up, and you get <strong>**something like diabetes if it was an STD.**

**Now review or I'll be mad :I  
><strong>


	56. An old friend

**Author note: remember to keep voting for the poll in my profile :u**

* * *

><p>"Why are we cleaning my room, again?"<p>

"Because I told you that if I got the kiss I wanted, I'd help you do so." Minato answered as he dug into a pile of clothes. He found a Beetle Shell underneath. "Alright, calling this a 'room' might be a bit too generous—'lost cause' fits better."

"Told you so." Hamuko shrugged. She then proceeded to lazily make space in a cupboard and shove some clothes messily into it.

"…No French kiss could ever pay for tidying this place…" He smirked as he turned around, his hands hidden behind his back. "What about… Ooh…"

"Whatever it is, no."

"You didn't even hear what I wanted." He stepped closer. "Aren't you tired of wearing the same cut and sewn every day?"

"If I was I wouldn't do so." She knit her eyebrows together. "…What did you find?"

Minato dropped what he was hiding on her bed. It was a rather stylish dun flax dress. "You could wear that for me, some time… having dinner or something…"

Hamuko stared at the dress and then at Minato. "Well, it's a nice dress, but why do you want me to wear it?"

"Because I'm sure you'd look really nice in it." He affirmed with a courteous smile.

"But…" She scratched the back of her head, confused. "I mean, you have seen me without clothes, why'd you have any interest on seeing me with something different on?"

Minato blinked. "…Sometimes you worry me, Hamuko."

"Huh? You worry for me some times and some times you don't?"

"…" He sighed and brought her closer to himself, stroking her hair softly. "I wish I could do that…"

"…?"

"Caring for you only some times would be so much easier…" He sat down on her bed, placing her on his lap, and began kissing her neck gently.

The brunette didn't really get what was going on, but she enjoyed Minato's affectionate gestures, so she let him do as he pleased, for a while. Until the boy began showing intentions of burning her, to be precise. Not that she minded, but she really didn't have any intentions of wearing a scarf in summer. "Hey um… why don't we go do something fun out? Cleaning this is gonna take days, and I don't wanna waste my vacations locked in here…"

"Oh, but I wouldn't mind being locked in your room for days with you…" He chuckled.

Hamuko rose an eyebrow, but then she smiled contently. "Lemme guess, you actually meant… cleaning my room?"

"Yeah, cleaning your 'room'." He licked his lips. She pushed him out and slammed the door shut. "Hey! I was joking!"

"I don't care; I ain't letting no creeps in my room, man!" She stood against the door, until she heard steps. She opened the door without stepping out. "Nah, just kidding… come back in and… hey, you still have Kenji's choker, don't you…?"

"Huh? Kenji's choker?"

Hamuko blanched. That wasn't Minato's voice. She froze as she saw Akihiko staring at her. "S-SENPAI!" She gasped. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Mitsuru asked me if I could go grab her motorcycle's keys." The silver head explained. "…Who were you talking to?"

"I-I thought you were… Minato…" She chucked nervously. The boy had probably run away as soon as he saw Akihiko. "I kinda threw him out of my room and…"

Akihiko blinked. "You what?"

"Oh, you see, he asked me to wear this one dress for him, and then he necked me, but then he got creepy and—"

"…He _**what**_?"

She pursed her lips. Akihiko. She was talking to Akihiko, not Junpei. "I-I MEAN… We were watching Phoenix Ranger together and… Err… OH, IS IT SUNDAY? I gotta get ready to meet a friend, sorry!" She closed the door, only then realizing that she was clad in nothing more than Minato's comfy shirt; fortunately, Akihiko had no way of knowing that. …Right?

* * *

><p>"Hey there!" Hamuko ran towards the playground in the shrine, specifically, towards a boy sitting on a bench.<p>

"You… came back?" Akinari glared at Hamuko, but soon his expression softened. "You're... not like the others."

"As a matter of fact, my boyfriend insists that I'm very 'special'."

Akinari chuckled sadly. "Maybe that's why you're here. Nobody else treats me like a normal guy... not even my family."

"…Why do you say so?" She asked as she sat down next to him.

"I can tell by how they look at me. The pity in their eyes is unmistakeable."

"…They only try to feel your pain. They aren't trying to make you sad…"

"...I don't need their sympathy any more than I need their curiosity." The sick boy raised his voice. "I'm sorry, but... I don't expect anyone to pity me. Dying isn't so unusual, is it? What is there to gain by staying in this world for a long time, anyway?

"…" Hamuko cast her eyes down. "That's not the best attitude towards life, is it?"

"What would you know about the necessary attitude?" He glared darkly at her. "Life is painful, but you have no way to know that…"

Hamuko would have liked to tell him that she knew perfectly what pain was, that all S.E.E.S. faced great amounts of pain every time they went to Tartarus, and that if it wasn't for them, everyone would be in danger… "You're right…" But she knew that she had never taken Tartarus seriously. Playing the hero, that's all. "Sorry…"

Silence took over. A silence in which Hamuko regretted deeply not being able to connect better with the other boy. It hurt her knowing that she couldn't do anything to help, and that made her want to help him all the more. Why had she come here? She could have gone anywhere else, and she wouldn't have those depressing thoughts now… "...Hey. Thanks for coming today." Akinari thanked her, finally breaking the silence. "You look happier today..."

"The guy I love came back for me… And now he's my boyfriend…" She breathed deeply. Boyfriend. That still sounded so weird…

"Then, why are you here among the dying?"

"I… I dunno…" She was sincerely confused. "I guess that it's because… 'Cos no one else makes me think as much as you, not even him!" She nodded to herself. "I wanna know all I can about you."

A tiny smile appeared on his face. "You don't seem like everyone else, either. I'm not sure I know how to describe it exactly, but..." He looked at Hamuko in the eyes and his smile grew wider. "You don't look down on me the way everyone else does..." The Sun Social Link reached level 2. Immediately afterwards, Akinari began coughing strongly. "Dammit..." He muttered, wheezing. "What did I do to deserve this body?" He got up from the bench with some difficulty. "I have to go, but... I hope we can meet again." And with that, he left.

Hamuko stared at the jungle gym once he was out of her visual range. She thought about Maiko… how she wasn't going to be there ever again… Perhaps one afternoon, Hamuko would come back, only to find Akinari wouldn't be able to be there ever again either… She decided to stay at the shrine a while longer, thinking things over.

* * *

><p>"Welcome." Aigis's robotic voice greeted Hamuko as she stepped into the dorm. "It is exactly thirteen nights until the next full moon. I request visiting Tartarus to acquire further battle knowledge."<p>

"Sorry, Aigis… not in the mood." She dragged her feet to the lounge, where Yukari, Akihiko and Minato were congregated. The smell of Fuuka's cooking meaning from the kitchen could be easily perceived even at that distance… so it was no wonder Koro was whimpering in Yukari's arms. The teal haired girl still couldn't cook anything other than rice balls…

"Hey." Minato greeted her in a low voice as she slumped next to him. He typed something in his laptop and then looked at her again. "…Are you okay?"

"I'm thinking." She answered as her eyes slowly moved towards Akihiko. He seemed distracted with a bowl of instant ramen…

"I see. At risk of sounding like him…" He muttered, noticing Hamuko was staring at the older boy. "Where have you been?"

"The shrine." She replied dryly. Her gaze then fell on Minato. "_He was gone too… only for a while. But he could have been gone forever… He could have left me alone, and he didn't even tell me why exactly he came back… And then he took advantage of the surprise to kiss me…_" Existentialism really did her no good.

"W-what are you staring at?"

He snapped her out of her thoughts, only to realize her eyes had traveled fairly down from their starting position. "Your shirt… is all wrinkled." Hamuko pointed out as an excuse. "It wasn't like that this morning."

Akihiko coughed in the opposite sofa, attracting Minato's glare. "Your friend _**kindly**_ asked me to 'watch it' around you. Do you know anything about this, Hamuko?"

"Watch what? A movie?" She asked innocently, earning a head shake from Minato. She decided to shrug it off, seeing that everyone was in a bad mood, Yukari was systematically ignoring her, and Fuuka's cooking wasn't exactly helping the atmosphere. She needed to get out of the dorm for a while… and so she asked Minato to take her out.

* * *

><p>Tap, tap, tap… The insistent noise of steps made Hamuko open her eyes a bit. Someone was holding her. "Minato…?"<p>

"Hey there." The bluenet was smiling at her.

She tilted her head to see what was going on. Apparently, he was carrying her upstairs. "Why are you…?"

"Because boyfriends carry their passed out girls when they drink too much." His explanation had a hint of annoyance. "If Senpai and Aigis find us..."

"Senpai thinks you'll hurt me…" She spoke the obvious.

"And you? Do you think so?"

"I don't care…" She purred softly. "As long as you don't leave me…"

"Are you listening to yourself…?" He growled. He smelt… sugary? Like alcohol too… and lime. Had she asked him to drink some of her caipirinha? "I'm not going to leave you, and I'm _**not**_ going to hurt you." He let out a tired sigh as he opened the door of her room.

"But… you already said that once… and you already left me too… and… everyone ends up leaving… so you'll hurt me again and you'll leave me…" Minato placed her carefully on her bed. "Please… don't leave me…"

"I'm not… going to leave you."

"Then, stay with me…" She tugged at his hand.

"Hamuko, I—"

"Please…"

* * *

><p>…For some reason, the bed pillow felt less soft that morning when Hamuko slid her hands down it. A bit harder too. And it was pretty warm…<p>

When Hamuko opened her eyes, all she could see was blue. Oh, that's right, Minato had eventually agreed to sleep by her after much insistence from her, and she couldn't have probably got him to do so hadn't he been slightly more easily influenced thanks to the alcohol.

Well, let's see: she was not stark naked nor hanging upside down from an antenna, cool. She had all her clothes from the previous day on, and he was alright save for the lack of a shirt– which counted as really good. He hadn't even dared hug her, apparently… She nuzzled his hair with a smile, glad that the bluenet had behaved, and tightened her grip on him, earning a little gasp from the sleeping boy. A gasp? Had she hugged him that hard? Maybe there was a wound somewhere near… Nope, it was all firm supple skin, yet he seemed to be having more and more problems breathing.

…Wait, a second, where was she—

* * *

><p>"G' morning." Akihiko's greetings made Hamuko look up from her book. "Have you been sleeping on the sofa all night?"<p>

"Err… Y-Yeah." Hamuko gave him a tiny, nervous smile. "Are you gonna train, Senpai?"

"Yep." He looked proud of training so early in the morning. He glanced at the book. "What are you reading?"

"An old detective book I never get to finish…" She chuckled. "I'm afraid of what might happen to Raidou at the end of the epic battle..."

"Detective novels…?" His gray eyes seemed to glisten. "…I knew someone who loved reading books too…"

"Well, I wouldn't say love, but…" She scratched the back of her head. It seemed Aki was trying to engage conversation with her. "…Hey, I'm sorry we've been distant lately."

"T-That's okay, you're a grown up… and have a b-b-boyfriend and…" He mumbled quite nonsensically. "Hey, I'm gonna have lunch with a friend today, after training… Want to come with me?"

"Um, I dun—"

"Good morning." Minato walked lazily downstairs. He strode to the lounge and stared at the two. "…Hamuko, why did you—"

"LET'S GO TRAIN, SENPAI!" And with that Hamuko grabbed Akihiko's hand and ran away.

* * *

><p>Well, Hamuko hadn't thought about the contras of going out to train with the star boxer without even some trainers, but she had no plans of being near Minato for quite a while, so she he could avoid him andor pray he was asleep…

After a tiring morning in which they ran three laps around the city, the two teens headed to Hagakure. "There's someone I've wanted you to meet for a long time." Aki explained. "He's an old friend of mine."

"And you want me to meet him 'cause…?" As she walked into the restaurant, her words halted.

"Hey Shinji."

"Hmph?" Shinjiro turned his head towards them with a bunch of noodles in his mouth. He slurped them nonchalantly while glaring deeply at Akihiko. "What do you want now?"

"I brought-!"Before Akihiko could finish his sentence, Hamuko ran past him.

"SENPAI!" She yelled as she ran to hug him—only to be stopped by the forehead. "Augh, not again! C'mon Senpai, don't be like that!"

"Y-You two know each other?" Aki seemed completely flabbergasted.

"…Sorta."

"He saved our lives!" Hamuko exclaimed happily. "He's so great, and cool, and…!"

"...Is this a new strategy to press me into going back or something?" Shinji growled. "Bringing a clown?"

"Hey! Who you callin' a clown?" She puffed up her cheeks. "I might not seem the kind, but I could send you to the ground in five seconds bare-handed!"

"Oh, really?" He snorted. "And how would you do that?"

"You want a list in alphabetical order, or from most persuasive to least?" She smirked.

"I want another bowl of ramen."

She blinked as the boy gave her his back. "H-Hey, don't ignore me, Senpai!"

"That's a lot like Shinji." Akihiko sneered. "Two extra large bowls, please!"

* * *

><p>"…"<p>

"…"

"…"

"…Do I look all that interesting?"

"I'm gonna stare at you until you agree to teach me how to fight, as I've asked you a thousand times, Senpai." Hamuko narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh, but aren't you so good as to throw me to the ground bare-handed?"

"What does that have to do with fighting?" She smiled devilishly at him, while he answered with a 'tch'. For whatever reason, Aki seemed kind of uncomfortable listening to that, as well.

So he brought up a new conversation topic. "A new Persona user joined us. He's not human."

"What?"

"It's a dog." Akihiko announced proudly. "He lost his master six months ago because of the Shadows. He's incredibly loyal..."

"And really cute."

"Up 'til now, he's been guarding the spot where his master was killed..." Aki looked at Shinji straight in the eye, almost daring him. "Despite the bad memories."

All this only achieved making the boy clad in a heavy coat– goddamn, didn't anybody in the city ever feel too warm?- walk out of the restaurant, closely followed by Akihiko. "Hamuko, please, wait here." He commanded, as he ran after the boy. Hamuko, however, couldn't avoid peeking out of the door.

"We saw someone die right before our eyes, too..." Akihiko sounded really reproaching. "But, it's been two years since then... How long do you plan to beat yourself up over it?" He readied his fists. "You're always at that spot behind the station, even though you don't hang out with the crowd there."

"It doesn't matter." Shinji just shook his head. "It was my fault and it can't be erased. What difference does it make if I come to terms with it? It won't change anything." …What were they talking about? "This isn't the same as what happened to Miki." That name… that name was familiar. Oh right, Hamuko could remember getting called that by Akihiko during a full moon operation…

"But…" That had to be the first time that she had seen Akihiko looking unmotivated. "But she…"

"That girl can't be her. She died in the fire, like many others." The taller boy let out a tired sigh. "Take your own advice." With that he began walking away again.

"Shinji!"

"That's enough already." He turned back one more time. "I just want to forget it ever happened." And with that he left for real… And hey, wasn't that kid who just walked into Book-ON Ken? O-Oh wait, focus.

Akihiko strode back to Hagakure, only to find Hamuko in the door. "Who's Miki?"

The silver head glanced away. "I told you to wait inside again…" His gruff voice seemed even deeper when it was full of sadness.

"What?" She blinked. "…Senpai, who's Miki?"

"My… younger sister…" And without any further explanation he walked back into the restaurant.

* * *

><p>"Hmm, I think Koro-chan wants to go on a walk." Hamuko pondered aloud. "Hey, people… Who's up for giving him a walk?"<p>

There was a general silence. "I'll go…" Minato stood up and walked towards Hamuko. "If we go together."

"S-sure…"

* * *

><p>Walking around the Naganaki Shrine at night would have been rather relaxing, hadn't Hamuko's mind been stuck in other matters related to that morning…<p>

"So what did you have for lunch?" Minato asked casually.

"R-Rammed- I MEAN, ramen!" Hamuko laughed nervously. "And you? Was you afternoon arou—a-amusing?"

"Are you okay…?"

"Damn straight…" Okay, she fell like face-palming just then.

"Do you want to hold hands or something…?"

"No, I mean, yes, I mean…" She sighed deeply as she took his hand. Awkward. "I-If you want anything just tell me, alright? If you want to k-kiss me or burn me or whatever… L-let's just not sleep together again, okay?"

"…Did I do anything wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"Oh no, no, you felt just fine—YOU _**WERE**_ JUST FINE." Alright that face-palm finally arrived.

"Hamuko?"

"W-What would you do if I groped you… accidentally?"

"Did I grope you?"

"N-No!" She froze. "Did you?"

"No?"

"Is that a question or what?"

"I-I'm, the one making questions here!" He retorted.

"So what would you do?" She insisted.

"Well, if it was you…" He winked at her.

Well. That was unexpected. "Gosh, seriously…"

"You are the one who was groping me!"

"GAH! W-WERE YOU AWAKE?"

"No, I just deduced it." He sighed. "So where did you exactly—"

"HEY! Yanno what? Now we're even for what happened in that shower!" She laughed nervously. "OH, look, isn't that Mr. Ono?" And with that she ran ahead with Koro.

Apparently, the samurai-wannabe teacher had lost his pen-drive, and he somehow managed to make Koromaru look for it while he gave them a lecture about how to be a samurai. Wow.

"Woof!" Koromaru dug in the sand and ran back towards them.

"That's it! That's the one!" He pointed at the device. "Ooh, did I just sound like a Sengoku warlord? Goodness, though, I'm so relieved..."

"Isn't that a… katana…?" Minato blinked.

"It IS a memory stick! Look!" He pulled out the sheath and instead of a blade, a connector appeared. "This is- look here, right here! Do you see the family crest engraved here? You can tell whose crest that is, right?" Hamuko nodded at the man without having a clue of what he was saying. "This was special ordered! I wouldn't have been able to sleep without it. And I've been invited to a wedding, so I'd be embarrassed to go unarmed!"

"Yeah, it's dangerous to go alone." Hamuko received a little nudge and a glare from Minato.

"Oh, so you understand? Really?" The teacher's expression lit up. "You know what they say. Though you may wear rags, your heart must be beautiful..." Wait what. He began lecturing them again… "I'm sure the kids who found this were playing a sword-fight with it. ...Honestly, what would they have done if it was a real katana? It would've been broken to bits!" The man went on and on while Koromaru stared at him apprehensively and the Fools tried their best not to fall asleep… "Now, to show my gratitude, I should tell you what'll be on the next test." That wakened them like ten coffee cups. "Now listen carefully. I'm giving you a real big hint." He leaned towards them and glanced to one side and another. Then, he whispered "...Study the Sengoku period." And with that he left.

"Arf." Koromaru wagged his tail happily. He seemed proud of having helped.

"Not only a Persona user, but an excellent hound as well. I'm impressed, Koromaru." Minato smiled.

"Aw yeah, he's really the best dog!" Hamuko kneeled down next to him and began patting his head. "Good boy!"

"Woof!" He squinted his eyes pleasantly as he patted his head. …Yup, Strength Social Link level 4. The dog then began sneezing.

"Aw, you have sand on your nose…? Let's go back…"

"Yeah, let' s go back. You can tell me everything about what happened this morning in the way…"

"OH, HEY, IT'S MONDAY! Take him back to the dorm, I've gotta go to work!" And with that she ran in direction to the station.

"…"

* * *

><p><strong>As far as I'm concerned she was groping his nose *3*<strong>


	57. Questions

**Author note: this chapter has a lime. Not sayin' just saiyan.**

**Also, my birthday takes place on December 8****th**, **aka today. 16 already! :D**

**Thanks a lot to Evilshroom for betaing as always!**

* * *

><p>"…S-so t-that's what happened…"<p>

That morning, Minato had waltzed into Hamuko's room and easily managed to press her into telling him what happened the previous morning using once again his most recent discovery: the magic words. He only had to word a threat along the lines of 'or I'll leave' at the end of a request to make her all anxious and cooperating.

It was sad seeing the loudmouth back off like that, completely desperate to prevent him from becoming yet another person to leave her alone… it was rather worrying how she wanted his attention, how dependent she was on him. It wasn't anything like when he arrived, however, when she leeched off his attention for fun; she actually seemed dead afraid of him breaking his promises -had she grown that attached to him, or had he broken her like that? Regardless, she wasn't focusing the issue the right way, compensating what he had determined was fear of failure by trying to make _him_ content, instead of trying to grow out of it by herself.

What a great asset for him… He finally had a way to control the most senseless mangled excuse for a person he'd ever come across, and thanks to it he had been getting away with a lot of things which should have earned him more than merely a risen eyebrow or a joking commentary, all while Hamuko kept lying about trusting him –he could see through her all too easily. But, after his last use of that threat, questioning her about something apparently only he was taking as a joke, he began to hesitate.

Hamuko, who could barely understand social conventions and hardly grasp the concept of self-consciousness, was able to become closer to people just as easily as him, as she'd proved with Maiko, without any need of tracing a behavior pattern which allowed her to determine what buttons to press to make them do what she wanted –probably she wouldn't even know what that meant. She became closer to people because she sought their friendship, not power. People weren't tools for her. Was it the effect or the cause of not manipulating them? Or maybe she dealt with them that way because she was incapable to put any further insight into her interactions with others?

He on the other hand? There he was, pressing his girlfriend to tell him something which was making her stutter every single word and look more ashamed than he'd ever thought someone with no nudity taboo could look. It was probably the most embarrassing thing she'd done in her life, or at least for quite a big while, all the more seeing that she seemingly thought that put her at his level. What level? The Shirakawa level. Once again, she didn't seem to care about the fact that neither of them… bothered the other _on purpose _in either occasion.

Anyway, that was just him. He spent his days interacting with a certain group of people, after which he needed some distance to put some more thought into how to reveal their secrets and problems, just so he wouldn't have to deal with them too much. This was probably the reason why he found himself unable to grow closer to his closest group: even though he had come to terms with the fact that it wasn't necessary for a person to be a Social Link for him to wish to approach them– and this was important since Hamuko owned every S.E.E.S. Social Link- he couldn't determine a way to make them happy. If the brunette hadn't been so obnoxiously insistent trying to befriend him, he probably would have suffered the same problems with her.

"Are you even listening to me?" Hamuko's yells snapped him out of his thoughts. It had been quite a while since he last zoned out so badly. "S-say something! Please!"

Minato looked up and stared apprehensively at her. "What about you do it again now I'm awake?"

…That was a long time coming slap.

* * *

><p>"Minato-san, the temperature of the skin above your right masseter muscle is much more elevate than the left. It will require some medical assistance to speed up the cooling down process."<p>

"That won't be necessary, Aigis." He mumbled while quickly logging in to his Innocent Sin Online account.

"I insist. It is my mission to protect you."

"I'm fine."

"The swelling of your face indicates the opposite. Medical assistance is necessary."

"I said _**I'm FINE**_." He slammed his fist against the table. It was now his turn to be in the receiving end of an emotionless stare. "I-I'm sorry, I… c-could you bring me a bag with ice, please? That should help it."

"Proceeding."

* * *

><p>And there was Tatsuya, wandering around the Lunarvale Hospital while Aigis held a bag full of ice against his player's cheek. Huh. The virtual avatar was suddenly engulfed by bright white light, and taken to the Konan District.<p>

"I saw you log on so i brought u here w/ magic. sry ^^;" Maya chuckled as she walked towards Tatsuya. "...I should apologize."

"Minato-san, what kind of language is that on the screen? I cannot understand it."

"Yeah, me neither." He sighed. "_Did I miss anything?_"

"Well… remember how i said i would send our chat log to the admins sum days ago? :/ i dun think i will..."

"_Oh. I see_."

"…U don't seem very affected, Tatsu."

"_Ah… sorry, I'm having a weird day. Why have you given up_?"

"I… haven't given up." Maya kicked the ground. "I read over our chat log and i didn't like waht i saw =/ what kind fo person plays an MMO jus to bitch about coworkers? -_-"

"_A bitchy person_?" He tried to joke, but Maya looked really sorry. As sorry as a crappy 3D model can look.

"U shouldn't have had to put up w/ me doin that. im sry m(_ _)m sum teacher i am, rite? =/"

"_Hey, it's no problem really_." The bluenet snorted. "Not like I had anything better to do."

A minute or so went by, without any sign of activity. "I kno it'll look like i'm chickening out an stuff, but... im thinkin bout quttin the MMO today i... dun think i'll c u again T_T"

"_I'll… miss playing with you…_" No. He wouldn't. He never did so. "_So, why do you regret complaining to me?_"

"Cuz… since nobody can see my face on teh intarweb, i could be mean... =( so i jus have to look myself in the mirror and make it rite! ^_^"

"_Um… good luck with that_?"

"shyeah rite. =P" Maya laughed. "But… i never would've figured this out w/out ur help tatsuya taught me to be thoughtful even when im not around ppl =)" …It seemed she really trusted him… Level 10 and the power to create Arahabaki. Awesome. "...Well, i better go now _ i drew something in the sand for u, check the ground once i log off, k? ^^; its kinda embarrassing, but i worked real hard on it." She hung her head low. "If u upload a screenie to ur cellphone, u can keep it always! ...i dun even cry during romance movies but my eyes'll be red tonite... T_T" She threw her arms in the air. "Remember, let's think positive! ...gg, tatsu. thx 4 everything." And with that she left.

"Well, goodbye Miss Toriumi…" Minato was going to close the laptop…

"Minato-san, are you not going to follow that last request?" …Aigis now could speak leet, huh.

"…" Tatsuya walked towards the place where Maya had been standing. There was a message on the sand.

"i -read downward!

luv

u"

"Hah…" He shook his head with an amused smile as he brought out his mobile phone. He took a picture of the screen and stared at it. "…Maybe this will grant me a good score in the exams."

"Exams…" Aigis echoed in a thoughtful voice. "…Would it be possible for me to visit school again?"

"…You'll have to ask Mitsuru-senpai."

"So, Senpai! Does Shinjiro-senpai go around Hagakure very often?" Minato could hear Hamuko's voice as she walked downstairs.

"Yeah, he's always eating there… But why do you call him 'Senpai'? It's not like he ever shows up to school…" …And that was Akihiko's voice.

"Well, uh… He's my Senpai even if he plays hookey, isn't he?" She laughed. As they walked past the lounge, Minato and Hamuko exchanged glances; that is, until she turned her head away from him in apparent disgust. Well, he couldn't blame her, now could he? But… she could have done something useful… like trying to hang out with Yukari instead of running around with Akihiko… Well, whatever.

* * *

><p>Minato decided to nap for a while -see if he cared about those two- and once he felt better he tried to come up with something productive to pass another day of vacations; however, his hand ended up in his pocket, reaching out for his mobile phone. He headed to his room and began looking for Naoto's contact info.<p>

"_Good afternoon, Minato-san._" Naoto's masculine voice greeted him happily, yet calmly as it was usual of the young detective. And oh well, at least she was using his first name… It's not like he wanted to hear her say 'big bro!' or anything, sheesh.

"_Naoto-kun? How did you know it was me?_" He blinked in surprise.

"_I'm afraid that no one else has access to my personal line_."

"…_Not many friends, huh_?" Minato asked, concerned.

"_That's…_"

"_It's okay, I guess it's a family thing_." He smiled sadly.

"_I see_…" She sounded a bit afflicted. "_What is the matter_?"

"_Oh, nothing really, it's just that I thought that now I have a family… I should keep in touch with them._" It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't a lie either. "_How is Johei-san doing?_"

"_He's at his bureau, working on his latest mystery book_." She explained. "_Would you like me to pass him the phone so you can speak to him_?"

"_I'd… rather no_-" Yeah, the cryptic old man had definitely not left too much of a nice impression in him.

"_Feeling lonely_?" Johei's deep voice reproached him while Minato just gave a sigh. "_Knowing you, you would not call otherwise, young boy_."

"_Indeed… Are you still spying on me, sir_?"

"…_Knowing about those who have your attention, be it friends or enemies, is essential, my boy. It allows you to be able to analyze them properly_."

"_Yes, I know that…_" He mumbled.

"_However, knowing is only half the battle_." The old detective… sneered? Maybe? "_You have to permit them both to know about you in order to allow the former to place trust on you, creating a deeper bond, ergo the other will not feel used, and make the attack against your foe more effective, as it will be unbeknownst to him that you are but creating deadly overconfidence. If you master that ability, you will be both the best ally and the most dreadful opponent._"

"…_Nice.__ You know, that… that was actually helpful_." Minato looked at his mobile phone. "…Why do I feel like I had just been given a tutorial…_?_"

"_Good to know. It was not my intention_." He spoke in such a deadpan way that it was difficult to determine if he was joking or being serious or just the old cryptic bastard he was. "_Do you have any genuine interest to speak to your family, or were you just looking for inspiration from a man with a lot of years behind him_?"

"_I actually would like to—_"

"_Good, then speak to Naoto; Gouto says he wants his dinner as a payment for the advice_." …Maybe Minato should be glad he didn't grow under the wing of a guy with such harsh words… That man would be just so much more impressive without talking!

"_Wait… Gouto_?" Minato asked as his sister took the phone. "_Didn't he have a cat named like that back when we were children?_"

"_Yes. It is the same cat_."

"…_Talk about a long-lived cat_." …He didn't know half of it.

* * *

><p>"We're home…" Hamuko exclaimed not too eagerly as she and Akihiko stepped into the dorm. She sat down on a sofa, letting out a puff of air as she slouched down. "Man… Senpai wasn't at Hagakure… <em>Talk about a wasted morning<em>…" She looked around, obviously looking for an specific boy.

"Hey there." The target of her glances walked into the lounge and sat down next to her.

"…" She stared at him with her eyebrows furrowed.

"…" He stared at her back with a similar expression.

"I'm sorry for the slap! I know it was only a joke, but…"

"I'm sorry for what I said and for what I made you say and…!"

"No, it's my fault!"

"It really is mine!"

"I said it's mine!"

"Mine!"

"MINE!"

"KA-BOOM!"

Both Fools turned to Junpei.

"What? _**Mine**_! Geddit?"

"That was a humorous joke." Aigis pointed out in the most serious way possible.

"…Wanna keep talking in your room?" Hamuko and Minato walked away, leaving Junpei yelling something about couple discussion not working like that.

* * *

><p>"Today I talked to my s—brother." Minato commented offhandedly while he brought his pajama out of under his pillow.<p>

"Lucky you…" Hamuko was sitting on his bed, staring at him intently while he changed. "Does it bother you when I look at you?" She asked rather coyly.

"…No?" He rose an eyebrow. The one feeling uncomfortable wasn't Minato, but her.

"…Should it bother me to look at you like that?" She tilted her head. That made her look like a confused hamster.

"…How should I know?" He knit his eyebrows together. "Most girls would indeed feel embarrassed, if that's what you mean."

She nodded to show she understood. "You see I complain a lot about you making weird comments, and… and being creepy, but I don't even know if I'm fueling that."

"I'm only joking when I say that kind of things, Hamuko. You should know how to tell jokes apart, you used to make those kinds of comments all the time." He plopped down on his bed and released a big sigh. "You get anxious because you don't trust me, so you're scared I might be serious one day."

"Maybe so…" She cast her eyes down. "I… I think I trust you, but…"

"Maybe you don't know enough about me."

His comment brought about a dense silence. "That might be it." She stated, determined. "Quick, tell me everything about you!"

"I-I wouldn't know where to start." He smiled awkwardly.

"But… I wanna know…" She pouted. "Hey! What about we just ask each other some questions? We can eat together tomorrow and do that!"

"Sounds good to me." Silence came back. Hamuko decided to end it by leaning in to kiss his lips.

"…" He stroked her cheek with a smile. "You should leave before Junpei begins thinking weird things."

"What weird is there in kissing my half-naked boyfriend in his room? If you want me to leave you alone so you can sleep you can just say it, yanno." That would have been rather amusing… hadn't she been completely serious. "Well… I have to go to work anyway… good night…"

Well, it was only 9 pm and he'd been sleeping half of the day, but, whatever.

* * *

><p>"Alright! The press conference is opened!" Hamuko exclaimed as they arrived at Wakatsu. "Well, um… Let's start with something simple, okay? Err… Oh! What is your favorite color?"<p>

"Blue." He answered immediately.

"Gee, hah, who woulda thought…?" Hamuko rolled her eyes.

"Oh, well, if I'm so obvious, what's yours then?"

"Hmmmmm…" She tapped her chin with a finger. "My favorite color… The best color… Um… Err… Oh!" She smiled proudly. "Rainbow!"

Minato stared at her with his hands etched below his chin. She wasn't kidding. "…That's not a color, Hamuko."

"Exactly, it's seven at the same time! Isn't it awesome?"

He preferred not to make any comment about that. "What's your favorite food?"

"Um… I'll eat anything without vegetables… or cooked by Fuuka…"

"_Anything, huh?_" He smiled to himself. "I like ramen."

"I thought that it was chocolate. You're always asking for that." She made a 'hmph' sound. "Ice-cream flavor?"

"You know that shaved ice cream with blue sauce over it?"

"…If I ask what's your favorite music style, will you say blues?"

"Ha-ha." He snorted. A waiter arrived with their orders, so they had to put aside their talk while they ate. "Do you hate anyone?"

"Wow… That's difficult…" She pursed her lips. "I hate the Shadows. They hurt people."

"...I guess I just dislike a lot of people…" Minato mumbled, playing with a California Roll laying on his dish.

* * *

><p>"Where are you from?" Hamuko asked as they walked around the Strip Mall.<p>

"The location of the Shirogane Estate is a secret…" He smirked.

"What? Oh, c'mon!" She puffed up her cheeks. "I wish I knew where I'm from…"

* * *

><p>After a long day of quick meaningless questions, they went back to the dorm. Hamuko decided to take Koromaru out on a walk, and Minato tagged along.<p>

They were calmly, yet somewhat awkwardly, due to the day doing positively nothing worth it, walking around the shrine, when someone walked towards them. It was a rather familiar-looking woman, in the wrong side of her fifties.

"My, this dog..." That woman seemed to know Koromaru. "So this dog's still here. Oh, haven't you heard? The priest here used to take care of this dog..." She began gossiping about the priest's death; they remembered now: that woman was there when they first met Koromaru. "…But if he's still here, he must not be able to forget about that priest. I feel kind of sorry for him... If only there was something the priest used to wear that might help take his mind off his master's death..." She brought a hand to her face and sighed. "Too bad there's nothing like that I can think of... Oh, I was on my way to go buy miso. Well then." And with that she left. Why every time they walked out together they had to find someone boring…?

Koromaru began whimpering quietly as he looked at the shrine. Hamuko looked at him with a troubled expression, but then she kneeled down and gave him a hug, all while Minato stared intensely at her.

"I know the priest's not around any more, but… you don't have to be afraid, okay? You have us all…"

The dog stared at both of them intently before walking towards the offertory. He sat on his hind legs and began howling. "Awoooo!" Other dogs began echoing his howl.

"What do you think he's doing?" He asked as he observed the dog.

"…I think he's… saying hi to the priest." She narrowed her eyes. "You know I think I'm kinda beginning to understand what he says." She laughed as her Strength Social Link reached level 5, perfectly conscious of the craziness of what she was saying. She turned to Minato. He was just there, ogling them with his usual inexpressive face.

"…What are you scared of, Hamuko?"

"What am I scared of?" She echoed, surprised. Her surprise soon turned into a scowl. "…Being alone, of course."

"But you aren't alone either." He whispered. "You have S.E.E.S. with you. That means you have nothing to be afraid of, right?"

"…" She glanced away. "Let's go back."

* * *

><p>The night went on, and so they eventually went to their own bedrooms.<p>

"Minato…?" Of course, that couldn't last.

The bluenet looked up. Hamuko was peeking at him from behind his half opened door. "Yeah?" He asked as he sat up.

"I… I am still afraid of being alone…" She walked towards him, his shirt being as usual the only thing hiding her underwear. "…I'm still afraid of you… I… I still don't want you to hurt me and leave me alone, you know? I don't care about the others, but… but not you…" She mumbled with teary eyes as she ran into his arms. "I'm afraid you won't love me."

"Hamuko…" He sighed. That girl…

"You… you always seem so strong at this kinda thing…" She sniffed. "That even just thinking this shirt is yours makes me feel less lonely." She laughed. Well, it wasn't what Minato expected, but that was an interesting reason, nonetheless. "S-So I… I needed to know… I-is there anything you're afraid of?"

"...Yes." He stared affectionately at her. "There is one thing I'm deadly afraid of…" He muttered. "I'm scared of losing myself. Because I'll know you won't forgive me anymore if I do…" He wrapped his arms strongly around her. "I only have one last question…" He looked at her intently. "Do you love me?"

She seemed to choke a bit as he asked that, but she managed to gather all her confidence into three words. "I love you."

Minato brought her closer to himself, smiling warmly. "Then I have nothing to be afraid of." The world seemed to become silent for them, even more so as the Dark Hour arrived. They just didn't seem to care. "…Our hearts beat at the same rhythm."

"Huh?" Hamuko breathed deeply and tried to focus on the rhythm of her heart as she pressed her chest against Minato's. Unison thumps. She exhaled and was surprised to check that they were still beating at the same rhythm. "Wow… Is that even possible?"

"Considering our different physical builds and the fact that I run in a track team, they should be much different. But… this has to mean something, doesn't it…?" He cupped her cheek delicately, making her tilt her head up. She could feel both hearts speed up as his lips locked around hers, first chastely, and then more and more passionately…

Thump… His tongue made its way easily into her mouth, determined not to leave a single corner unexplored in its heated battle for dominance and pleasure against Hamuko's…

Thump… They could feel the temperature of their bodies raising with every second they spent leaning against each other…

Thump… She sucked at his tongue when their mouths parted ways, earning a smirk from the bluenet, which was answered with one of her own.

Minato lowered his hands and traced patterns on her back as they kissed again, trying to delve further into each other, while Hamuko acquainted hers with the roots of his hair. She put no opposition to being slowly pushed, unknowing that she'd soon find herself between a wall and a hard place. He clasped her hands within his own and pressed them against the wall as well, his own body towering Hamuko's in order to keep her in place while he did his thing.

"M-Minato…" She bemoaned, futilely trying to push him away with her own body. "I… I don't like you being on top of me…"

He moved a step back, enough to lift Hamuko at the height of his waist –perfect for enjoying the view-, and then went back to holding her with his own body. "Now you're on top." His mouth left her lips and headed for her collarbone, indiscreetly sucking and biting down her throat while he grabbed her hips firmly against his own, letting the pleasurable warmth spreading every time he sunk his teeth into her skin lower her defenses.

"Th-that's not what I… ah…" She wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to keep herself from falling, as her grasp on his shoulders began to fail her. She shuddered as he rubbed her left upper thigh with a hand, and only realized how underdressed and vulnerable she was after he ground her bulged fly against the thin black fabric hiding her lower abdomen. "D-do it again." Something deep inside was telling her that it was just fine, and being rather insistent about it. Great, actually. Hell, he could take her against the wall for all she cared at that moment. …Right now going slow meant not biting his pants off until she was done removing his shirt.

The bluenet kept assaulting her neck, giving her frenzied kisses every time he managed to find her mouth, which was a bit difficult considering he was moving against her and trying to get rid of his shirt simultaneously. Regardless, he was delighted with the reactions he was getting from his girlfriend, as for once he wasn't the one getting teased... by her, that's it. He was restraining himself, wanting to make her suffer as long as he could… Wait, suffer? Where the hell had that come from? Both of them were obviously enjoying this, and it wasn't just fine, it was the single most exciting thing he'd ever done. It was like every last fiber of his being was focused on the moment, which he'd been looking forward to for so long... and in which he wanted to enjoy her even more. Thus, one of his hands dared travel north, easily sliding under her shirt as soon as Hamuko successfully pulled his out after much struggle, proceeding to give his neck a little payback.

Nothing could stop them right then… it was just perfect like that… or it would have been, if it wasn't for the bad memories that began filling Hamuko's mind as their hands traced the inciting curves of each other's torsos, the girl's travelling down a trail of hair while the boy explored those leading to her chest.

The last time… he'd gotten away with that… he'd… he'd tried to hurt her. And maybe he'd try to do so again. He'd just said it, he was afraid of himself. He would hurt her if she didn't do something about it... As the little voice in the corners of her mind became overshadowed by her own paranoid thoughts, she suddenly felt much more conscious about the situation, quickly removing her hands from the edge of his boxers. "H-hey, wait… I still haven't f-forgotten that night, yanno…?"

He pulled his head away from the spot he was burning and looked at her, confused. His hot breath tickled her neck as he reluctantly slowed down the movement of his hips. "You said that we were even."

"I…" She took a deep breath. '_Nothing to worry about_', right? "Nevermind, keep it on…"

Minato was too infatuated with her body to catch the clear lie and detect her new anxiousness. Thus, as much as she tried, she couldn't suppress a moan when his hand resumed its work and began teasing its destination through her bra, nor prevent herself from kneeing his stomach right after, like a reflex act, either, sending him to the ground while she fell rather unceremoniously as well because of her wobbly legs.

"W-What the hell, Hamuko?" He yelled as he tried to sit up.

Thump, thump, thump… That was all Hamuko could hear that very moment, so she didn't even answer, only mumbling something unintelligible amongst pants. She put a hand on her chest to calm her pounding heart while she lowered the shirt she was wearing the best she could and ran away, leaving Minato laying perplexed on the ground of his room.

What had just happened?

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there, stereotype of 15 years old fan-girl writing smut complete! Dancing on the frontier between T and M ratings is as amusing as always. Don't expect me to write something like this for a while.<strong>

**Oh, also, to Sapphire134, sorry for never answering your questions, but I can't reply to annonymous reviews. The only answer I can give you anyway is 'Who knows~' :B  
><strong>


	58. Quick solution

**Author note: sorry for the late update! My exams week starts next week and I'm really busy studying :I **

**Thanks for Evilshroom for betaing and the battle scene!**

* * *

><p>The morning was unusually quiet in the dorm. As in, dead silent. There were not enough words to describe how strong the awkwardness and the tension between the Fools was. They would only stare at each other, peeking from behind their coffee cups, while Aigis stared at them both from a chair at the other end of the table.<p>

Minato looked pretty mad. He probably had a nasty bruise from the previous night, but he… but what? Hamuko had no excuse; she didn't even know whose fault it was. Minato had stopped when she asked him to, but he should have known that she only said that so he wouldn't get disappointed… then again, as he said, what the hell, she was desperately enjoying it like a minute earlier. Maybe all that adrenaline caused a short in her brain and that's why she got scared, so it wasn't that Minato had freaked her out by doing something she didn't want, like the last time. Nope. It was all fine between them. …Now if only she could convince him of that after a thankfully inaccurate kick…

The awkwardness of the morning was turned up to eleven once Junpei got up and joined them having breakfast. "Had some fun last night, didn't you?" He asked as he chewed some cereal.

Minato choked on his coffee. "I have no idea of what you're talking about."

"Oh, man, c'mon, the walls ain't that thick." He slouched on his chair and braced himself. "Ah~! Uuuhn! M-Minato! More~!" He snickered creepily. "Doesn't your throat hurt, Hamu-chan?"

"S-SHUT UP!" Hamuko got up from her chair, almost throwing it to the ground.

Junpei caught his bowl of cereals and began running around the table trying to escape Hamuko, who was chasing him completely enraged, all under Minato's impassive stare. "What 'bout Ken, dude? He freaking lives next door!" He tried to hold the spoon with his mouth as he yelled dramatically. "Dophn't anywan phink of the chilfren?"

"SHUT THE HELL UP OR I'LL STICK THAT SPOON UP YOUR—"

"Do you really have to be so noisy at this hour…?" Yukari dragged her feet towards the kitchen.

"Noisy, _**me**_? Hey, Yuka-tan, didn't you _hear the news_ yesterday?"

"Huh?"

"And man! Didn't you end a bit too early…?" He smirked. "Problems, 'M-Minato'?"

Minato discreetly shifted on his chair, extending his leg in the precise moment to make Junpei trip and fall flatly to the ground alongside Hamuko. "I bet you were enjoying it as much as us." He looked askance at Hamuko, who glared at him, obviously aware that he made her fall on purpose.

"Wha—Ew, dude! What are you sayin'? I'm not that creepy, man! …But, it wouldn't be my fault since it's you guys who are making a sho—ACK!" Junpei yelled in pain as Hamuko began pulling his right leg towards his back. "Yuka-tan! Save me from these freaks!"

"…Where did you guys leave the cocoa?" Yukari asked from the kitchen, completely ignoring Junpei.

"What is the cause of this disturbance?" …And then Mitsuru joined them. There was a general silence.

"I believe Junpei-san was referencing to an encounter between Minato-san and Hamuko-san of a sexual nature which apparently occurred yesterday."

"OH, **THAT'S RIGHT**! There's an awesome ninja movie playing on the cinema only today! We can't miss it, guys!" Hamuko led Aigis and dragged Junpei out of the dorm in a rush, abandoning their fate into Minato's hands.

* * *

><p>"Alright… I think we're far enough… You're free to go, man." Hamuko finally dropped Junpei's leg as they arrived to Iwatodai Station.<p>

"Duuude…" Junpei rubbed the back of his head as he sat up. "What's with that mood? …Is he so bad at—" He raised his hands in a placating way as the girl glared dangerously at him.

"We didn't actually do it, shut up." She folded her arms, realizing how weird that sounded.

"Ooooh! So he _does_ have prob- H-hey, just kiddin', put that hand down…" The boy with the baseball cap wrapped her neck with an arm. "You can tell ol' Bropei all 'bout it! 'Cuz yanno, it's not like we ever talk unless something's up between you two." He said with a rather reproaching tune.

"…Sorry. I'm always with Minato and…" She mumbled. "A-Anyway, you see, I… chickened out and left him when we were getting to it."

"Whoa, what? You left him like that?"

"Well, I…"

"Hamuko-san, were we not going to the local cinema?" Aigis interrupted them. "I need to update my maps of Iwatodai, as Ikutsuki-san suggested."

"Ah… yeah, right. Oh! By the way, I'm gonna hafta keep a conversation with you, Aigis! I need to find out where the hell you keep learning all those things!" She shot Junpei a dirty look.

And so, they boarded the train to Port Island Station, having a talk during the journey –during which Hamuko held Aigis's hand all the time, afraid she might get lost.

* * *

><p>A long, uncomfortably detailed explanation later… "…And then I ran away after kicking him." Hamuko rubbed the back of her head. "What do you think?"<p>

"DUUUDE!" Junpei exclaimed, sounding really shocked. "How could you do that to him? Poor guy!"

"E-eh…?" That was unexpected.

"You know I usually side with you, Hamu-chan, but… _**dude**_." He slammed his hand against his forehead. "You can't do that to a guy and then leave!"

"Why…?"

"'Cause his curtains shouldn't match his balls!" The boy nodded to himself, looking all serious.

"What the—Oh man, don't say that!" Hamuko shot him a disgusted look.

"It's true, though." He shrugged.

"…" She furrowed her eyebrows. "So what can I do?"

"Well, obviously—"

"Other than that." She growled. "…I don't want to end up making him go through that again..."

"I don't think he'll mind." Junpei snorted. "The way I see it, you can either leave him so you don't hafta worry about him, or think of a solution by yourself."

* * *

><p>"So what are 'ninjas'?" Aigis asked as they approached the cinema.<p>

"They're the coolest of the cool!" Junpei exclaimed. "Those guys were the most awesome thing ever! …Even if my technique is more like a samurai's, I must admit their superiority."

"A samurai? You look more like a baseball player with a katana to me." Hamuko sneered.

"You're just jealous because you don't know how to use them!"

* * *

><p>And so they got to the cinema and began watching the aforementioned film. Ninjas! They were awesome! They could wash brains, they had freaking shurikens, and some used naginatas! Junpei LOVED the film, and even Aigis seemed to really like it as well! …However, Hamuko didn't enjoy it so much because she was busy thinking about it. Attacks at long range… That was kind of inspiring.<p>

* * *

><p>"Oooh man! The part when they kicked some serious pirate ass was so awesome!" Junpei bounced excitedly. "Best. Film. Ever!"<p>

"I have updated my information on ninjas." Aigis informed robotically. "Ninja is the ultimate status a man can achieve."

"You got that right!" The boy raised his hand to do a high-five, which was completely ignored.

"In combat, the power of their body is equivalent to that of highly advanced special weapons. They were war machines, with unparalleled fighting skill."

"They're like your predecessors, Aigis." Hamuko joked.

"Is that so…? Then, why has their existence ceased? …Was it an ice age? …Perhaps the proliferation of the Internet?"

"That… sounds about right."

"Which?"

"B-Both." She muttered, trying to hold back her laughter.

"I comprehend. Internet caused an ice age which exterminated every ninja." The robot nodded, and then smiled. "Thank you very much for today. I shall call you Hamuko-ninja from now on."

"…"

"…?"

Her face became serious again. "That was a humorous joke."

"I-if you say so." Hamuko smiled awkwardly.

"Dude, why can't I be Junpei-ninja?"

"…Do you really wanna know?"

And so, they took the train back to Iwatodai.

* * *

><p>"I have already thought of something." Hamuko stated proudly as they walked towards the dorm. "I don't want him to touch me because I'm afraid he'll hurt me. Yanno, I think that's kinda a result of having beaten up each other so many times."<p>

"Or yanno, him trying to rape you." He splattered, sounding rather angry. "...I still dunno how you could forgive him."

"I have my reasons." She shrugged. "In any case, he doesn't need to touch _me_ to be happy, now does he?"

"…Whoa, whoa, whoa, too much information. …Thanks for the mental image." He laughed creepily.

"…Thanks for reminding me why I'll never hook up with you."

* * *

><p>Hamuko found out a while later that Minato had managed to convince everyone that Aigis was just repeating what she heard Junpei say– and that it was a lie, of course. However, the bluenet was nowhere to be found.<p>

Minato showed up as dusk arrived, wheezing and dragging his feet. "One hundred laps around the city… All for a Social Link…" He said, his legs wobbling with every step. Hamuko wasted no second dragging him towards his room, against his will –but in that state, it's not like he could put much of an opposition.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday…" She whispered in his ear as she ran her hands all over his back. Well, he had sore legs, but, whatever, it felt really good. Really really good.<p>

"It… doesn't matter… I understand that you're… still scared of me…" He answered, trying to keep his composure as one of her hands traveled to the bruised zone of his abdomen and caressed it lovingly. He gave her a disappointed look once she stopped smoothing over his skin, but it turned into a startled one as she began removing her shirt. "What are you doing?"

"Apologizing." She proceeded to remove her tank top. "I want you to be happy, but I'm not over what happened yet… But, as long as you don't lay a finger on me, whatever you do won't bother me…" She unzipped her skirt. "A good idea, isn't it?"

Minato finally reacted when she unclasped her bra and grabbed her hands before she could finish taking it off. He took a deep breath and tried to speak as calmly as he could. "Hamuko, think before you **think**. You're saying it wouldn't bother you to just lie there while I-"

"Why should it?" She rested a hand on her hip and sneered. "You think I've never seen a guy with his pants down or what?"

"…What I think is that you need help." Minato rubbed his temples as he let out a tired sigh.

"Junpei said that it was that or leaving you so you didn't suffer!"

"Junpei. Why am I not surprised?" He shook his head. "…Hamuko, that wouldn't be fair to you."

"Well, I can—"

"W-what I mean is," he quickly interrupted her, foreseeing what she was going to say, "I don't want to do anything you don't want to do."

"I want my boyfriend to be happy! But I… Is there any word that means 'I wanna do you but I don't want you to do me?'"

"…I don't think that makes any sense." He mumbled. "Hamuko… I don't care about having to wait until you get over with being afraid of me. I'm not going to get angry or sad because you reject me."

"But you got mad yesterday!"

"Because you kicked me!"

"Oh."

"Listen to me." He grabbed her shoulders. "I'm happy for as long as you're happy with me. Just having you near makes my day..."

"R-really? …You're such a weirdo."

"Says you?"

A blush and a smile spread across her face. She extended her arms to pull him into a warm embrace as she muttered "That's why I love you so…" And with that, the Fools Social Link level 7… "It's getting kinda chilly in here, isn't it…?" She shivered.

"Well yeah, that tends to happen when someone walks around in their undergarments for too long." Minato remarked drily.

"How 'bout we cuddle under the blankets for a while… my love?"

"Do you want me to warm you up? Don't you know how difficult it was to convince everyone that nothing happened last night…?" He asked jokingly while she pretty much forced him to lay down under the blankets, climbing on top of him right afterward with the only intention of embracing him strongly. "Ouch, Hamuko, be careful with the bruise."

"Sorry!" She moved up so she wouldn't be touching the wounded zone. It looked _**and**_ was awkward on many levels, but she didn't seem to care.

"…Hamuko."

"Yeah?"

"Shouldn't you do something about your bra?"

The brunette looked at her shoulder, only to find the straps were almost falling. "Oh, that's right. I almost forgot." She propped herself on her forearms and smiled. "Positive reinforcement…"

Her thoughts as Minato ran away to get some paper to stop the most awkward nosebleed ever were about how Junpei might have been right after all. She wasn't sure whether the thought was hilarious or disappointing, so she decided to laugh it off at his face once he came back. The bluenet argued that having high blood pressure wasn't his fault and that it meant absolutely nothing, and once his girlfriend had calmed down a bit, he suggested going back to snuggling together. However, seeing Hamuko laugh her ass off while he tried hard to keep his eyes focused on her face just wasn't the same, so he decided to kick her out once he was fed up with the situation.

Hamuko had a wide grin when she left, both because of the heavy weight that had been lifted off her shoulders earlier and the laughs. Minato, on the other hand, spent the whole evening calling himself an idiot. And what was frustration good for? TARTARUS!

* * *

><p>"Good thing we didn't bring Junpei, huh?" Hamuko shouted over the roaring, buffeting winds.<p>

The Natural Dancers were a dangerous foe, launching Garudynes at the fighters with impunity to keep them at a distance, and using Charm attacks to turn them against each other. Akihiko had already succumbed to the adverse effect once, needing Yukari to cure him before he healed the Shadow further.

When the Dancers turned to cast a Magarudyne at their overwhelmed healer, Hamuko quickly perked up and launched herself headlong at the intertwined couple, lashing out with the physical attacks that had proven to be the only effective means of damaging it.

_"Hamuko-chan, wait!" _Fuuka broadcast in a panic.

The tremendous outward nova of wind was enough to lift the Fool off her feet and dash her against the floor, some ten yards away. Her naginata clattered uselessly to the ground, far out of her reach.

"Jeez, that was some attack," she muttered dazedly, offering the Shadow a weak glare. In response, the Dancers gyrated their hips in a mesmerizing fashion, forcing all but Hamuko to avert their eyes from the Sexy Dance.

Minato glanced back up at the Shadow, only to be tackled bodily to the ground by Hamuko, a glazed look in her eyes. She pinned him down and began to strike ineffectively at him with her fists. The two struggled on the ground for a while.

Yukari raised an eyebrow. "I can't tell if she's attacking him or..."

"YUKARI!" Minato roared.

She startled. "Ah! Right! Io!"

The haze in Hamuko's eyes faded, clarity returning. She looked down to see who she was straddling, before quickly backing off, looking nervous.

"Ha!" Akihiko crowed, grabbing their attention as he landed a powerful uppercut that drove the Shadow to the ground. He looked irritably over at the two Fools, who were still somewhat distracted. "You want to get it now, or wait for the next lucky hit?"

"Get 'em!" Hamuko affirmed, glad for the distraction.

* * *

><p>On the walk back to the dorm, Hamuko sidled up to Minato. "Hey, when I was charmed, I was <em>attacking<em> you, right?"

"Pretty sure, yeah," he muttered back. "Figures. Can't go too far with you when you're fine, and I can't get you off me when you're charmed..."

A sharp pain in the back of his head, caused him to whip around, seeing Akihiko walking behind him, looking completely unrepentant.

"I was charmed," he said non-convincingly.

* * *

><p>"Good morning!" Hamuko ran to the kitchen, and seeing that only Junpei and Minato were around, she quickly landed a kiss on Minato's lips. "Morning, love."<p>

Minato mumbled something impossible to understand behind his cup.

"Morning, Hamu-chan." Junpei smirked. "I see your plan worked."

"Yup! Someone got leaky—I mean, lucky." She mimicked her friend.

"Hey, I gave you the idea!" He protested. "Don't I get anything?"

"You get to be lucky enough that I won't punch you." The bluenet spoke way more clearly this time.

Junpei shot an eyebrow up. "…Geez, ya guys take turns at being moody or somethin'?"

"Oh, yeah, Minato had quite a mood yesterday…" Hamuko stole his cup and drummed her fingers on the table, looking away as he glared at her. "Eyes up here, honey. Or I'll keep the cup."

"All yours, then." He gave her a devilish grin.

"…Chocolate?" She asked, surprised.

"What's everyone's problem with me liking chocolate?"

"It's for sissies." Junpei snorted. "Real men have coffee!"

"…That's why you have cereals, huh?" Hamuko sneered. "Never mind that! I think that it's very cute that a bitter person like you likes chocolate."

"Bitter?" Minato feigned offence. "I'm sweeter than sugar."

"Hmm… Mind if I judge that?" She inquired seductively.

"G-guys, I'm still here. You guys…" The boy in the baseball cap muttered while he did his best to keep his eyes away from the kissing couple. "Hey, look! Senpai!"

"EEK!" Hamuko pulled away and began glancing around nervously. "…You, idiot!"

Junpei cackled while the Fools shot him a dirty look, promptly going back to what they were going. "Uh-uh, guys." He was ignored. "G-Guys!"

"HMM!" Minato tried to yell something, but he couldn't for obvious reasons.

"Augh, seriously, what's up? WHAT?" The brunette yelled angrily, finally breaking the kiss. She could feel her blood rush out of her face as she turned around only to find Mitsuru. Minato looked quite rigid as well. "S-Senpai."

"I apologize for the… interruption," she rose an eyebrow, "but there's something I need to tell you. The Chairman will be here tonight. We'll meet on the fourth floor as usual. That's all." Mitsuru spoke nervously, apparently embarrassed. "You can, uh… resume your activities." And with that she walked away.

A few seconds went by silently. They ended with Junpei bursting into a roar of laughter. "OH GOD, YA SHOULDA SEEN YOUR FACE!" …His laughter stopped after getting a deadly glare from both Fools. "…Tsk, whatever, see if I care 'bout ya when you two spend the rest of your vacations grounded or somethin'."

"The rest of our vacations…? ACK! Monday's the last day!" Hamuko yelled, horrified.

"…Ah, crap! I haven't done my homework yet!" Minato mimicked her.

"Oh crap, crap, crap I hafta phone Saori! I promised I'd help her with a project Ms. Ounishi gave her before vacations ended!" She quickly looked for Saori's number as she ran out of the dorm.

* * *

><p>"What a beautiful day, huh? Staying in finishing the project would have been a waste." Saori announced happily while they had some takoyaki on a bench in front of Octopia.<p>

"We'd be enjoying more if you weren't carrying it around." Hamuko chuckled. "I mean, writing a fake love advice column for the school newsletter can't be that difficult, right?"

"I don't know what to say about that…" She mumbled. Saori looked up from her takoyaki and noticed that a girl had her eyes on her –a classmate, maybe? "Good afternoon, Sayoko-san!"

The girl didn't say anything, opting instead to walk away. Saori cast her eyes down and smiled wryly. "Maybe she hasn't heard you…" Hamuko suggested to her older friend.

"It's always like this…" A sigh escaped her lips.

"Hey, never mind that idiot! I bet there are a lot of people who…" The brunette began trailing off, seeing that Saori's expression became more and more gloomy.

"No one talks to me, no one responds when I say hello..." She whispered. "They're not actually doing anything to me, so it's not like being bullied... It's just... everyone's being really distant to me."

"Everyone's an idiot, then." Hamuko stated angrily. "Well, you and me are friends! Screw what the others think!"

"Hamuko-chan… Thanks… But if you say things like that, they will start new rumors!" Saori laughed happily. "We should get to writing…" She put her takoyaki away and passed the newsletter manuscript to Hamuko. "There's a lot of space left… Are you any good at giving love advice?"

"I'm more of the kind who asks the wrong people for them." Hamuko rubbed the back of her neck.

"I guess that we should start with the problems, then."

"Oh, oh, I know! 'I can't get a boyfriend!' I have a boyfriend, so I guess I understand a few of it!"

"Since when?" The grey haired girl asked, surprised.

"We've been together for a really long time, but I've been calling him my boyfriend for a week or so." She laughed merrily. "And you, Saori-chan? Have you ever had anyone special?"

The older junior looked quite troubled. "N-No, I don't know shit of that…"

"Whoa, has the shy, delicate Saori-chan just sworn?" Hamuko smiled bemusedly. "I'm a horrible influence!"

"Ahaha!" Saori began laughing loudly. "It's nothing like that! Sorry, I just wanted to try cursing for once. How did I do? Did I say that right?"

"You cuss like a pro."

They continued laughing like idiots, disregarding completely the project. "Ah... Hoo, that was fun." She breathed deeply. "It's so wonderful to be able to say what I want. Speaking your thoughts out loud... It's a wonderful feeling." She turned to Hamuko. "...That's what I think every time I watch you. I must've been envious of you..."

"Welp, yanno, venting your rage is always fun." Hamuko grinned at her.

"…Thanks." Saori mimicked her… And yep, Hermit Social Link level 6. "Let's get to work on that article... What should the next letter be about? …'I'm in a long-distance relationship, and I miss my boyfriend sooooooo much!'" She looked down. "...Does that sound believable?"

"I'd buy it." The brunette mumbled, a tad worried.

Countless hours of mental struggle later, they finally managed to write three paragraphs and say the project was finished.

* * *

><p>"Good, you're all here." Ikutsuki spoke to the teens gathered in the Command Room that evening. He turned to the door and shouted "Please come in."<p>

The door opened, and Ken walked in, looking rather shy. "Sorry to interrupt."

"You must be kidding..." Akihiko's eyes widened.

"After running several tests, we've learnt that he has more than adequate potential. I called this meeting so that I could introduce him, since he'll be joining our squad." Well, everyone had known him for weeks, but, whatever.

"B-But Mr. Chairman, he's still in elementary school." Mitsuru tried to reason. "Besides..."

"Besides... what?" The Chairman spoke coldly. "His ability is quite promising. With the proper training, he could be a big help."

"But," the silver haired boxer looked completely shocked, "is HE okay with it?"

"Actually, I asked to join." Ken spoke up. "I believe I can be of some assistance..." He glanced away and his voice became a whisper. "Now, I finally know why I was given this power."

"...So, as you can see, it was his own decision." He echoed happily.

"Nice to meet you all." Ken smiled. "I'll try not to get in anyone's way."

In fact, before anyone had even noticed, Hamuko got up and ran to him, shaking his hand eagerly. "Welcome to S.E.E.S.! I'm one of the leaders, so if you ever need my help, be it at Tartarus or here, don't doubt to ask me. I'm here for you twenty-five hours a-"

Minato pushed her away. "I'm the other leader. Just wanted to let you know that things won't be easier for you just because you're a child."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." The child nodded.

"We got your back, kid." Junpei gave him a thumbs-up. "It may be hard at times, but stick with it."

"Yes, got it!"

After a few more welcomes from everyone, the S.E.E.S. members left the room.

"Oh, Arisato, Seikatsu…" Mitsuru stopped them as they were about to leave as well, but she suddenly began to stammer. "I was about to ask you to take a look at the main computer but…" She seemed a bit flustered. "It would be inappropriate…considering… N-Nevermind, I am positive that you can check it tomorrow morning… D-dismissed."

"…They don't trust us alone." Hamuko's voice sounded somewhere between amused and reproaching.

"Gee, I wonder whose fault it is." Minato rolled his eyes.

"You say that because of what happened this morning?"

"Sure, why not?" He let out a big sigh. "By the way, Hamuko… I'll say this again, just in case I didn't make it clear enough the last time: stay away from Ken. I'm not kidding this time; don't even get close to that child."

"Since _**when**_ do I need your permission to make friends?" She growled.

"Since flirting with prepubescent children is a crime."

"For the last time, I'm not-!" Hamuko stopped talking and took a deep breath. "Look, I don't wanna argue with you. Ken is safefrom me, don't worry." She frowned. "I prefer real men, thank you." That's why she decided to hang out with a dog.

Getting Strength Level 6 by scaring the shit out of a couple of punks trying to break into the shrine with more than doubtable intentions was probably the best she could do to cheer up.

* * *

><p><strong>I was this near of making Hamuko say "It worked for Shinji Ikari!"<strong>


	59. Junpei tales

**Author note: today I'm trying a new thing: chapter from Junpei's POV! **

**Exams week is over. YEAAAAH. Thanks a lot to Evilshroom for betaing and to gadeel for the big add to the TVTropes Article! :D**

**And don't forget to keep voting, the poll ends this Sunday!**

* * *

><p>There were only three days left until school started again, and Junpei was determined to make the best out of them by entertaining himself with elaborate televised animation and improving his hand-eye coordination with his dear handheld. Of course, such a handsome young man would much rather be at the beach, swarmed by women admiring all the muscles he had promptly developed by saving humankind from its enemy, the Shadows, but, he was too modest and great to brag about his charms.<p>

And so the young warrior ran to the lounge, jumping down the steps of the stairs in groups of three, displaying his great accuracy and mastery of coordination, ready to enjoy the new day… until he arrived at the kitchen. While he was preparing his beloved breakfast, a delicacy composed of some unnamed, and unimportant, brand of cereals coated with sugar, a few suspicious giggles reached his acute ears. His fast mind quickly pointed the living room as the source, yet the motive remained undetermined.

"W-what are you doing?" A familiar voice asked between little girly laughs.

"Apologizing."

His detective-like instinct, nonetheless, promptly allowed him to deduce a cause: two familiar dorm mates were sharing improper activities on the couch. That, of course, was nothing which could interest such a gentleman… but then again, his mind could be wrong, whereas his heightened senses would not deceive him… so, he lost nothing taking a look with his own eyes… to make sure his friends were not suffering from any kind of danger, of course. And so, he peeked at them from behind the kitchen wall.

"Don't burn me there…" The female demanded with a voice way breathier than her usual. "Kiss me lower…"

The young blue haired lad leaning against her removed his mouth from her neck and looked at her straight in the eye. "How much lower do you want me to kiss you?"

"What about…?" The moment she grabbed his head, Junpei realized that there were things that his pure mind was better off not seeing. Hearing the new giggles filling the lounge told more than enough.

…Even though his duty as a honorable citizen was to advise them against that kind of behavior, he decided to let it pass for the time and suspend his previous plans in favor of his friends. As our hero was about to depart from the dorm, however, he took a last minute decision to leave the matter on hands of the powerful Akihiko and the wise Mitsuru, who were just waltzing down the stairs, and could probably handle the situation better than he ever could. And thus, he was off to the adventures in the dangerous land of Port Island Station, full of dreadful punks and several other scum, yet home of the adored cinema.

Yeah, that was Junpei Iori, a master in every aspect. A proud lonely wolf, who didn't need anyone to have fun…

He was more than happy all by himself, watching action movies and wolfing down popcorn, fantasizing that he was a secret agent or a samurai or whatever. Who cared about the others? Who was resentful because he was going to the cinema alone because all his friends were busy with their couples? Not him, that's for sure…

He was Junpei the love master, Junpei the manliest man, Junpei the cool guy… Junpei the creep no girl wanted. Nah! That wasn't true! It was them girls rejecting him for no reason! Well, their loss, they were going to miss that hot stud full of flaming love Junpei was. And they'd all come back crawling and crying his name when he finally found some chick ten times hotter than Yukari and made her his girl, for he was so cool that the girls didn't dare ask him out! Aw yeah!

And even if he didn't, who cares? He was a freaking hero! …One hour every week. But still, he looked forward to every single of those moments! Proving that badass was not enough to describe Mr. J.! Hoo boy, since he'd joined S.E.E.S. he'd been having so much fun! He got to kill things, practice baseball with a katana and keep killing things, and kill even bigger things! And since he was residing in the dorms, he no longer had to go see his father… that drunken bastard. How would he be doing…?

"This year's going fast…" Junpei mumbled to himself as he walked out of the cinema. "Next year I'll be a senior…" …Could he make a living out of battling Shadows forever? Hamuko and the blue haired crook always had money somehow, and they refused to tell him how they did it! He'd even tried to get a work at Chagall, putting his extreme manliness in danger by offering himself to wear a butler suit… but they kept rejecting him for some reason.

The boy spotted a can laying on the ground and began kicking it as he wandered aimlessly around the plaza. Minato, Hamuko, Minato, Hamuko… That's all he ever heard about. They're so powerful, they're the leaders, they're too cool for Junpei. Tsk. Minato was a complete jerk, who thought he was better than him or something. 'Look at me, I'm Mr. Swag! All the girls follow me and I don't give a fuck!' or also 'I tried to rape my girlfriend but the creepy one is Junpei! Hurr durr!'. Hamuko, on the other hand, was his best friend, but… sheesh. Everyone is a bit nuts, but you don't expect a leader to have their mind as totally out there as her. Like it didn't hurt enough they'd chosen a girl over him… 'Hey guys, I'm gonna put the mission in danger by goin' 'round half naked! If ya dun like it dun look at me, yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!'… 'I flirt even with kids, but Jun-kun's mah broooo!' Seriously…

"Can you stop doing that?"

Junpei turned his head towards the feminine voice. It was that gothic Lolita he'd seen some days before. …She was still wearing the same weird white dress, which suited her red long hair in a weird way. One of the most curious things about her was that thing she had on her head which looked like an sword crossing right through her school and the sketchbook she was carrying.

"You are making a lot of noise." She looked up from her sketchbook. She still had some pretty deep dark circles under her eyes and looked sickly pale. "You again?" She asked coldly.

He felt rather dumb as he realized he'd been kicking a can for ten minutes. "Uh, w-well..." Changing the subject would be the best option. "…I'm surprised you remember me."

"Same here..." She went back to drawing.

"Well, you kinda stand out in that dress..." Junpei chuckled awkwardly. …That didn't came out very smoothly, so he'd better try to break the ice in some other way; after all, that was a girl talking to him. "So... what are you drawing?"

"Nothing." The red head looked quite annoyed. "Why?"

"Uhh, no reason..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just thinking, it must be nice to have something you're really into."

"It's no big deal..." She muttered as she shrugged. "I only draw because I like to..."

"Oh, yeah?" Well, the conversation was getting better. "...Still, I'd like to see it when you're done, okay?"

…False alarm, the girl just didn't bother to say anything else.

* * *

><p>Junpei took the monorail back to the dorm, determined to see the results of the situation he stumbled upon morning.<p>

As soon as he entered the dorm, he was greeted by Koromaru. Ah, what a cool dog… He crouched down to pat his head and then continued his path.

"Yo Fuuka-chan!"

The shy, nerdy, and yet pretty cute teal-haired girl detoured her sigh from her laptop. She flashed him a little smile before asking with her melodious voice "Yes, Junpei-kun?"

He tried to dissimulate a mischievous smile. "…Have you heard about what happened this morning?"

"Huh? I don't recall anything happening... What do you mean?" Man, Fuuka was such a girl. She looked so tiny and weak that he wanted to be her side all the time, and that was probably the reason why the two were so familiar. She was doubtlessly his best friend in the dorm, when Hamuko was too busy being all over Minato, and he'd probably have already had his way with her, seeing the underlying attraction…

"Stupei, no one cares about your dirty stories." …If it wasn't for Yukari. Oh, Yuka-tan… That was some jealousy right there. It was obvious that she wanted his body desperately, however, she feared awakening the wrath of the other girls in the dorm… But, of course, he could easily read between the lines. Every time she called him things, it was obvious that she was suffering from some serious unresolved sexual tension. Oh well.

Just then, two people walked downstairs, laughing loudly, to the point that one of them almost fell. "_**'I'm coming'**_! Oh God that was HILARIOUS!" …Those two, again.

"H-Hey guys…" Hamuko greeted them looking completely flushed and trying to hold back her hysterical laughter.

"Did you manage to repair the computer? Shall I give you a hand?" Fuuka offered kindly.

It was Minato's time to look like he had swallowed a cactus. "T-that won't be necessary, F-Fuuka-chan…" He elbowed Hamuko after a chuckle escaped her lips.

The other second years just gave them a weird look. There was some sort of unspoken rule in the dorm: avoid interaction when those two were together as much as possible. Everyone knew that they were complete loons, living in their own little world, always up to something, and that getting involved never turned out too well. And the things they did when no one else was around had been a secret spoken with loud voice for months, so no one was too comfortable being the third wheel. Because you know, it wasn't like they couldn't see all those bruises on their necks.

Only the brave Junpei dared break this rule of silence by offering his invaluable friendship, showing them they weren't alone in the world. As a repayment, however, he only wanted the rights to tease them a bit; overall, when those laughs were obviously a mechanism to defend themselves from the horrible scolding they'd probably received that morning. "So, did anythin' interesting happen this morning…?"

Minato rose an eyebrow and smiled knowingly. "Not really." Whoa, that wasn't what he was expecting. "Well, _**someone**_ left the dorm rather early today, but that's about it."

"Oh?" What Junpei meant was 'oh shit'.

"Yeah, we'd have had problems if it wasn't for him…" Hamuko stepped closer to Junpei. "Thanks for closing the door so loudly." She winked at him, and with that the two of them began laughing again. They'd be knee-deep in shit if it wasn't for him-? But, of course, Junpei was so awesome that he helped his friends even when he didn't mean to! …Maybe he'd have to help Yukari as well, because the girl looked like she was about to kill someone. Well, they weren't _**that**_ annoying, but, whatever.

"By the way…" Minato kept chuckling as he wrapped Junpei's neck with an arm, a bit too strongly. "_If I find out you spied on us again, I will shave your ridiculous goatee off with my katana, you depraved piece of shit_." He offered him a warm grin after letting him go. "Got it?"

Holy. Crap. He hadn't seen that one coming from Minato… A-anyway, that didn't scare the valorous young boy! The right thing to do was showing him who the piece of shit was… He only agreed to never do it again because he considered that it was better to keep in good terms with his leader, not because he had a bigger katana.

"What were you telling him, honey?" Junpei could hear them talk as they headed out.

"Oh, just thanking him for…" The voices became a whisper as they left. …Hamuko had said something about hating people who treated her friends badly that one time she told off Akihiko, hadn't she…?

* * *

><p>Junpei had some fun having noodles with Akihiko. Apparently, the silver head was looking forward going back to school to go back to boxing. Yeah, not everyone could be born with natural strength like him. That was probably why Akihiko didn't dare act in a more friendly way with him: he was afraid of what people would think in school about him befriending his rival. Oh, that was just fine, Junpei could understand it; fame was so harsh... Just look at Mitsuru! There she was, mesmerized by a TV program about cooking the perfect takoyaki. What would the talk at school be if she suddenly gifted her kohai with food and her love?<p>

* * *

><p>That evening Hamuko begged him to accompany her to Escapade… her and her boyfriend. Junpei's strict honor code didn't allow him to hang out with guys who'd threaten his carefully grown manly beard… and he didn't have a yen on him, and he didn't feel comfortable being invited by a girl. Afraid of alcohol? Him? Oh, please.<p>

* * *

><p>He went to bed late because he had stayed up playing The Ultimate Arena 4… and then deeply regretted doing so when his beloved dorm mates arrived at the dorm singing. It only got worse when they apparently decided to have some sexy drunk time against his wall, followed by suspicious thumping noises on Minato's bed –…how beds sounded when someone did weird things on them is general knowledge, shut up. …And then it got weird when Hamuko suddenly shrieked, and then the noise stopped, replaced instead by angry yells. Junpei's uh… life experience told him that girls didn't scream like that in those situations. He didn't know about every girl, only about a ninety-nine percent, but he knew Minato had already tried something weird on her before… then again, if he suddenly broke in he could need some urgent brain bleach –what an unusual way too call it…<p>

Yes, Junpei was many things. Junpei the loser, Junpei the class jock, Stupei… but above all his bad qualities, above all the things that made him be a lonely boy who cheered himself up by pulling pranks on others, and who was always smiling to hide his own problems… he was Junpei the Hero, Junpei the guy all his friends could rely on… And a hero couldn't take any chances at leaving a friend alone to face something like that, even if he got decked afterward!

"What's going on?" He shouted as he opened the door. They… They… They were only sitting on their bed. Unfortuna—err… thankfully clothed, for the most part.

"Oh haaaai, Jun-kun!" Hamuko gave him a big dumb smile. "Ya came here to talk to Pha-rosh? Shorry, he'sh gone. I think I scared'im when I screamed…"

He didn't dare ask what the hell that meant. "What were those noises?" Like that was a smarter question.

"This idiot says that we shoulda sleep in her bed 'cause it's comfier, sho I'm showin' her it's not." Minato bounced on his bed. "See? Yours's less bouncy!"

"NU-UH, yar just jumpin' too high!" She mimicked him. "It'sh not! Let'sh do it here!"

"No, in your room!"

"Yeah, I'm with him, go do it in your room!" Junpei's suggestion earned him a glare from both teens.

"What are YOU doin' here?" Minato asked darkly.

Junpei closed the door as he left, half hoping that they would pass out before reaching a decision. Guess what, they did. A little part of him, however, was regretting the fact that they hadn't gone to her room, woken up Yukari in the way and caused the most awkward morning ever. …Junpei the misplaced hero, he guessed.

* * *

><p>"…Haven't you slept enough?" Minato asked as he tried to push Hamuko off him.<p>

"No." Hamuko tried to stare him down through half lidded eyes. Seeing that she was achieving nothing, she decided to wrap her arms around him so he would stop moving. "Why don't we stay like this a little longer…?" She rubbed her nose against his.

"Because you aren't as light as you think you are." He gave up trying to get up and lied down again. "My head… I need some coffee."

"Bring some for me too." She commanded lazily.

"I can't when you're crushing me." Not that he'd bring it to her, anyway.

"…Then we aren't getting any coffee." And with that, she went back to trying to snap his neck or something, judging by how strong she was embracing him.

"You're gonna miss Phoenix Ranger…" He reminded her, hoping that she wouldn't realize that they could watch it from the… ground. …When had they ended up there? Holy crap, the previous night was really blurry.

"I don't care…" She snuggled up to his chest.

…Was it just him, or Hamuko had suddenly become really _**really**_ fond of him? It was bizarre how in a few days she'd gone mumbling nonsense about wanting him to be happy to literally being all over him. Not that he would complain…

"Wait, is it Sunday…?" Hamuko rolled off him and jumped to her feet. "I hafta go meet Akinari!"

"Akinari?" The blue head queried.

"He's a Social Link of mine! And man, he's DEEP!" Deep by Hamuko's standards… "I find him really depressing, but I love him!"

"Y-You what?" Minato asked, perplexed.

"I love listening to everything he says! It gives me a lot to think about!" She stated with a really big smile. "You'd love him too if you met him!"

"I'll take your word for it…" He muttered, suspicious of Hamuko's conception of what the word love was used for. They left his room after making sure that the coast –that is, the boys' corridor- was clear. "Hey Hamuko…" He asked as they walked towards the lounge. "Does this Akinari guy know about me?"

"Oh yeah, I talk to him about you a lot." Oh. "In fact I met him while you were out of town." _**Oh**_. "He was a _**big**_ help getting over it." …

"You know what...? I changed my mind. Let's meet that guy…"

* * *

><p>…Well, <em><strong>that<strong>_ wasn't what Minato expected. He stared at Hamuko in pure shock as she ran towards a boy with grey hair, who was coughing and wheezing, struggling to get some air, yet he somehow managed to mutter 'hi' to her. The brunette begged him not to talk and only moved away from him when his breathing got better.

"It's... starting to settle down, I think..." Akinari smiled warmly, even though he was still trying not to cough. "...Thank you for coming. It's better when I'm not alone." He looked at Minato, who was in turn watching them from afar. "Who is he?"

"My boyfriend." She grinned at him and motioned Minato to come closer. "Minato, Akinari; Akinari, Minato."

"Minato Ari—" He pressed his lips together. "Shirogane. Minato Shirogane. Pleased to meet you."

"Akinari Kamiki." They exchanged polite nods. "It's so wonderful that you have each other…" He breathed deeply. "I, on the other hand, have to face this alone... But that's okay, no one should have to deal with this sickness."

"…You're so brave, Akinari-kun." Hamuko sat down next to him.

"What is braveness good for, when I won't ever walk through a sunny field again because my legs and heart can't handle it." His sight was lost far away. "...All that's left is to draw my sheets around me and count the beats of my heart until they stop forever." …Alright, Minato had to give credit where it's due: that guy really had some future as a poet. "...Why is this only happening to me?"

"Random chance. Genetics are a very complex…" Minato received a weird look from the grey haired teenager.

"Genetics? Would you reduce the search of the meaning of your life to that?" Akinari blinked, perplexed. "Of course I understand why I'm dying, but 'why' am I dying?"

"Well, because… I… don't know…" Minato rubbed the back of his neck.

"Of course not." He relented. "No one knows. I don't even know. Perhaps you're right, and it would be better to blame my bad fortune, since I can't seem to find any meaning to my life. Perhaps I'm not missing all that much." He nodded to himself.

"If it helps, at least you aren't alone…" Hamuko failed to console him.

"Well logically, no. There are plenty of people dying in the world. ...But so what? That has nothing to do with my plight here in this bed."

"I… actually meant that you can count on me any time you need to talk about it…" She furrowed her eyebrows as she offered him a concerned smile.

"That is a nice thought... But talking doesn't allow me to run away from this illness... Then again, if my body was capable of escaping it, I wouldn't be here anyway..."

Minato looked at Hamuko. She had a really frustrated look on her face. "Isn't there any kind of medicine to slow down the effects?" He asked.

"What use is there in slowing down its advance? No matter what I do, my body is there to remind me... I'm going to die." His next sentence, only managed to increase the crease forming between Hamuko's brows. "...And there's nothing I can do!" After that last word he began coughing again. "Please don't leave... just yet..." He muttered. "When I'm alone... it feels like it could end at any second."

"It's only gonna get worse if you keep talking!" Hamuko put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be stupid, I'm not gonna leave you like that."

"But… I'd like to talk... for a little bit longer." Akinari tried to smile. After a few minutes, he looked fine again. "I am feeling... a little better... So thank you." …Sun Social Link level 3. What a frustrating Social Link…

They talked he whole afternoon about several matters, each of them more frustratingly complex than the previous. "...It's starting to get dark." He observed. "The seasons go by so fast… soon it will be Autumn. It could be my last one…" He looked at Hamuko and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be fine now... It was good seeing you. And meeting you, Minato-san."

"_She was right_…" Minato extended his hand towards the sick boy. "I will be back as well."

"I look forward to that." After that, they parted ways.

"So you go by Shirogane now?" Hamuko asked as they walked back towards the dorms.

"Unofficially, yes. It's a nice way of keeping my family near." Minato shrugged.

"…I liked Arisato better." She mumbled. "It rhymed with your name."

"Well, now you have a lot of time to think of a name which rhymes with Shirogane."

"Why would I do—ooh, we're married now." Hamuko rose an eyebrow. "Why don't you think of something which rhymes with Seikatsu instead?"

"Like what, Pikachu? It'd go well with you! Rodent theme naming!"

Going back to the dorm became a race to avoid Hamuko's rage upon that touchy subject.

* * *

><p>The plan for the night was too simply spend some time chilling out at the dorm, but things got a bit awkward when they came across Junpei. Minato had the impression that he was forgetting something… but he couldn't put his finger on what.<p>

The peace was broken once again when Fuuka and Hamuko began making a fuss about the fact that Koromaru hadn't eaten any of Fuuka's cooking that night– honestly, no one could blame him for that. Anyhow, he managed to use that attention to drag the brunette out of the dorm. Well, whatever, he was tired of giving him walks every two days. Come on, couldn't the other dorm members take him on walks or what?

* * *

><p>"A puppy!" Out of all the reasons why Koromaru wouldn't be eating, Hamuko hadn't seen that one coming. The cute black Akira began eating the piece of meat Koromaru had been carrying in his mouth for him. "Is he your son?"<p>

"…Arf?" Koromaru pricked up an ear.

"Oh, that's right, you're probably too young to give birth to anything." The brunette nodded to herself. For some reason, she felt that Koromaru was staring at her like she had just said something dumb. Well, she _**was**_ talking to a dog…

Once the cub was done eating, he crawled towards Hamuko and Koromaru. She picked him up. "D'awwww, you're such a cute thing… but I don't think Senpai would approve of another dog…" While petting him, she noticed that there was a thin collar around his neck. That meant that he already had an owner… "Koro-chan, do you have any idea of who this dog belongs to?"

"Woof."

"Yeah, that's what I thought… Well then, we hafta go look for him. There's only like… a lot of people in Iwatodai."

"Grr!" He pointed with his nose towards the station.

"…Why'd you wanna go there?"

Koromaru snorted and began pulling the leash, dragging Hamuko behind. After a while she finally realized that they were heading to Paulownia to visit the police office. Man, what a smart dog.

* * *

><p>"So you kids do this kind of jobs now?" Officer Kurosawa asked jokingly as he brought a recipient with water for the pup.<p>

"Well, yanno… I couldn't leave this lil' thing all by himself…" She scratched the dog behind his ears.

"I know the feeling…" The dark haired man muttered back as he began pressing some numbers in his mobile phone. He looked askance at Hamuko, who was standing by his side with her eyes fixed on him. …Hadn't she been in a similar situation before? Was she having a… uh… déjà-vu? "Is there anything wrong?"

"Ah, I was just wondering… Have you been working here for long?" She asked shyly.

"Well over ten years." He didn't bother say anything else, opting instead to focus on calling different pet shops. "Hello, is this the pet shop "Bow-wow"? My name is Kurosawa at the Tatsumi East Police Box..." He kept calling different places for a while. "That's correct, a black puppy... Breed? I have no idea... Huh? There is?" His eyes lit up. "Their puppy is missing... Yes. Koyama-san... I see, the house on the corner of second street. I'll ask them. Thanks very much." He hung up with a smile.

"Any luck?"

"It seems I might've found then... Don't look so worried." He called some other number again. "...Hello, is this the Koyama residence? My name is..." After a short exchange, the officer flashed he a warm grin. It was weird seeing him like that, considering that he always had a stern face. "We've found them. I'll take the puppy from here." He extended his hands to get the puppy from Hamuko.

"Thank you very much, Sir!" Hamuko bowed. "You heard that, Koro? He will be fine."

"Woof!" Koromaru wagged his tail happily.

"It's dark out, so you should head on back." He suggested. "You should be fine. You've a fine bodyguard with you." He patted Koromaru's head, before turning to the office. "Now, if you'll excuse me… Adachi! Where's my coffee?"

And so dog and rodent look-alike went by happily to the dorm, a level closer in their relationship. That was some fast Social Link.

* * *

><p><strong>And with this, we begin the countdown to the next shock chapter. It will be quite a shock.<strong>

_Beta Note: Seriously, none of you are ready for what's coming. I'm pretty sure there was ominous lightning when she told me about it._


	60. Back to school

**Author note: Aw yeah, 104 favorites and 96 story alerts. I feel important. But the number of reviews per chapter is still pretty low (oh well).**

**And now everyone go watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica because it's the best fucking anime ever. It needs more yuri, bi the way. **

**If there's some time left, go check the latest picture in my dA gallery, SandraMJ. BADASS SHINJI IS BADASS.**

**And thanks to Evilshroom for betaing!**

* * *

><p>"<em>Deal<em>?"

The two figures stared at each other at both sides of the vanishing mirror. The one holding Shi's hand was insecure, but the other was keeping the offer stubbornly. That little world began fading away as the two little hands almost reached each other…

It all happened within less than the blink of an eye. As soon as the just-arrived figure's tiny hand grazed the baby's, his young guardian tackled the former to the ground, letting Shi fall painfully. Tiny hands strangling a tiny neck, uncaring of the cries of pain and begs slowly becoming nothing but gasps of agony, and eventual silence.

"_Till Death us depart_." After that, everything went pitch black.

* * *

><p>"H-Huh?" Minato opened his eyes and blinked quickly, trying to adapt to the illumination of his room.<p>

"Oh, sorry, did I wake you up, love?" Hamuko looked at him with an innocent smile, closing a hand over her chest as she put her face away from his cheek. "Go back to sleep…"

"N-No, that's okay…" He stretched his arms. "I'm not feeling sleepy anymore…"

They spent some moments in silence. "Today is the last day of vacations."

"Yep."

"Back to our competition."

"Indeed."

"No more spending time together doing nothing."

"It was getting boring."

Hamuko rose an eyebrow at Minato, not very content with that answer. "Well then, if this is so boring, remind me to never sleep with you again."

"Hamuko, you have never slept with me."

"Then, what do you call this, genius?" She shook his arm, trying to point out that she was right next to him in his bed.

"Sleeping _**by**_ me. It's different." Minato yawned and turned around to embrace her. "May I ask why aren't you using your bed lately? Has your room been declared hazardous terrain yet?"

"It's getting cold." She answered simply. "And you're the hottest thing around."

"Is that so? …As if my shirt isn't enough, you want to get in my pants as well…" He rolled on top of her, to which she surprisingly put no opposition. "So, tell me, am I anything other than hot?"

"You're heavy, unfunny and a creep. But you're _mine_. And your pants too. _**My**_ love." Hamuko stated playfully as she hid her face in his neck, leaving little kisses all over his jaw. "Hey… can I keep sleeping here… with you…?"

"Akihiko-senpai will skin me alive if he sees us getting out of my room together on school days. You know the glares he always gives us." He reproached her.

"Or Mitsuru-Senpai could execute us for doing 'unscrupulous activities'."

"Hamuko, we do not talk about the execution."

"We do NOT talk about the execution." She agreed. After the awkward pause, she continued caressing Minato's neck with her lips for a while. "…So does that mean that I won't come ever again?"

"Don't worry; I'll make sure you will." He whispered in her ear.

"And will that high blood pressure of yours let you do that?"

"Wha- …Sorry, who was making the pun here? I got lost." Well… at least she hadn't pushed him to the ground. That was quite a development. Know what else was weird? "…Will you stop chewing my ear?"

"…Am I boring you?" Hamuko asked, disappointed.

"No, I meant it literally. Like, 'stop masticating my ear'." He received a weird look in response. "Like you were doing ten seconds ago."

"W-was I? ...Sorry, I'm pretty hungry…" She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, there are better things to eat than my ear." He offered nonchalantly.

"…"

"That came out wrong."

"…Will you get off me now?"

* * *

><p>After finding out that it was well after noon, they decided to go out to have lunch together. For some reason, Hamuko was specially insistent about going to Hagakure… Maybe she remembered that he liked ramen…?<p>

Seeing how disappointed she looked when they arrived, it probably wasn't that.

"Hey Minato!" A familiar voice called out to him. It was Mamoru…

"_A Social Link_?" Hamuko whispered to him.

"_Sorry, I_—"

"_That's okay, I'll have some appetizers while you talk to him_." She walked off and—"Two extra big specials, please!" Y-Yeah, appetizers… if by that she meant eating the contents of her purse. Minato took a seat between Mamoru and Hamuko.

"Hey, if anyone asks, you haven't seen me here." The tanned boy demanded.

Of course, an athlete with such a rigorous training can't be caught getting stuffed of ramen. …That didn't keep him, Kazushi or Minato from doing so, though. "Mamoru? What Mamoru?" He complied, prompting a laugh from Mamoru.

"Life as a sportsman is so hard… Gotta keep up with everything the trainer says, but it's boring now that no one can match my speed…" He glanced at Minato. "Hey, who do you consider your biggest rival?"

Well, Shadows of course. But Minato couldn't tell him that… His second biggest enemy? "Myself."

"Hey, that's deep!" Mamoru seemed impressed. Well, that wasn't Minato's intention, but, good for him. "I guess that when you get down to it, we're all our own worst enemies, right? You know it!" Yeah, he knew it pretty well. And so did Hamuko, who tread on his foot softly to comfort him or maybe just to put some dirt on his white trainers, who knows. "Hey, I'm pretty sure that you could be a good challenge for me. We should put more effort into the Track Team!"

"Yeah, let's give our best." Star Social Link level 2.

"I have this feeling we can drive each to the limit!" Mamoru got up from his chair, leaving his empty bowl behind. "Well, I'd better begin training right now! See you later, Minato!" And with that he ran off.

"Whoa, he's like Akihiko-senpai with brown hair." Hamuko pointed out, laughing. "Two guys driving each other to the limit… My, Shirogane-san, the very thought…" She fanned herself with a hand.

"No, only you can do that." Minato flashed her a cheeky smile.

"Don't remind me, it was pretty lame." She retorted evilly, making Minato glare at her.

"That's it, you're having lunch by yourself today." He got up and ran after Mamoru.

"B-B-BUT-!" She shouted at the closed door. Ouch. Well, it was actually worse for him, considering he was going to run a bajillion laps around the city.

* * *

><p>"Today is the last day of your summer break, isn't it, Seikatsu-chan?" The waitress didn't receive any answer. "Sei-ka-tsu-chaaan!"<p>

"Eh?" Hamuko suddenly snapped out of her thoughts.

Mimi was being as loudly gleeful as ever while she finished adjusting a few details of her maid outfit… "What's wrong, dear? You look all gloomy…" And this was one of those moments when she actually tried to act like a senpai, maybe… "Hey, _**Sei**_-chan?" Not.

"D-Don't call me that!" Hamuko exclaimed, somewhat offended.

"Alright, _Seika_-chan! I'm sure that fits you too!" She chuckled the way she always used to do. "Now seriously, tell me what's up."

"…" The brunette hesitated a bit. "I don't know what to think about my boyfriend. I think he's playing with me..."

"Oh, dear, I'd be more worried if he wasn't!"

"Playing with my feelings, Senpai…" She sighed sadly.

"Aww, no… don't be saaaaad, or you'll make me saaaaad too and we'll have to throw an angst party!"

"…" Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows. She could no longer understand the person who used to be her favorite coworker by far. "I'm always apologizing for everything, no matter whose fault it is…"

"If you feel you depend too much on him, then you have to show him his place!"

"Show him… his place? What?"

"Look, this is what you'll do…" The older waitress grabbed her shoulder and brought her against herself.

* * *

><p>"Minato…" For the thirtieth time that month, Hamuko walked into Minato's room, waking him up in the process.<p>

"Hamuko, there's school tomorrow; couldn't you act like a normal person for once in your life and apologize when the sun's out?" Those were the sore muscles speaking.

"…" She stepped closer to his bed. It was pretty dark, but Minato was of the utmost confidence that there was a smirk on her face. "I'm not here to apologize." She swiftly jumped on top of him, conserving her grin as she crawled up. "_I'm gonna make you do so_."

* * *

><p>"Yo, Minato!"<p>

"Hey, Kenji." Minato glanced at the boy and grinned, but he continued walking. "Do you need anything?"

"Longer vacations and… hey you look happy. Oh, _**wait**_! Ahaha, dude! You're wearing my choker—" Kenji suddenly stopped talking. He looked at Minato with a shocked expression. "Holy crap, man! What happened to your neck?"

"It doesn't cover half of it, does it…?" Minato took a deep breath as he ran a hand across his neck. It looked like it had been attacked by a swarm of furious wasps. "Hamuko was feeling playful last night."

"What the heck, does she have a vacuum mode or what? Dude, those are bite marks! I mean, I can tell apart every tooth!" The bluenet refrained from making a very snarky remark about the relation between being so surprised about some burns and the progress status on his relationship with Rio.

"…I believe she hadn't had any dinner." He pointed out with a carefree smile.

"Being hungry is the same as being horny for her? So that's why you look so happy? AHAHAHAH, oh Minato, who'd have thought you liked that kind of things~."

"I'm not vorarephilic, if that's what you're implying."

"Bora-who?"

"Nevermind." He shrugged. "I gave her a bunch of hickeys too, you know, but I doubt you'll be able to see them."

"That's… good for you…" Kenji blinked. "Eh… Oh, that's right, I'm gonna be late to class! See you!" And with that, he ran away. Weirdly enough, he'd been the one to leave Minato and not the other way around. Whatever, he had enough to worry about between what would he do about his neck –wear his uniform blazer on his shoulders like a thug, maybe?- and what would the girls say about Hamuko in the lockers during P.E. class. Probably nothing she hadn't heard a thousand times, but, he still felt guilty about causing that. Then again, it was her fault for getting in his bed and _biting_ him for no reason. …Well she'd made him tell her that he was sorry for leaving her before letting him do anything, and that morning she'd insisted on going alone to school, but that was… Oh crap, _he_ was going to be late!

* * *

><p>Tuesday Physics should be banned for life, in Hamuko's opinion. Not even the sight of the gorgeous teacher could help that class. Between that and the comments both Fools were getting, the day was getting reaaaally long.<p>

* * *

><p>"Minato…" Hamuko greeted him with a smile. "Do you have anything to do today?"<p>

"Do you?" He offered him a grin of his own.

"Yeah. Yanno, I love the Sewing Club." She stated disinterestedly. "It's very important to me."

"Oh. Is it now?" Minato asked, really taken aback.

"Uh-huh. And… Bebe's going through a hard time… It'd be best if he had more people to lean on…"

"Hamuko, I don't like where you're going with this." He growled.

"Oh, but sewing is fun!"

"No."

"You won't join it for Bebe?"

"No."

"Or for me?"

"No."

"Well. Alright then." She took a deep breath and walked away, leaving him with a feeling of uneasiness.

* * *

><p>"So you can't convince your uncle to let you stay in Japan…?" Hamuko asked as she angrily munched some Gyouza.<p>

"Zis country eez where I want to live and die! But, no matter 'ow 'ard I try to convince him... 'e will not listen. I 'ave got to know you well, Hamuko-sama... I cannot say, 'Aishiteru' like zis!"

"Y-Yeah, don't give up yet." Temperance Social Link level 5. She should have told him something about that aishiteru but… it was just too much fun.

They walked together out of Wakatsu and parted ways.

* * *

><p>"Dude, dude, dude!" Junpei assaulted Hamuko as she arrived to the dorm. "You gotta see this, dude!"<p>

She followed him to the living room and- "Welcome, Hamuko-san."

"A-Aigis?"

The robot was standing there, next to the TV, accompanied by Fuuka, Yukari and Koromaru. Minato and Ken were watching disinterestedly the scene.

"H-How does she look?" Fuuka asked shyly, seeing Junpei and Hamuko's eager looks.

"This is how I look." The robot pointed out.

"OH. MY. GOSH!" The brunette ran to Aigis and clasped her hands within her own, bringing them together as she stared at her in awe. "Aigis… You've become a real girl!"

"…That's not it." The teal haired girl corrected her with an awkward smile.

"…" Hamuko stared at her with a blank expression, only to turn back to Aigis. "You've become a real nerd!"

"She's not cosplaying, Hamuko." Minato explained once he was done laughing at his girlfriend's antics.

"Am I not?" The robot asked with curiosity.

"N-No you're not, Aigis!" Fuuka scolded her.

"She said she wanted to go to school, so I said something to Mitsuru-senpai as a joke..." Yukari began, "But, the Chairman overheard and thought it was a good idea. So as of tomorrow, she'll be a junior."

"Seriously? He's down with that?" Junpei seemed flabbergasted.

"He said something about studying her behavior in a social environment..."

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's a great idea... Just look at how cute she is in that uniform!" The boy with the goatee seemed delighted.

"Man, _**this**_ has to be moe." Hamuko uh… appreciated the outfit. "…I'll have to lend you my maid uniform some time to make sure…"

"A change of clothing will not be necessary. The camouflage Fuuka-san has provided me with seems to be the appropriate size this time."

Hamuko stared at her. Then glanced down. Then at Fuuka. "S-So she has—" She mumbled something impossible to understand with a pouty mouth.

"It looks very natural on you; no one will suspect a thing." Ken praised her. Such a smooth talker for being so young… "But, why does he want you to go to school? It's not like there's anything special about it."

"Well it IS Tartarus." Minato suggested.

"That reason is not related. With the commencement of the second semester, I intend to synchronize my schedule with the other members'. If I were to remain here on standby, it could delay our deployment. Therefore, I request to accompany our squad leaders."

"D'awww, she wants to spend more time with us!" She embraced the robot.

"Delay our deployment? Won't you going to school create more problems?" Yukari reasoned.

"I will make any necessary adjustments as problems arise." Aigis stated with determination.

"Uhh... Yeah, you do that..."

"This is gonna be SOOOOO awesome!" Hamuko was a step beyond euphoric. "Oh! Oh! I can tutor you and teach you everything about school and I can introduce you to everybody and then it'll be all cool when you get the best marks because of your super robot processor and we'll have lunch together and cook together and study together and hang out together and spend a long time together every afternoon and—" She took a deep breath before her lungs ran out of oxygen. "It will be greaaat!"

"Woof, woof!" Koromaru jumped into the conversation. Everyone looked at Aigis expectantly.

"He said, 'I want to go to school, too.'"

"Sorry, Koro-chan..." Yukari patted his head. "You have to stay here."

The dog only whimpered in response.

While the fuss about Aigis continued, Minato approached Hamuko. "You know this is your fault, don't you? She's been insisting to go there since you brought her along."

"I'm sorry for—" Hamuko pressed her lips together and turned her head away from him. "Tsk, whatever." She stomped her way to the kitchen while Minato saw her off. Maybe the Moon…

"_Maaan! Ignoring him is so hard! I mean, it's almost like he was calling out to me! With that cute fa_-" She peeked out of the door, only to see him talking to Fuuka, completely uncaring about her. "_T-This isn't working. Mimi-senpai said that'd he'd be doing anything I said by now… Oh, what was the other thing she said… That's right! He'll want to have my attention if he sees me with another guy… But… who…? Junpei is a no-go… Hanging out with Senpai… would be weird… So that leaves… Mr. Chairman?_"

Just then, Ken walked into the kitchen. Hamuko stared at him as he walked to the fridge and brought out some scraps which had probably been there for days. That wasn't something a kid should eat…

"Are you really hungry enough to eat that, Ken-kun?" She asked with a smile as the boy put the unrecognisable food on a dish. "Wouldn't you prefer some real food instead?"

"Oh… No need to worry about me, Seikatsu-san… I'm used to this kind of food…" Ken explained shyly.

"What? Well, that's 'bout to change! You won't become a strong fighter if you don't eat well!" The brunette exclaimed angrily as she pushed Ken towards the living room. "We'll get some sushi in Wakatsu! It's good for the mind and body!"

"W-what? You want to go to Wakatsu… with… me?" Ouch. That's right. She was about to hear a bunch of comments about hanging out with little boys…

As they walked through the living room, they received weird looks -all from Minato and Junpei- to which she only answered by turning her head away. As soon as the main door closed, both teens shared troubled looks.

"You think she's going to—" Junpei asked, horrified.

"S-She promised me she wouldn't try anything, but-" Minato answered, alarmed. …They wasted no second running after them.

* * *

><p>"It's kinda empty in here, isn't it?" Hamuko commented, trying to break the ice. Well, of course, they'd get in just before closing time. And it wasn't too long until Hamuko had to leave to go to Chagall, either…<p>

"Hmm…" Ken nodded. Immediately afterwards, a waiter stopped by and left their order. "Th-thank you very much for the food, Seikatsu-san."

"Aw, no need to be so formal! Just 'Hamuko' will do it." She winked at him.

"A-alright… Thank you very much, Hamuko-san."

Meanwhile, discreetly peeping from a window…

"H-has she just winked at him?"

"NOPE."

"Haha, you were starving, weren't you?" Hamuko asked jokingly, seeing that the boy was wolfing down fish without barely chewing it. "Wakatsu has the best sushi around… It has saved me in many an exam…"

"Dude, she's gawking at the kid."

"No. She's not." Minato sentenced nervously.

Ken stopped and looked at her, somewhat flushed. "…Aren't you going to eat, Hamuko-san?"

"Huh?" She looked at her plate. "Ah! Sorry, y-yeah." She actually wasn't too hungry after spending the afternoon there with Bebe…

"Well, please, do. I feel embarrassed if I'm the only one eating." He flashed her a smile. D'awww, what a cute boy he was when he smiled! Wait, he stopped doing so.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"…It's just not the same." He muttered. "When my mom was still alive… we never really went out to eat much… So I never knew what it was like." He smiled sadly. "I guess my mom was really good at cooking. When I eat stuff like box lunches from the store, it just tastes horrible... I... never told my mom that she was a good cook."

"K-Ken…" She gave him a extremely concerned look. "I-is there anything I can do for you? W-want me to cook for you next time or something?"

"Oh, no! This is really good…!" He recovered his grin. "In fact, if you don't mind... I'd like to come here with you again. Um, that is, if you have time..."

"O-of course! Any time you want!" As she pronounced these words, the child began laughing, somewhat embarrassed. He was so handsome when he laughed… And hey, even more when he granted her nothing less than the Justice Social Link!

"Um, is it okay if I order something to drink?"

"Go right ahead!"

"Um... I'd like some milk... Large, please." He blushed. Gosh, that boy.

As soon as he was done, she excused herself, explaining him that she had a job to attend, and ran out of the restaurant… barely giving her dorm mates enough time to hide upstairs. Woops.

"So, what's your judgement, Minato? Is that boy safe?" Junpei asked quite seriously.

"…We should keep an eye on them." He stated firmly. "This is _**not**_ spying, it's veiling for the pureness of a child."

"Dude, you really trust your girlfriend, don't you?" Junpei teased him. "Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask for a while, but… what's wrong with your neck?"

And so the day came to an end. More or less. Mimi managed to convince Hamuko that she had to try harder and…

* * *

><p><strong>Gee, this chapter looks familiar! I… I think this fic will never pass the Bechdel Test. Kinda ironic with me being female and what not, I know :Ic Google 'sei' in Japanese. You know you want to.<strong>

…**Domuko? –Cue Mommy Complex by Peaches here-**


	61. Back home

**Author note: so, the Shirakawa Boulevard thinger is on. **

'**,:3 What a bunch of perverts. Alright, I shalt give thee real shiptease for once. Maybe. You may as well call it smut deconstruction.**

**And this chapter has MORE SHIFTING POVs FOR NO REAL REASON!**

* * *

><p>"I see. This must be Tartarus doing the daytime…"<p>

The first day at school for Aigis hadn't even started…

"Currently, I detect no Shadows in the vicinity. However, we must remain cautious at all times!"

…But it already smelled like disaster.

"You can never be too cautious! And don't leave my side, there are monsters out there!"

"Yes, I am quite conscious of the existence of Shadows."

"Not that ki—"

"Nah! Forget her, Ai-chan, I'll show ya 'round!"

"Like I'd leave her with you!"

"Hey! You think I'd hit on Ai-chan?"

"Hitting on such a cute robot? Why, _**yes,**_I'd hit that too!"

"…Hamuko, the fact she's a robot is supposed to be a secret."

"Have you heard what she just—"

"Hamuko, stop dragging Aigis around or you'll make the rest of us be late."

"U-um… guys, please… don't start an argument…"

"See? Fuuka-chan wants me to go with Ai-chan!"

Of course, Yukari seemed to be the only one who cared about how crazy this was. Tsk, why had she even gone out at the same time as the rest of the group? It's not like she had any interest in seeing how Aigis would do or anything, geez…

* * *

><p>Leaving Aigis in the Faculty Office so she could deliver some documents to the teacher gave Yukari a feeling of déjà-vu– it kind of reminded her of the first day of school… Geez, so much had happened since then…<p>

"B-But what if Aigis can't handle it alone and she messes up and then she can't go to school anymore and—" Hamuko was throwing a fit or something because she didn't want to let her go. What the hell was wrong with that girl lately…? They used to be friends until she told her off for no reason! And now she had this… crazy necessity to act like Aigis's mum. Hamuko? A mother? Please, she would be just like Yukari's; someone like her should never be allowed near a child.

"She'll be fine…" Minato reassured her with… an arm around her shoulders. "You've taught her really well how to be more human."

"Really…?" She gave him some lame puppy-eyes look which turned into a haughty one suddenly. "I mean… y-yeah, I already know that, huh."

Minato was like… the other sane person around. Or he would be, if he didn't hang out so much with that idiot Hamuko. Of course, no one bought anymore that they weren't together –they didn't deny it either. …So why did he even bother helping her, then, at the beach, when he already had her? It was obvious why he'd given her a hand that time some punks cornered them but… a-anyway, he had his own girlfriend to worry about. And, well, she didn't need a boyfriend, it was just curiosity. She was perfectly fine on her own, and long done with her crush on Minato.

…Wait, was Hamuko pushing him into the toil—err, whatever.

* * *

><p>One of Yukari's best friends and classmate, Kyoko, was ill that day, so she didn't have much to talk about. If only Fuuka was in her homeroom… even Stupei was talking to Kenji about the Tennis Club captain. Minato seemed to be really nervous for some reason, even more so when Miss Toriumi strode into the class.<p>

"Class, we have a new student who will be joining us. She just transferred here." Miss Toriumi announced as soon as the lessons started. She looked at the door and made a 'come closer' motion. "...Please introduce yourself."

The blonde robot walked in, a tad awkwardly due to wearing shoes that didn't fit her hoof-like feet at all, towards her teacher, raising a few admiring comments in her wake. "My name is Aigis." She spoke confidently and as emotionless as usual. "I am pleased to meet you all."

"'_**I-guess'**_...?" The teacher muttered to herself. "What a strange name... I wonder if she was born overseas."

"Err… She's from America, Sensei!" Hamuko quickly announced. American just because she had blue eyes and blond hair, please…

"Oh, is she?" Ms. Toriumi began looking through Aigis's records, which had been prepared the previous day by Ikutsuki and Mitsuru. "Let's see... well, it doesn't say much about her in here. Not even a family name. Hm? What's this? ...Humanoid tactical weapon?" What. "What on Earth...?"

Everyone's jaws felt broken, but only Yukari voiced this, aware that the others would just stare at her a bit longer if she didn't. "Wha-?" It couldn't be expressed any better, seriously.

"...Clearly, that's a mistake." The teacher nodded to herself, seemingly amused. "It just goes to show, you can't believe everything you read."

"Y-You can say that again, Teach!" Junpei exclaimed with a carefree smile.

"Let's see. You can sit, um..." She glanced around the room. "Are there any open seats? Oh, that seat's open. Right next to her." Miss Toriumi pointed to a desk near the right wall of the classroom, next to Hamuko's. "That one should be fine."

"Yesssss! Together!" Hamuko was practically jumping on her chair while everyone looked at her like she was crazy. "This'll be great, this'll be great, this'll be—"

"That seat is not adequate." Aigis's words made the red eyed girl froze in the middle of the sentence.

"What do you mean?" She asked, perplexed.

"Well, uh, Ms. Toriumi, that spot's already taken. He's just playin' hookey." Junpei commented.

"...Which means he's not here." The teacher stated firmly, disregarding the fact that people paid for that seat. "Explain yourself, Aigis-san."

"It is of utmost importance that both Minato-san and Hamuko-san remain together under my constant vigilance. I have to be with these people at all times." Yeah, that sounded pretty sane.

"Absolutely not." Whoa, she didn't even think about it.

"Excuse me, Miss…" Minato gave her an intense look. "_**Maya,**_ change my seat for Keima-san's."

Miss Toriumi blanched. Like, she turned completely pale. "W-What?"

"May I change my seat for Keima-san's, Toriumi-sensei?" He insisted...? Well, he had said the same, right?

"E-Eh… U-uh yeah, go right ahead… B-But bring some cake to the next class!" She stuttered, her face all flushed. Minato had a pleased smile on his face as he picked up his things and walked to his new desk… But why? Maybe because that far off the blackboard he could sleep better? Maybe because he was going to be near Aigis and Hamuko?

"Was that really necessary?" Yukari asked, a bit annoyed. "I mean, you see them every afternoon at the dorm, Aigis."

"I am positive that it was." She affirmed bluntly. "I must watch over them all the time, no matter what." Great, their robot seemed like a stalker. And their classmates seemed to think the same.

"Not off to a great start…" The brunette sighed.

"My, aren't we just full of drama today?" The teacher sneered, having already recovered her colour. For some reason, she sounded… upset? "Do me a favor and save the antics for after school."

…At least the three of them looked happy together. Hah, almost like a newly-wed family… G-good for them, right?

* * *

><p>Half past late. If that old pocket watch was still working.<p>

Shinjiro woke up to a growling stomach. His own. He couldn't allow himself to ignore it any longer. So, he took a look at his wallet. Fortunately not stolen. Half empty as usual. Getting much money from the part time job as a doorkeeper for 'Qué Sera, Sera' bar was difficult. At least he had enough to eat at Hagakure today. That was good. Ramen was the only thing he had indulge himself with. Even if he didn't enjoy it too much as of late. Was Aki's fault. Guy didn't know when to give up. Shinjiro did. He had given up much earlier. Was his life better? Dumb question. No, it sucked. But he wouldn't want it any other way.

He got up and dusted the coat he'd gotten from a worthless punk when he first began living in the streets. Then, he glanced at his watch. Half past later. He carefully put it back in its place. That watch was the only memory he wouldn't allow himself to lose. Ever.

* * *

><p>Shinjiro walked slowly through the Moonlight Bridge. Taking the monorail would be bad for his already thin wallet. That place… always felt special. Maybe because he still remembered the explosion that took place in there ten years before. How could he forget it? He wished he knew.<p>

* * *

><p>Hagakure was quite a good place. Shinjiro loved their delicious, cheap Shio Ramen. He would have much rather asked for Tonkatsu, though. Or even a Hagakure Special. But this was good and healthy. Not that he cared about the latter. Just a thought.<p>

Quite an austere lunch. Shinji savoured the light noodles as long as he could, and then walked out nonchalantly.

"SENPAI!"

…Fuck. Double fuck for she had managed to hug him. Triple… for the other two guys with her.

"Did you miss me, Senpai?" Mik-uh… Hamuko insisted. They could look as similar as they wanted. That obnoxious girl wasn't Miki. No matter how much Aki was fixed on that. She didn't survive the fire. Anything else was wistful thinking.

"Tsk." Shinjiro swung his arm, sending her a few steps back. The blue haired boy next to Akihiko ran to her at lightning speed, and gave him an intense glare. "You two stay away. It's a conversation for adults." They were reluctant to contradict him. That was good. It was only Aki and him now. "You're getting on my nerves." Why did he insist? Shinji had what he wanted. Aki didn't let him forget!

"The situation has changed. Sorry, but this time I'm not asking." Aki shoved the metallic suitcase with the Evoker right into Shinjiro's hands.

"What?" The benefit of the doubt. Only because he looked so damn serious.

"This belongs to you." He pushed the suitcase harder against him. "We have a new enemy. They're Persona-users, like us."

"…!" Shinjiro narrowed down his eyes and growled. Aki was talking about Strega. If it wasn't for those guys, he'd have to look for suppressants by himself. Better not get involved with their stuff. "Yeah, so what?"

"There's more." Aki had a really stern and affected look on his face. "Ken Amada has joined our team."

Shinjiro let the suitcase fall to the ground. Impossible. That kid… He couldn't… "What the hell are you talking about?" He yelled.

"He has the potential, and Ikutsuki-san has okayed it. He's now a Persona-user." The silver head explained it with indifference.

Ken… joining. That meant he… but he was only a kid… "You've gotta be kidding me." Shinji glanced away, gritting his teeth. "Let me ask you one thing… Was it his decision to join S.E.E.S.?"

"Yeah. He volunteered." Akihiko picked up the suitcase again.

"I see." That could only mean one thing. Ken knew it. Ken recognised him. …Ken wanted... he had to see that by himself. Shinji heaved a sigh and looked at Aki straight in the eye. "Then, count me in."

"…What? You'll join just because Ken joined?" Hamuko asked, surprised, escaping the other guy's embrace. "Whoa! Chain reaction! How cool is that?"

Shinjiro snorted. He glanced at Minato and Hamuko. Then at Akihiko. "So who are these two?"

"Minato Arisato and… you already know Hamuko, so I guess you know him too." Akihiko sounding jealous. Shinji had officially seen everything. "They're the squad leaders." Two leaders?

"What?" He turned to his kohai. "You clowns are the ones leading the operations now?"

"We prefer the term 'Fools'." Minato stated with a weird looking smile. Or something. Fuck that, he wasn't one for deciphering cryptic faces.

"So! You aren't allowed to push me away, Senpai!" Hamuko's grin was simpler. Childish. Alright Akihiko had a point, she could be Miki. Miki high like fuck on amphetamines and with no personal space sense. Where the hell did Aki even see the resemblance?

Well, maybe he could humour his silver haired childhood friend's curiosity about her. "If you don't mind me asking," he talked unusually politely, like a cop, "what exactly are you fighting for?"

"I fight because it's my duty." The blue head answered seriously. For some reason, it looked like he had more to say.

"'Cause… Shadows are bad. And people can't fight them. So we have to fight them. Or there'll be no one to fight them. And then they'd be un-fought." She seemed to notice the 'what' look Shinjiro was giving her. "…And that would be terrible." On a second thought…

"Alright." The boy with the beanie didn't give it any more importance. "You do your thing, I'll do mine." He walked towards the stairs, not waiting for anyone else. "Is my room still vacant?"

"Yeah. It's just like you left it." Aki said, a victorious smile badly disguised on his face.

"At least you have cleaned it, haven't you?" He'd been living among dirt for long enough.

"Dirty rooms are a recurring thing in our dorm. Isn't that so?" Minato glared at Hamuko. So he knew what her room looked like, hah.

"Don't worry, Shin-pai!" What. "I'll help you clean your room!" The girl offered happily.

"You should clean your own first!" The blue head reproached her. Not his business what they did in there.

"A pair of clowns commanding us…" Shinji shook his head. Yeah, it was his destiny.

* * *

><p>Senpai. Senpai. <em>Shin-pai<em>. That was all he'd heard for the last few hours. Other than that, the dorm was quite a nice place. He was introduced to Yukari and Junpei, the other two clowns he rescued that one time. The only other second year was Fuuka. A quiet girl. She was cooking something unrecognisable in the kitchen. Who else? Aigis. She was a bot. Talking to Koromaru. A dog. That was okay. He'd seen weirder things. There was also Ken. He was looking at him from a respectable distance.

"I see you have joined us again, Shinjiro."

"No shit, Kirijo." He glanced at the red head. "I'm only gonna live here. Don't think of me as someone you can order around any more."

"Were you ever?" A faint smile, resembling a sneer, appeared on her face. "Welcome back."

"Thanks." They would never mention this greeting again. Shinjiro had never liked receiving orders. That's what made his relationship with Mitsuru so tense. But, deep down, Akihiko, Mitsuru and him were still friends. He'd once come to believe that Akihiko was using her as a replacement for the former girl of their little group. He almost got a beating for that. Hah. Good times.

"What are you laughing at, Shin-pai?"

"Will you stop calling me that?" Shinjiro growled. "Stop following me. Why don't you look for something else to do?"

"Whoa, Shin-pai! I have a boyfriend, you can't say that kind of things!" She kept staring at him. She looked a bit troubled or something. "Have you met Koro?"

"That dog?" He asked disinterestedly. She wasn't lying the other day at Hagakure. It was quite a cute dog.

"Yup!" She ran away. Too bad she came back with the dog. "Koro-chan, Shin-pai; Shin-pai, Koro-chan!"

…That dog was trying to stare into his soul or something. "You have the same eyes."

Hamuko looked at the dog, who was trying to scratch his ear. Then at Shinjiro. "I don't see the resemblance."

"Hamuko, stop bothering him, he's just moved." Minato requested. He actually seemed like a nice guy. There had to be a reason why Akihiko disliked him. But, he didn't care about it for as long as he kept that obnoxious girl away from him.

"Only 'cause you say so!" She raised her chin conceitedly and turned her face away from him. Then she ran away. Good, he could finally rest a bit. And Minato didn't seem willing to give him any conversation. He had a hunch they'd get on well… Too bad he didn't keep her away for too long, as she soon came back whining about Koromaru needing some brushing and having scars.

* * *

><p>"Aww, Shinji-senpai left already?" Hamuko complained to Akihiko.<p>

"…He doesn't even go to school, Hamuko." The older boy insisted. He then narrowed his eyes slightly at her, looking quite curious. "Why do you want to be with him so much?"

"I… I don't…" She moved her eyes left and right nervously, apparently thinking hard. "…Because he's _**awesome**_!" Apparently. "Oh! Oh! You think he likes Risette? He looks like the kind of guy who'd like Risette! Maybe I can invite him to go with Minato and me to Saturday's concert!"

"The concert is on Saturday?" Minato asked. He would have much rather asked 'When will you get over that obsession for him?' but this was better. See? Sad face upon noticing that it was a Full Moon Operation.

* * *

><p>"Aigis, are you capable of reading kanji?" Minato asked to the robot next to him, seeing that she was staring at their current math problem with a troubled expression. Seeing her make faces was actually pretty interesting.<p>

"Of course. I am capable to recognise 2928 kanji. I merely do not comprehend what is the point behind studying the speed of trains to calculate the point in time in which they will crash." Her eyes gleamed for a moment. "Is this a military strategy class, perhaps?"

"Considering our first mission and the fact that this school belongs to the Kirijo group…" He joked. Aigis didn't seem to get it, though.

"Don't give Aigis weird ideas." Hamuko muttered next to her.

"Says _**you**_?" Minato asked perplexed.

"Yeah, says me!" She growled back.

"Well then, screw you." He glared at her deeply, and then went back to solving the problem.

"A-are you mad at me?" She queried shyly.

"Why, yes! You've been treating me like shit lately!" He yelled angrily.

"Mimi-senpai said-!"

* * *

><p>"Mimi-senpai said that you would ignore me if I didn't uh… how did she call it?" She commented more calmly, now outside of the classroom with Minato. Damn Ekoda.<p>

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not going to leave you? How dense are you?"

"I-I just wanna make sure that you…" She began mumbling.

"Sorry, what?"

She looked askance at him. "I dunno why, but… I feel really… warm every time I look at you in the eye."

"Warm and fuzzy? That's love for you. I thought you'd know by now." He shrugged.

"No, it's a different kind of heat." She explained nervously.

"What are you, a dog?" His smirk was answered with a slap to his arm. "Alright, alright, you'll have to specify a bit more."

"It feels like my heart was burning!" She clutched her hand around her chest and glanced away. "Hey, that's an awesome pick up line."

"Nah, that's just heartburn. You've got indigestion."

Hamuko glared at him. "Can you take this seriously?"

That girl telling him to be serious. Whoa. "Can't you explain yourself a bit better?"

She looked intently at him, probably searching for inspiration. "It's kinda like someone was using a Giga Drill Breaker from inside. It makes me wanna punch you. Or make out with you. A bit of both."

"I… see." He discreetly walked back a pair of steps. "And what does this have to do with Usagi-san?"

"I wouldn't want you to take advantage of the part that wants to make out with you right here and right now!" She moved her hands nervously as she spoke. "So, Mimi-senpai said that if I treated you that way, you'd do what I said."

All that sounded oddly familiar. From where? "Maybe you should stop asking that kind of people for advice." Said the guy who consulted Junpei. "And about the weird heart thing… Maybe Keisuke-senpai should give you a look." He forced a smile. "Hey, Hamuko? I could max out Kazushi's Social Link today instead, you know."

She looked a bit embarrassed. Now Hamuko understood the importance of reaching level ten in a relationship, she probably found that quite a sweet gesture. Well, she could as well go to tennis practice and max out Rio's link, but… "I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

That was sudden. "Yes." He replied drily.

"I was fishing for a compliment, you prick." She turned toward him to give him an amused look. "I'll be cooking with Fuuka; I'll show up as soon as you're done with Music Club. You'd better be hungry!" There was an odd silence. "So. Wanna go to the bathroom?"

"Getting thrown out of class is a warning, Hamuko. I don't want a detention."

The punch she gave his arm felt a bit awkward. Well, at least he found Hamuko's situation amusing, even though all she was saying still seemed familiar to him for some reason.

* * *

><p>"…Keisuke's been selected to play in the final round of Bay Area's Music contest!"<p>

What was this music contest. Why hadn't Minato heard about it. …Sent e-mails to everyone? The hell? He hadn't checked his e-mail for ages!

There were general mutters of approval. Fine, whatever, he was cool with that. The one who seemed most surprised, however, was Keisuke. He'd never got to listen to him playing… whatever he played, again? Regardless, he had to be good at it. And, by what he heard from Fuuka those days he missed, he had been practising really hard.

"Congratulations!" Everybody clapped their hands at Keisuke, who was completely red with embarrassment.

"T-Thanks… B-But I still think that someone more professional should have been nominated. L-like Minato-kun…"

Minato shot him a surprised look. Wow, that was quite a bit of sudden recognition. "I'm sure that they chose only the best, Keisuke-senpai." He offered the older boy a smile. Damn emails.

For a moment there, Keisuke seemed like he was about to begin crying of joy. "...Thanks. But I'm your senpai. I should be encouraging you, not the other way around." He chuckled. "I'm not making much of an impression, as the club leader, am I?"

"Quite an interesting one."

He laughed yet again. "You know, I'd be happy to play a piece with you, some time."

"I'll be looking forward it." Indeed. And, Fortune Social Link Level 3.

"We'll have to do so, for as long as I'm allowed to play…"

* * *

><p>Fuuka and Hamuko showed up to the club as soon as the activities had finished, offering some rice porridge; Fuuka claimed it was her way of saying sorry for not having shown to practice that day. While they were enjoying Fuuka's cooking –Minato would have never thought he'd be using that verb and object together- he discreetly dropped the reason why Hamuko hadn't gone straight home. Once they were done with the food and Fuuka left, Minato talked a bit more seriously about it.<p>

"I don't think it's anything serious, so I thought it'd be best to consult you about it." Minato explained.

"So you say your heart burns… Are you sure it isn't indigestion? You have eaten five rations of porridge…" Keisuke mused as he auscultated Hamuko with a stethoscope. Yeah, he carried one of those in his school bags, for reasons Minato preferred not to know. How accurate a stethoscope could be through a shirt, he didn't know either. "This is weird."

"What? What's wrong?" Hamuko inquired, concerned about her health.

"Well, other than the fact that your cardiac rhythm is surprisingly slow, even for a calm situation… I can clearly listen to two different heart beats."

Both teens stared at him without any idea of what that implied.

"It means that either this is stethoscope isn't working or that she's pregnant!" Keisuke stated too merrily, laughing a bit. "So, which one is it?" He joked.

"_**Oh, crap**_." She joined his laughter. However, she stopped as soon as she noticed Minato's expectant stare. "Nah, it's not the latter. Trust me on that one."

"…Isn't there any other cause?" Minato asked, still trying to catch his breath after that little scare.

"Well, if she takes out her shirt I'll be able to auscultate her better."

"Oka—"

"N-Nevermind." The blue head declined his help. That didn't seem to amuse Hamuko. "Thank you very much for your help, Senpai. I'm sure you'll make a great doctor."

"Y-Yeah…" Those words seemed to bring Keisuke down for some reason…

* * *

><p>The Fools walked out of Gekkoukan in an awkward silence.<p>

"You're doing it again." Hamuko sentenced.

"Doing what?"

"Deciding things for me." She grumbled. "He only meant good, yanno?"

Minato shook his head disapprovingly. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." His girlfriend was way too naïve sometimes.

"You should have asked him to examine you as well."

"Huh? Why?"

"He said my heart beats too slowly. That means yours does too." She explained.

"…Hearts don't work that way."

* * *

><p>The evening went by pretty fast… Until Hamuko and Ken decided that it'd be fun to go have dinner together again. Spying—Err, veiling for Ken's safety went so slowly…<p>

"I think they're talking about Phoenix Ranger."

"Phoenix Ranger? What?" Junpei asked. "Why would anyone ever talk about that in a date?"

"T-They're not in a date!" Minato growled.

"Would she be feeding him bell peppers if they weren't?" The boy with the cap sneered.

…The night went on.

* * *

><p><strong>Shinji uses beige prose just cause.<strong>

**By the way, shock chapter is next (the one after the extra chapter). Ominous laughter goes here. **

**I can already see the ending! (We've reached half of the fic)**


	62. Extra chapter!

**Author note: expecting a sexy chapter? ',:3**

**Alright, _this is kinda pretty really M_. Even if there isn't explicit material (your definition of explicit is prone to vary to that of a girl who used to read smut on a daily basis), and, entirely AU. This means it isn't necessary for the plot. Just an extra chapter chosen by votes. You have been warned.**

**Now, if you want to proceed, please sign your name there.**

* * *

><p>"So!"<p>

Minato could hardly believe it. Finding himself alone in a room? Awkward. Having Hamuko happily sitting on a water bed by him clad in nothing but her underwear? Awesome. Awesome on many levels.

"How do you want to do this?" Hamuko asked cheerfully, bouncing a bit on the bed. She seemed really amused by the movement of the water. Minato was amused as well, though by a different motion. "A first time is a first time, man! We're doing whatever you want tonight." She winked at him. "I wanna know how kinky you can be."

"Well, I …" He muttered. Whatever he was going to say, died as soon as she shifted her crossed legs.

She heaved a sigh as she laid down. "It's not such a difficult question! We don't have all night, yanno?" Minato just looked too indecisive… "Seriously… do I have to explain to you how this works?" She sat up and approached him with a devilish grin. "Or maybe a… practical example would help you warm up?"

"Wouldn't you prefer some dinner first?" He suggested, a tad concerned about their situation.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm kinda hungry." There was an awkward silence. "Helloooo, that was an innuendo…" She smiled seeing the increasing blush in Minato's face. "You're so cute when you're clueless."

"I'm sorry…" He glanced away. This was awkward. Why were they still even wearing their underwear? "I don't even know where to start."

She stroked his cheek softly. "How 'bout you kiss me, hm? It'd be a nice start."

Minato promptly complied, kissing Hamuko with all his passion. As usual, however, she seemed more entertained than excited after a kiss. He looked quite erm… amused when she began leaving a trail of kisses down his neck and all over his body until the last piece of clothing he had on stopped her.

"Huh…" She took a glance at his briefs. Going as planned. "Good um… now you should touch me. Err… Anywhere you want." She explained patiently. Holy crap, she didn't expect she'd actually have to do so… He was just like a chi—err, w-what a weird comparison, ahaha...

Minato stared at his hand. Then at Hamuko. His hand. "…Anywhere?"

"Y-yeah, we're supposed to be groping each other, yanno." This was going bad. Horribly bad. Even more since he'd taken 'anywhere' as 'giving her back a massage' and that was too far away from the place where those skilled pianist fingers should be. "Erm… want me to do it first?"

"Nah." He looked happy smoothing over her shoulders. Well, that was good, but... He stopped shyly when he reached the clasp of her bra, seemingly looking for her approval.

"…Have you ever read some hentai, man?" She asked, amused, before removing her upper underwear by herself. His face upon seeing her mostly naked was a clear no. Well, it was his first time, but… why was he so scared of doing anything further? Was he afraid of hurting her or something? Maybe she needed a… more direct approach… She turned toward him and grabbed his hand, placing it on her chest while she offered him a sultry grin. At least he didn't need an explanation for that one…

"Am I doing a good job?" He whispered in her ear, much more confident now.

"Y-You can feel it for yourself, yanno." She ran her hands down his body, promptly hooking her fingers on his boxers. However, as soon as she'd brought them down, she pushed her onto the bed. "_**Finally**_, geez."

He stayed at the edge of the bed, looking expectantly at her... pretty, pretty flushed. Now he was embarrassed about being naked? …Yeah, okay, whatever.

"I'll just… lay here…" Hamuko proceeded to give him enticing gestures while fidgeting with the band of her panties.

Minato caught onto that one quickly. He climbed on top of her, and stared at her intently, taking in as much of she as he could with only one lingering glance.

"Why don't you try again now?" She suggested smoothly, soon finding his lips all over hers again, and his hands fighting against the last item of clothing on her body. After the little stop he made once he got rid of it, he finally found some use for those hands.

"I _**am**_ doing a good job…" He stated proudly. Hamuko would have gladly confirmed that, but… welp. There were better ways to answer. Like returning the favour. See? Minato liked that way of answering too. Too bad he couldn't multitask that way.

* * *

><p>After much teasing, they were finally prepared to give the next step. They exchanged intense looks while Minato positioned himself.<p>

"…Would you prefer to be on top?"

Hamuko blinked. What a weird question. That guy really didn't know when to be considerate. "Well, yeah actually…"

* * *

><p>A few seconds later…<p>

"You ready?" She asked with a smirk.

"…Shouldn't we use a prophylactic?" Minato observed.

"A what?"

"Rubbers, Hamuko."

"Oh. Yeah."

* * *

><p>A short, uncomfortable pause later…<p>

"Well then." Hamuko laid down on the waterbed, trying to see if he felt more encouraged being on top again. But no. No response. He was way too nervous. "Aren't you gonna ravish me?" She pretty much yelled.

"_**Ravish**_ you?" Minato asked, taken aback. "T-That's too kinky…"

"I-it's just an expression!" Hamuko let out a tired sigh and pushed him away, seeing that he had no plans of doing anything. "…You know what, um… dinner actually sounds nice." She got up and headed towards the mini-fridge standing besides the bed, leaving Minato to silently curse everything. She opened it and... _**Aha**_! "You like chocolate, don't you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Hamuko smiled deviously… and futilely. Minato wasn't looking at her face. "Eyes up here, man." She shook the bottle of liquid chocolate. "Guess where this is going."

"That doesn't sound very hygienic." He remarked quite seriously.

"Call me dirty." She pushed him onto the bed again.

"Putting sugar there is gonna make it sticky and awful." He commented, less than amused. "Don't."

"You're the biggest. Killjoy. Ever." She glared at the bottle, seeing that aiming her looks at the boy laying in front of her wouldn't do much good. "What kind of guy wouldn't want to get covered in chocolate?"

"Anyone with common sense." He stated firmly.

"Y-You suck!" …Throwing the bottle at his head and laying down on the bed, giving her back to him, wasn't probably the most mature thing to do.

Ouch. That hurt. "Hamuko?" He put a hand on her shoulder. She quickly shook it off. "…Are we still going to do it?"

"No. Leave me alone." She reached out for a pillow and threw it at him.

"H-hey." Nope. She kept ignoring him. "I'll let you do the chocolate thing."

"Hmph!" Her eyes widened as he began pouring chocolate on her neck. "Hey don—t-that tickles!"

* * *

><p>"Didn't that feel nice?" She purred against his sticky chest. Resting against each other while being drenched in a mix of dried chocolate and saliva somehow didn't feel <em>too<em> awkward.

"Awfully nice. But, I think we should take a shower." He propped himself on his forearms.

"Why use a shower when you have a bed?" She smiled playfully.

"Because, I wouldn't want the chocolate to dry off and form a crust."

"Ugh, thanks for the image." She winced. "As long as we finally get to do it..."

"How long have we been here?" He asked suddenly.

"Um, I dunno. You rented the room for the whole night, right?"

"I… didn't rent this room…" They exchanged a weird look. "Ah, I probably just forgot. The night's been pretty hectic, so…" Had it?

* * *

><p>They silently stepped into the shower. "…That giant window is a bit unsettling…" Minato commented.<p>

"…I should have seen it sooner. It'd have made a pretty show." Hamuko lamented.

Water began falling down their bodies, while they shared awkward stares, trying to graze each other casually. The shy act was kind of funny, considering what they'd been doing a pair of minutes before.

"I heard that shower sex sucks." Minato mused as Hamuko finally approached him.

"It's better than none." She whispered, pressing her chest against his softly. "It's my first time too, yanno?"

"Oh?"

"In a shower."

"_Oh_."

Their lips connected, for the hundredth time that night. Minato swayed a bit on his feet, trying to make sure that he wouldn't slip on the wet floor, while Hamuko looked at him somewhat troubled. Yeah, slipping was something neither of them would like.

Her hands surrounded his waist, trying to bring him against the wall where she was cornered. Well, the tap was kind of sticking into her shoulder, but that was alright.

He pulled off again. He needed to make sure that that was really happening. Yeah, he was not dreaming it…

The water kept falling nonchalantly on them, a single drop rolling down his face and onto his lips. He pressed softly against Hamuko, until he felt a bit of resistance. He licked his lips eagerly and…

"BLEGH!" He stepped away, almost sliding back. "W-What the hell?"

"W-What?" Hamuko startled.

"The water…"

Hamuko looked at the shower head. For some reason, the water had begun accumulating there, and only dripped lightly. She tried to catch one of the drops with her mouth –iron! "T-This is-!"

Yeah, discovering that you've been bathing in blood is a pretty big turn-off. So is remembering you're in the middle of a mission. And the creepy ass voice? At least Fuuka informing that she was sorry for not contacting sooner, as she'd been busy trying to contact Yukari and Akihiko was kind of a relief.

Kinda…

Not.

"Hey, did something happen?"

The Fools exchanged an irritated look. The same they gave Akihiko. "No, nothing happened."

That Shadow was so dead…

* * *

><p><strong>I can't decide if this is really smut or I was making fun of smut :I Probably a bit of both. Deconstructed smut.<strong>

**By the way, my Beta Reader titled this file "Fuck you, Sandra." I hope you all will feel the same way :3  
><strong>


	63. The Fifth Ordeal

**Author note: erm, yeah. Not much to say. Thanks to gadeel again for expanding the TVTropes article, and to Evilshroom for beta reading and writing the AWESOME battle.**

* * *

><p>"There'll be a full moon tomorrow…" Minato pondered as they walked to school. "Junpei said this one would be stronger; I wonder who told him. Hah, maybe he has connections with Pharos. Did that little guy even come to warn us about this full moon?" There was a deep silence, which was making Minato feel like he was talking to himself. Hamuko was staring at him for some reason. "Hamuko?"<p>

"H-Huh?" She blinked quickly. "O-oh yeah, full moon things and stuff."

"Are you okay?"

"I was just thinking." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"About what?" He pried.

"Thoughts."

"What kind of thoughts?" He insisted, giving her an analytical look.

"Thoughtful thoughts." He seemed to know better than to keep asking. Damn, she did want him to find that out. "S-So err… Since when are you and Junpei such good friends? You guys talk a lot lately!"

"We have common objectives." Minato didn't offer any other information. Silence again.

"I was thinking about you." Hamuko suddenly confessed, earning a weird look from her boyfriend. "It's your fault I don't remember what, though…" She sighed. Was that a bad thing? Minato seemed kind of freaked out by that...

Minato said something about wanting to visit the Student Council Room that afternoon, as he wanted to thank everyone for their job with the persimmon tree, but Hamuko was too out of it to even listen.

* * *

><p>"Hey. You don't look so good."<p>

Hamuko looked up. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Minato's face right in front of hers. "Y-Yeah, I feel a bit weird today."

"Would you like to go to the roof? It's been a while since we last had lunch together up there, and maybe some fresh air will make you feel better…" He didn't need to say that twice.

* * *

><p>"All right, you want the crab bread or—" Before he could even finish the sentence, Hamuko was already all over him. Making out had priority over having lunch any day. "Feeling better?" He asked jokingly as she finally let go of him.<p>

"I actually feel worse." Hamuko grabbed her bag of crab bread and sat down next to him, while he gave her an apologetic look. Why was he doing that? "Oh! No, that kiss was awesome! It's just… I dunno." She let out a big sigh. "Let's repeat it."

"Haven't you just said that it made you feel worse?" He asked, sounding a bit bothered.

"It's a weird kind of worse. I like this worse. It could be a worse 'worse', but it's not." She tried to explain herself to no avail. "It… makes me feel bad, but it's a good kind of bad. Can you understand it?"

"…No, sorry." Minato furrowed his eyebrows. That was quite a big letdown. If Minato didn't understand it… "But, you can test it as much as you want." He rested his forehead against hers, and almost fell to the ground when she suddenly pulled off.

"I'm going back to class." She announced as she headed back to the school building, sulking all the way to the third floor.

"Hamuko?" A familiar voice alerted her. Oh, it was Akihiko's.

"Hey Senpai… You alone?" She looked around. "…Does Shinjiro-senpai really never come here? Does he think he's too cool for school, or what?"

"Well, he's been skipping classes for years, but he doesn't even bother showing up to the exams since—" He made a sudden pause. "Since he hates studying, that's it. I don't think anybody misses him here, either." The silver head mused, sounding a bit sad. "Ah, lunch break's about to end." He scratched the back of his head, looking a bit hesitant to speak. "I know for sure he'll go grab a bite at Hagakure this afternoon, so we can go give him some company."

"Um…" She turned toward the sound of steps going downstairs.

"So, if you don't have any plans with him…" His eyes traveled towards Minato, who just gave him an indifferent look.

"Sure! See you this afternoon, Senpai!" She continued her path to the second floor with Minato by her side. She glanced at him and then began running downstairs.

* * *

><p>The bell finally marked the end of another school day. All the students got up and left the class almost immediately, save for a couple exceptions, such as Aigis, who was sitting there, doing nothing, even though she didn't have a club to attend or anything. Oh well.<p>

"So, will you come with me to the Student Council Room to thank everyone for their help?" Minato asked as they walked out of their classroom.

"Well, I promised Senpai I'd go to Hagakure with him…"

"…To see Aragaki-senpai, right?" Minato put an end to her words with a bitter tune.

"Aww, Minato, don't tell me you're jealous of him…" She put her face right in front of his, linking her fingers with his discreetly, while her other hand traveled to the nape of his neck. "Why would I look for fun elsewhere, when I have my love right here?" She stood on the ball of her feet to reach his face.

A loud gasp made them freeze. "W-Where do you think you are? K-kissing on the s-school grounds i-is prohibited!"

They exchanged desperate looks before quickly backing away from each other. Hamuko began fidgeting nervously with her ribbon. "Chihiro-san, w-we-!"

"Oh, Hamuko-san, my neck feels much better now!" Minato moved his neck to one side and the other. "She was giving me a neck massage, Chihiro-san. And now it's like I'd never had torticollis!"

"Tort who—" She closed her lips seeing that Minato ran a finger over his neck in a cutting motion when Chihiro wasn't looking. "O-oh yeah, we had some first aid courses in my previous school! Err… I'm glad I helped! W-well then, I have to go meet someone who isn't Minato somewhere not here." And with that she ran away.

"_**First aid**_?" Chihiro asked with suspicion, albeit a tad more calmed.

"…It was a very bad case of torticollis."

* * *

><p>"You two are a pain." Shinjiro growled as Akihiko and Hamuko took a seat by his side. "Don't you have a life or something?"<p>

"What, can't we enjoy a lunch together? Like in the old times?" Akihiko's suggestion prompted an incensed glare in response.

"They're _**old**_ times for a reason." He sighed, and then decided to focus again on the bowl of ramen in front of him.

"Shinpai, Akihiko-senpai is only trying to be nice to you! He's glad you're back, and so am I!" Hamuko reproached him.

"You can't be glad that 'I'm back' when we never coincided in SEES to begin with." Shinji retorted, calmly proceeding to resume eating his dinner.

"Well, I am." She muttered back. "And you still haven't begun teaching me how to be a great fighter."

"And I never will."

"But-! What if some guy attacks me and I can't defend myself because you haven't taught me how to give deadly headbutts like yours?" She insisted.

He slurped the few noodles remaining. "Why would I care 'bout what happens to you?"

"'Cause… I mean, you've already saved my life! We'd have received a beating in the alley if it wasn't for you, so, I wanna have the strength to help people outside the Dark Hour too!" There was a general silence.

"Hah." The tall brunet gave a sarcastic, bitter laugh. Akihiko also looked somewhat troubled. "If only you knew…" He finished his bowl and got up, leaving silently under Hamuko's sad gaze.

"Don't mind him." Akihiko spoke up as his childhood friend left. "He's like that with everyone."

"Ah, he'll warm up to me." She stated with a carefree smile.

"…You're not supposed to be the one saying that." The older boy chuckled while Hamuko just shrugged.

"Minato was quite the stoic too when I met him. Now he's quite the-" She stopped talking, seeing that Aki was giving her a weird look. "Whatever he is, I never expected I'd be calling someone like him my boyfriend."

"Yeah, no one could have _**ever**_ seen that one coming…" He let out a big sigh. "Anyhow, Shinji is a good guy. He doesn't want people to know that, so you'll have to hang out with him for a while before he can be calm around you again..."

"Huh? Again? What do you mean?"

"Ah… Nothing, forget it."

They got their orders and began shoveling food into their mouths like hungry wolves.

"So." They resumed the conversation while their next order was being cooked. "I keep hearing about you being saved by him in an alley or something…"

"Oh, yeah. It's something which happened a pair of days before rescuing Fuuka. You see, we went to the back alleys of Port Island Station… and we were _this_ near of not going out." Hamuko explained merrily, recalling the events. "A bunch of punks surrounded us, and we began insulting each other, and one of them even punched Junpei!"

"What?" Akihiko almost yelled. "How could you all be so reckl—"

"But, suddenly," the brunette interrupted him, "Shinji appeared out of nowhere and beat the crap out of those guys, and they ran away totally scared! I've been trying to get him to teach me how to be that strong since then, but-"

"Hamuko, you don't need that! Just, stay out of those dangerous situations!" He tried to reason.

"But, I can't run away like that! There was this one time when some punks cornered Yukari and I tried to help, but then they got me to, and if it hadn't been for Minato—"

"I-I don't even wanna hear about it." Akihiko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't get into that kind of situation. _**Please**_." He sounded really serious for some reason. "If you have to, call me, or Shinji. Or even Minato. But don't do those things by yourself!"

"Why not?" She asked, offended. "I can get by on my own!"

"No, you can't! You can be as powerful as you want in the Dark Hour, but you're just an immature little girl the rest of the time! No monster is gonna save you from real dangers, Miki! You only have one chance!" He shook her shoulders furiously, like that one time she'd run off to tell everyone about the full moon operations and got attacked. "Why can't you see that?"

"Because I'm **NOT** a little girl!" She shoved his hands off her and got up from her chair. "Name's _**Hamuko**_, Senpai. Not Miki." She glanced away and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "…Shinjiro-senpai was right: you need to accept that your sister is gone. Otherwise, it'll be clear who's the immature one between us."

Yes, of course she knew he had only good intentions. She was well aware that he only cared for her and wanted her wellbeing. Hell, that was a well-deserved Star Level 7; however, she didn't have any intentions to be her Senpai's replacement family. Curious, seeing that that was exactly her aim with everyone else… way to put a relationship in strain for no real reason.

"Hamu-chaaan!" Junpei pretty much assaulted her as he walked back to the dorm. He grabbed her hands and began jumping excitedly. "Dude! Dude! Guess what!"

"Jun-kun, I'm not in the m—"

"I got a date! Aw yeah!" He stopped jumping, only to begin dancing. "How could I ever doubt the power of seduction of the Junpei-maestro…?"

"Erm, that's nice!" Hamuko forced a smile. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"Chi-do-ri~!" He exclaimed with a dreamy tune. "She's a fiery redhead, and an elegant Gothic lolita! And I'm gonna be her hero…!"

Junpei proceeded to spend the whole evening narrating her how he met Chidori, how after she somehow gashed her hand and he helped her she told him her curious name, how he'd impressed her with his taste of modern art… and so on and so forth for several hours. Fortunately, they had to train that night and that was the best excuse to make him stop talking.

* * *

><p>There wasn't much to do in Tartarus. Run around, save a person stuck there… and remarkably, Akihiko wasn't with them. But, at least they had an excuse to see Shinjiro and Ken's powers!<p>

"I think it's cute that Ken has Hama powers." Hamuko commented as the kid tried to take out a Shadow single-handedly, supervised and for scientific curiosity. "Light fits a child's innocence, and what not."

"Light isn't always good, Hamuko. 'White' has 'death' inside, after all." Minato muttered back, apparently a bit troubled by Ken's Persona. "Nemesis, a robot with a circular chainsaw surrounding its body." He shifted his eyes towards Shinjiro, who had just slashed a Shadow in two halves with his axe. "And Castor, Akihiko's Persona on a pogo-horse. Even mightier than the boy swinging an axe around like it was the lightest sword. Just as deadly."

"They're both pretty strong. And I think that his Persona resembling Akihiko-senpai's is kinda fitting; they're really close, yanno…?" She could barely disguise the concern in her voice, but Minato was far too focused in studying their new members to hear her. She wanted his attention. But he wasn't minding her at all. Again. She began kicking his foot softly, trying to grab his attention… and ended up kicking his shin without even noticing, having to apologize once and again afterward.

* * *

><p>"There's a Full Moon tonight…" Fuuka warned as they approached the school. "Do you think it'll be a difficult battle?"<p>

"We've trained enough during the summer vacations, so hopefully not." Minato offered her a comforting smile.

"I'm kinda looking forward a challenge. I want to prove myself…" Hamuko began mumbling.

* * *

><p>Once school was over, everyone headed back to the dorm. Everyone except Junpei, of course, since he had left school by himself to meet his date.<p>

"Hasn't Iori come back yet?" Mitsuru asked at some point in the evening.

Hamuko decided not to say anything. Let the guy be happy once he finally got to score… He was old enough to know what he was doing. At least at the end of the day, someone would be pleased– not her, as her nonrefundable tickets for the Risette concert she would have attended if she wasn't involved with SEES proved.

And for some reason, Koromaru kept barking at the window.

* * *

><p>The Dark Hour arrived. Still no trace from Junpei. For some reason beyond the Fools' comprehension, they sent Ken to look for him. Yeah. Too bad Hamuko didn't have a clue of where Junpei's date lived…<p>

"Tonight marks the 6th full moon..." Ikutsuki announced solemnly. He then turned to Fuuka, who was engulfed by her Persona, Lucia. "Do you detect a Shadow?"

"_Yes.._." Fuuka's voice echoed throughout the Command Room. "_It's near Paulownia Mall... I think. For some reason, I can't quite pinpoint its location... But, I'm trying to narrow it down..._"

"Is that its power?" Akihiko asked eagerly.

"_I don't know_." She answered, a tad disappointed at herself.

"We have enough to go on..." Shinjiro stated without worry. Just then, Ken walked into the room.

"Did you find Iori?" Mitsuru queried.

"I can't find him anywhere. His backpack isn't here, so I don't think he's been home yet."

"That idiot..." Yukari mumbled under her breath. "He knows tonight's the night!"

"_I don't sense him anywhere nearby.._." Fuuka gave them a troubled look as Lucia vanished. "Should I take more time to look for him, just in case?"

"N-nah!" Hamuko jumped into the conversation. "I'm sure that wherever he is, he's fine!" She could feel Minato and Shinjiro's stare, but the latter's was stronger.

"Ah, well." Ikutsuki shrugged. "You're all young; sometimes you just get in one of those moods. Anyway, we should focus on the task at hand."

"We can't afford to waste any more time. Let's go." Everyone left after Mitsuru, save for Shinjiro and the Fools, who stayed discreetly by the doorframe.

"Did he say anything earlier?" The tall boy asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"My, Shinpai. I thought you didn't care about others…"

Shinjiro frowned deeply at her. "Whatever..." And with that he left as well.

"Alright, where is he?" Minato inquired as they both followed everyone out of the dorm.

"Date. Probably crying because he's banging a coffin." Hamuko offered him a knowing look.

"…Yeah, that's best left as a secret."

* * *

><p>Once in Paulownia Mall, Fuuka resumed her search for the Shadow.<p>

"Detect anything?" Mitsuru asked, worried about the amount of time passed.

"_Only a faint presence. It seems so close, but... why..._?" Fuuka talked to herself.

"Alright, let's split up and search for it." Mitsuru commanded. "There's no time to lose; hurry!"

"_Wait_!" Fuuka shouted in their minds. Having someone shout in your brain was always a tad weird. "_Please, give me a moment! This is my responsibility..._!" Her expression was that of complete concentration. "_Tell me, Lucia... What is this thing that deceives me...? Hear the wind's answer in your ear... Touch the earth's answer with your fingertips... Taste the water's answer on your lips..._"

"Can you paint with all the colours of the wind now?" Hamuko's commentary earned her a little 'not-the-right-time-for-that' nudge to the ribs from Minato.

"Don't break her concentration." The oldest girl in the group reproached them.

"...Right beneath our feet..." The teal haired girl commented, sounding a bit unsure. "...Some kind of... webbing...?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with the old power cables underground. They were just left there when the island's construction was complete." Aigis suggested, surprising everyone.

"Power cables...?" Mitsuru queried.

"Yes, they run underground in many directions, like a web." The robot explained.

"And they're interfering with her ability?" Akihiko asked, seemingly ready to beat the crap out of some cables.

"_...Thank you, Aigis. I understand now_." Fuuka explained with a smile. "_Interference isn't the problem... The cables themselves have been possessed by the Shadow_!"

"They what...?" Yukari asked, shocked. "So... it's underneath this whole area?"

"...Now it all makes sense." The silver head mumbled to himself.

"Does it?" Hamuko asked, a bit left behind by the explanation.

"H-How are we supposed to beat something like that?" Ken was impressed as well. Of course, it was his first mission. Shinjiro, however, was completely calm.

Mitsuru contemplated Ken's words. "This is a problem... We have no means of attacking it."

"_In your notes from previous battles, it said there was a Shadow that took control of the monorail._" Fuuka commented as she searched the area with her powers. "_Just like that one, this Shadow must have its own body. Let me see if I can find it..._" She seemed to be putting an almost painful amount of energy into the scan.

"Fuuka…" Yukari muttered, concerned about her friend.

"Even if we know where it is, we might not be able to get to it..." Aki sounded pretty defeated.

"There may still be a way to reach the structure the buried cables feed into..." At least Aigis kept her robotic head cold.

"We'll see..." So did Shinji.

After a pair of minutes, Fuuka finally obtained results, amen of exhaustion. _"...I found it. It's close by... in this mall!_"

"Didn't we already know that?" Minato asked, confused.

"_Well, I have been able to locate it: it's inside a small chamber underground. ...It's rectangular, so I assume it's man-made._" Fuuka explained herself the best she could.

"Is it some sort of room...?" Ken suggested.

"Wait a minute..." Shinjiro suddenly spoke up. "I overheard the manager of Escapade... He was saying that the power's been acting up lately... There was a power outage because of it that forced him to cancel some big, important event."

"So Risette's concert was cancelled after all?" Hamuko said that a bit too gleefully.

"That's no surprise..." Oh. Was Yukari a fan too?

"He said the control panel is located beneath the club." The older boy kept talking. "Maybe we should take a look..."

"Err, not to pry, but why would the manager ever tell you—"

Fuuka cut Minato's words. _"...That's it!_"

"Good job, Yamagishi." Mitsuru congratulated her kohai, ignoring Shinjiro completely.

* * *

><p>They didn't have to look for the Shadow much longer; it was sitting right in the middle of the dance floor, connected to a bunch of plugs. The Hermit resembled a bunch of cables twisted around each other, and all connected to its brown keyhole shaped mask, from which some kind of woolly mane full of static electricity emerged.<p>

"_That's the source_!" Fuuka yelled. "_It's connected to all those cables, so be careful you don't get shocked!_"

"We can probably expect Zio skills," Minato said. "Yukari, stay back and keep us healed up. Aigis, stick to support and long ranged attacks. Don't let your Persona get mixed up in this mess. Akihiko, try to stay in close and draw its fire along with Hamuko and I. Shinjiro-"

"Ah, will you shut up and fight already?" said beanie wearing boy muttered, cleaving a powerful cut into the Shadow's shoulder.

"So much for strategy," Hamuko heard her fellow Fool mumble, drawing his rapier and charging in. She mentally made the change to Thoth, hoping to nullify the worst of the damage before the Shadow dealt it out.

The Shadow screeched angrily, lashing out with tendrils and bolts of lightning that were quite ineffective against the Fools, Akihiko, and Shinjiro.

"This Shadow is... really weak," Minato commented, summoning Raja Naga for a Twin Shot. "Seems like all the strategy actually wasn't really necessary."

"Ain't found a Shadow yet that hasn't gone down to a couple whacks with a big enough weapon," Shinji replied tersely, hacking off a particularly irritating tendril of wire that had been attempting to drive him off.

The severing of the tendril drew the loudest screech yet from the electrically-themed Hermit. It withdrew all its wires, drawing them around itself in a facsimile of a defensive position as a corona of power began to radiate around it. An odd hum filled the air, and the lights grew dimmer even as the Shadow's aura grew brighter. Hamuko noticed that the gash on its shoulder, delivered by Shinji's axe, began to seal shut.

_"It seems to be drawing power from the wires for an attack!" _Fuuka cried in alarm. _"Be careful!"_

"Everyone, get back!" Minato shouted. "Shinjiro-senpai, Akihiko-senpai, you too! Hamuko, help me take this!"

Hamuko stood beside Minato, her Thoth and his Raja Naga capable of nullifying any electric attack. It didn't matter how much power it drew, and it had shown no great strength up until that point anyway...

A roar, far more intimidating than the irritating screeches they had heard up to that point, tore from the Hermit's throat, as it shed its defensive shell. The vibrating corona quickly receded into the Shadow. It took aim, and fired a blast of blinding energy that seemed to literally rip through the air itself, leaving a tangy scent of ozone behind. As the beam travelled, the air rushed in where it left, deafening as well as blinding with a sonorous clap of thunder. It struck the dazed Fools head on, blowing them backwards without concern to their natural defenses.

Both hit the hard stone wall yards behind them at a dangerous speed, knocking their senses loose briefly before Yukari and Ken helped mend their wounds. Minato shook the cobwebs out, and frowned at the Hermit, which seemed a bit spent after the attack.

"Never seen anything blow through a type nullification like that," he muttered. "Maybe it had an Elec Break mixed in there or something, or maybe it was just the physical force of the attack. Strike, maybe?"

"What'd I tell you about the strategizing?" Shinji asked irritably, tapping his axe against his shoulder in impatience.

"No!" Minato snapped at him. "We tried bash and smash. That didn't end well. Let me do my thing. _I'm _the leader here."

With that, he dashed in close to the Hermit, taking advantage of its temporary sluggishness. He unleashed a multitude of accurate slashes, severing the wires that fed the Shadow its power, and jumped back as it tried to retaliate with its tendrils.

"There," he said in satisfaction. "Let's see it do that again without a power sou-"

The Hermit leaped forward, no longer bound by the wires, and cut the teen off mid-sentence with a crushing headbutt that drove the wind from him. It roared its defiance to SEES, and coiled its legs beneath it, before leaping up through the hole which they had descended from.

Hamuko took a look at Minato, gasping on the ground for air, and decided there to take charge.

"Get it!" Alright, so she wasn't quite up to Minato's standard of fancy battle plans. He was on the ground, and she wasn't. He's not the only leader...

SEES heard Fuuka's gasp as the Hermit came tearing out of Escapade near where she was stationed within Lucia. It tore past her, ignoring her completely, and left the mall.

"Fuuka, help us track it!" Hamuko shouted as they passed her as well, in hot pursuit of the Shadow. "What's it doing?"

_"Um, it seems to be following the power lines! I think it's looking for another source of electricity!" _she reported hastily.

"Seikatsu, are you capable of taking this Shadow down in time?" Mitsuru asked, her calm tone a contrast to the breakneck pace they were sprinting.

"Are you smart enough?" she seemed to be asking. "Strong enough? Clever enough? Can you take over for Minato and prove that you're worth more as a leader than just another multiple Persona user?"

"Yes, Senpai," she gritted out, feeling oddly angry.

Mitsuru seemed to accept that. "Then what do you want to do?"

_What do you want?_

"What?" She stumbled.

"I asked what your plan is, Seikatsu. Your orders. What do you want to do?"

_What do you want?_

"I..." she grimaced, seeing the Hermit ahead, slowing in its flight without a source of power. "I want..."

_What do you want?_

"I want that thing's head on a platter!" she screamed out.

_Seize it._

"MEGIDO!" she shouted to the heavens, pulling the trigger on her Evoker. Samael, the great red serpent, came ripping from her psyche, firing a blast of incredible power at their flagging foe. It struck the beast in the back, knocking it over for a brief moment before it whirled around on its pursuers, lashing out at Hamuko with a Ziodyne that threw her off her feet.

"Heal me!" she shouted at the team behind her, feeling restorative magic pour over her. She advanced inexorably on the Shadow, which realized that its attacks were now working on her, and fired off Ziodyne after Ziodyne, causing the girl's muscles to lock up on her.

But after a time, the attacks slowed. Hamuko looked up, her movements jerky. She grinned with satisfaction, seeing the gash on its shoulder open back up.

"Outta juice, huh?" she taunted. "Can't heal yourself up no more? Too bad!"

Switching to Koumokuten, she knocked the Hermit down with a Swift Strike, and turned to Shinji and Ken.

"Hit it while it's down!" she commanded, placing the Evoker to her head one last time.

"Koumokuten!"

"Castor!"

"Nemesis!"

"**CRUEL ATTACK!"**

And in three great blows, the Shadow whimpered pitifully and dissolved into tar-like ichor.

"_Congratulations, I no longer sense its presence_." Fuuka stated happily in their minds. "_Oh, and also... I think I've found Junpei. He's back at the dorm, but something seems strange... The Chairman's there too, so he should be okay. But, let's hurry back just in case_."

"Let's go already." The group who had been left in the mall making sure Minato was fine arrived to the place. The blue head seemed to be fine, if not a bit troubled by his fail. Everyone began running back to the dorm, concerned about their partner.

Everyone but Hamuko, who was just standing there, looking a bit dazed.

"Hamuko? Are you okay?" Minato asked, halting.

She quickly ran past him without any word.

* * *

><p>"…Hey... Answer me this: was it all just an act?" They could hear Junpei's voice through the roof door, while they waited for he precise moment to strike. "...Us meeting, your wound, the picture... Were you just setting me up? Now that I think about it, that cut healed pretty quickly... Haha... I see how it is..."<p>

"That was..." Whoever was with him –the aforementioned date, Minato guessed- sounded a bit affected. That was a good moment to break in!

"Junpei!" Yukari shouted as she ran towards the boy, who was tied to a chair. She immediately proceeded to untie him.

"Tch. They're back already?" The red haired girl with a gothic Lolita dress clenched her hand around some item—an Evoker!

Mitsuru gasped. "She's a Persona-user?"

"Medea, come..." Before she could finish levelling the gun to her chin, Junpei ran towards her and tackled her to the ground.

"Chidori, stop!" He yelled. "Senpai, get her gun!"

"No! Give it back!" The red head yelled desperately.

"Sorry, but we can't let you use this." Akihiko said in an almost mocking tune as the girl tried to reach out for her Evoker. Now Minato had a moment to take a look around… Hamuko wasn't there with them. Where the hell…?

"Hm?" Ikutsuki glanced around, completely shocked. "When did she...?" Apparently, he hadn't noticed anything.

"Aigis, restrain her." Mitsuru commanded.

"Understood." The robot immediately took Chidori's arms and pressed them against her back.

"Medea!" She cried desperately.

"I...I didn't sense her up until this very moment... This is my only power and yet..." Fuuka sounded completely depressed.

"If even Fuuka couldn't sense her, then she must have some sort of power to conceal her presence..." The Chairman suggested in a conciliating voice. "I didn't have the slightest clue she was here..."

"Are you a member of the group that goes by the name Strega?" Mitsuru asked almost rhetorically. "I have a number of questions for you."

"...I'm not... afraid... of dying..." The gothic girl muttered to herself.

"Ch-Chidori...?" Junpei yelled, terrified by those words.

"...M-Medea... I'm..." She kept crying and mumbling nonsensical things.

"Clearly, she's emotionally unstable." The red head explained. "We'll let her rest, and save our questions for later."

"Chidori..." Junpei gave her a last sad look, before everyone was almost forcefully taken inside and asked to rest.

* * *

><p>Minato would have wanted to make a little stop at Hamuko's room to see if she was there, maybe just too tired, but there were too many people around, so he headed straight to his room.<p>

"Hey there…" Hamuko closed the door slowly, once Minato had sat down on his bed. He was a bit startled by the sudden noise, and quite more startled by how underdressed she was. "Surprised?"

"Quite so…" He muttered, glancing away awkwardly. "You don't know what you've just missed! Junpei was—"

"You can tell me all 'bout it tomorrow…" She chuckled softly as she stepped towards him, a mysterious glow adorning her usually beaming eyes. He only stared at her in awe as she climbed onto his lap, offering him the most dazzling smile she had, right before their mouths began colliding.

"…Hamuko?" He finally dared ask as she began unbuttoning his shirt, taking her time with each button.

"That battle was so frustrating…" She sighed, pulling herself closer to him once she was done fingering his chest. "_I'm craving some fun tonight_." She whispered in his ear with a low and breathy voice. "_Mind if I play with you_?"

"Some… **fun**?" He gaped at her for a few seconds, until he finally came to terms with the fact she wasn't joking. He quickly settled his hands on her hips, excitement making his eyes widen a fraction larger than any person's should. "D-does this mean we're finally going to-"

"_Ssh_." She put a finger on his lips. "_You talk too much_." Without any further warning she lowered her head to his neck and began sinking her teeth on his cold skin, way too strongly to be pleasurable, but it still made Minato begin to feel hot, nonetheless.

"A bit forceful today, aren't we?" He asked, bemused, among little gasps. She didn't answer, opting instead to close her jaws with all her strength above his jugular vein. "AUGH!" He pushed her away, and took a hand to his neck. He was bleeding!

Hamuko gave him an apologetic look, mumbling something he couldn't quite catch before approaching his neck again in order to begin soothing the wound softly with her tongue. Or maybe she was trying to leech off his blood like a bat. He wasn't too sure. Whatever she was doing, it felt quite nice.

"Your pants." She demanded. "Quick."

"I've had a stressful day too. Won't you let me play a bit first…?" He ran his hands up in a beeline, following the curves of her torso.

"We've been fooling around long enough." She stated bluntly, pushing him back. "Just lay there…"

"Is this part of your 'I don't want you to do me' paranoia?" He did nothing to stop her once she began tugging at his belt and fidgeting with his zipper. "You can be on top if you want, but don't be like that…"

"Listen to me..." Hamuko leaned forward and looked at him straight in the eye. He hadn't imagined it: her eyes seemed different that night. They were slightly glazed and unfocused, but considerably brighten. "I need to become one with you, love."

"Become one?" Minato _**had**_ heard that somewhere before, he couldn't remember where, but he had. "That doesn't sound like you at all." The look in her eyes, her weird behavior and now this? He quickly connected all the points. Of course—she was describing the same symptoms he felt the days before that fateful night in Shirakawa. At least now he knew he wasn't crazy. Or the only insane person around. "No… you too…"

"What's wrong, my love…?" She rested a knee on his chest as he tried to sit up. "Ah, ah, ah, you're not going anywhere." She threw his belt away and forcefully lowered his pants.

"Hamuko, wake up! You don't want this!" He knew that saying anything was for naught, for he couldn't do anything to fight that state from what he remembered of the last time he suffered from it. And he wasn't about to give her a beating like the one Akihiko gave him to make her get out of it. Why was she suffering from that too? What the hell was it even?

"Wanna feel how much I do…?" She snickered as she began working on removing her few clothing, letting it slip idly all the way to her ankles. "I know you want this too…"

The bluenet didn't let that distract him. Not too long anyway. "One rape attempt between us is more than enough, Hamuko!"

"Oh, but that's okay, 'cause since I'm a female this isn't rape. A girl can't do anything to a boy if he isn't enjoying it." She leaned over him and smirked as her hand swiftly traveled down. "And you clearly are."

The former fact was obviously a lie, but, no point denying that he really liked what he was seeing. It'd be no problem for him to simply go ahead with it, but, he knew that Hamuko wasn't in her sanity right then, and that she'd never forgive him once she came to her senses. Or so he hoped. Otherwise she was creepier than he could have ever thought. Regardless, he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice; he was going to fight that strange force this time.

Deciding that she really wasn't herself, he considered she'd appreciate his help once it was over, no matter what he had to do to stop her. "Sorry!" He gritted his teeth and headbutted her, sending her back whimpering. This gave him time to get up and pull his pants up the best he could.

"Don't resist!" She held a hand to her face, glaring at him intensely. "Why don't you understand that we hafta be together again? I don't wanna kill you anymore! I love you!"

"W-what?" He didn't have a clue of what she was saying; he only knew that he had to keep her away for her own good. Fortunately for him, Minato was quite stronger than Hamuko, so he didn't have much trouble pinning her against a wall to make her stop.

"Drop me!" She yelled. Seeing that no amount of kicking and struggling would make him let her go, she began screaming, calling for help.

"_NO! Don't do that_!" He tried to cover her mouth with a hand, only to get bitten and let out a shriek of his own. She immediately resumed her desperate calls for help. He could hear voices in the corridor, asking what was going on. "_God __**fucking**__ damn it_!"

She kept screaming, apparently finding the situation she was getting him in funny, or maybe thinking of it as a revenge.

"_**SHUT THE FUCK UP**_!"

He didn't consider how much strength he used when he shoved her. He didn't calculate that his bed was right there, and that it had hard, wood borders. He didn't expect her to hit her head against one of them, doing nothing but letting out a little gasp as her consciousness began fading. He didn't plan for her to begin bleeding at a worrying rhythm. He didn't know what to do but sink to his knees, desperately trying to get her to look at him.

He didn't think his upperclassmen would open the door right then.

* * *

><p><strong>Fifty internet points to the mad mathematic weeaboo who can guess the method I'm following to make these scenes happen.<strong>

**I guess the shock value is lost the second time. It's your fault for not leaving reviews. Just kidding, there's been foreshadowing of this for quite a lot of time.**


	64. Truce's over

**Author note: someone be a sweetheart and update the length of the fic in the Fanfic Recommendations section of Persona 3 in TVTropes, please :3**

**If I don't show up next week, school has started/Katawa Shoujo was released today and I'm busy with Hanako. EVERYONE should be busy with Hanako.**

**Evilshroom couldn't beta because KS!**

* * *

><p>"…Stark naked, fainted and bleeding profusely…" Mitsuru repeated the boys' words, in a way quite more civilized than they had. "…He was straddling her when you…" At least she was just sitting in front of him in the Command Room, and not trying to break his face like they had before Aigis had rushed in, proceeding to hold him 'preemptively captive', apparently to stop them from hurting him further. "…Do you believe a test would be necessary?" She was obviously enervated, but she was doing her best to keep her composure, unlike the other two seniors. "…All this seems quite obvious." She concluded, after receiving an angry nod of affirmation. "However, I would like to hear your version before deciding any punishment, Arisato."<p>

"I didn't do anything. She tried to force herself on me, but I stopped her." Minato replied calmly. Making a scene wouldn't do him any good.

"WHAT?" Akihiko yelled at the top of his lungs. "Have you seen in what state she is? And you dare say that, bastard? I believed you last time, but-!"

"Last time?" The red haired senior asked, surprised.

"This fucker already tried something in Shirakawa, claiming he was charmed…" The silver head growled. "If I hadn't showed up…" His words caused a general feeling of uneasiness and a scowl to appear in Shinjiro's face.

"Why wasn't I informed of this…?" Mitsuru inquired, getting a few babbles from her friend.

"This time is different." Minato insisted, not liking the direction the situation was taking. "You don't believe me? Fine! Hamuko, why don't you tell them what happened?"

Said girl tilted her head up when hearing her name. Hamuko had been awake for a few minutes, wearing a bandage over the wound on the back of her head, which wasn't deep enough so that a Dia spell wouldn't close it. She was standing by the door, thankfully clothed, albeit only with Shinjiro's pea-coat, and with a look of complete and utter disturbance spread across her face. "I-I…" She stammered with barely a streak of voice. When she seemed about to speak up, she began sobbing disconsolately. "Don't make me remember...! Please, don't! He attacked me! Again!" She cried.

Minato's mouth hung open in disbelief in response to this betrayal. He finally snapped. "She's lying! I didn't do anything!" He shook his body, trying to free himself. "Hamuko, why are you doing this to me?"

"SHUT UP!" Akihiko clenched his fists around the boy's collar, earning a look of disapproval from Mitsuru.

"Dishonesty is not an option, Arisato." She narrowed her eyes dangerously at him.

"I'm not lying!" He screamed. "I didn't do anything to her! She was the one trying to assault me! I—Look!" He stretched his neck to show the mark of the bite she'd given him. "She attacked me! I only pushed her so that she wouldn't do something she'd regret!"

"We are all aware of the relationship you two kept. The only thing that could prove is that you went way farther than she meant, and then things got out of control." She speculated.

"But… you know Hamuko, she…" Minato mumbled under his breath. "This is ridiculous! Why have you ordered Aigis to restrain me, like she did with that crazy girl from yesterday?"

"I apologize, Minato-san." The robot muttered, obviously conflicted as well.

He inhaled deeply. "…Can't you let me talk to her face-to-face? She's just stunned and really confused, that was a pretty strong hit. If you give me five minutes, I'm sure we can solve this misunderstanding…"

Akihiko seemed ready to retort, but Mitsuru motioned Aigis to let him go, closely followed by Shinjiro. The closer he stepped, the farther Hamuko went, or at least until she found the closed door on her way. Then she just began whimpering.

"Hamuko," he whispered with a friendly smile, "please, tell them what happened. It's okay, I know you weren't being yourself. I'm not mad at you or anyth—"

"NO!" She shrieked. "I couldn't have done something like that! I'm not like you! Y-you did something to me, and now you're just trying to confuse me! I'm sure! You just had to fuck up again, didn't you?" She cried. "You're a monster! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

These words left Minato completely speechless. "Why…?" He could only mutter as Shinjiro pushed him rather impolitely back to where Aigis and the others were. "I-I really didn't…"

"Mitsuru-san, I do not believe he is lying!" Aigis claimed futilely, as everyone knew that she had an unhealthy obsession for both.

"Arisato, I would like to believe you." Mitsuru informed, letting out a small, tired sigh. "But I do believe that you are conscious that, regardless of whether you are guilty or not, it would be horribly negligent of us to oversee this incident and the previous one Akihiko mentioned. Being the leader doesn't give you the privilege to remain in this dorm after performing or attempting to perform such a dreadful act... twice. And we must also consider all the times you have attacked each other for no real reason. There are places more adequate for that kind of people."

"What? For the last time, I'm not at fault!" The blue head stated in a panic. Why didn't anyone believe him?

"No! No! Don't make him leave!" Hamuko exclaimed suddenly. "Don't make him leave me alone! I don't want him to leave!"

"…She doesn't know what she's saying." Akihiko commented, angered by those desperate words.

"We cannot allow ourselves to do that." Ikutsuki walked into the scene from the darkness of the room. Minato wasn't even aware that he was there. "Both of their Persona abilities are unparalleled by those of the rest of the team."

"But we cannot permit-!"

"We have no way of knowing whether he is saying the truth or not. Would you send him away, risking yourself at imprisoning an innocent person?" He asked. Mitsuru faltered at those words, unknowing of what to reply. "Of course, this doesn't mean we can assume that you're innocent either, Minato-san. You're to remain until the matter is solved."

"But… would it really be wise to let him be near her after that…?" The red haired girl inquired, troubled. "I believe that they both should be put under vigilance until this matter is solved, to ensure their safety."

"Good idea, assign someone to each so their movements can be controlled all day long." The adult commanded.

"And regarding Tartarus?"

"I guess that seeing their current state, it'd be best if they could be kept away unless their cooperation is extremely necessary. We'll revert to independent groups." Ikutsuki concluded. With that, he walked back to his room.

"This is crazy…" Akihiko mumbled under his breath. "…Alright, I'll make sure to guard her."

"I'll do that." Shinjiro offered suddenly. He seemed to feel guilty about something. In any case, Akihiko wasn't willing to allow him.

"I am capable of watching over both of them." Aigis rebated.

"It would be better if you only kept an eye on Arisato, Aigis. You will guard them both during school hours." Mitsuru got up from her chair and looked at Minato, and then at Hamuko. "We'll see how this turns out. Everyone is dismissed." They walked out of the room. "Stay put to any noise proceeding from either of their rooms. To be safer, lock both of their doors from the outside."

"Roger." She affirmed.

Minato fell asleep relatively quickly; he was way too tired to even think about it.

* * *

><p>"It is imperative to become one." A voice repeated in his dreams all over the night. "I oppose not your foolish emotions! I force not any violence on you! What more could you possibly wish for? It matters not to me in which way you consume each other, nor when you do so. Postponing your unification will wilt not my determination to be one again. You are not but bringing suffering to every living being with this Fool act. You bring nothing more than suffering to your weak carcasses and your incomplete selves."<p>

"What the hell does that mean?" Minato shouted at nothing but a white, empty space. From time to time, some geometrical figure flew past in random directions, all of them broken or missing parts. "Who is—"

* * *

><p>"Minato-san." A voice calling out for him once and again brought him out of his dream.<p>

"A-Aigis…?" Minato muttered, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "What did we tell you about-?" As he spoke, memories of the previous night filled his mind. "Oh, right, the vigilance thing…" He got up and took a quick glance at himself. He was still wearing the clothes from the previous day. There was also dry blood right next to his feet, but, not much else. They hadn't caused a big disorder. "So I didn't dream that, huh…"

Normally he'd have wondered just where the heck had Hamuko undressed, seeing that she only had an article of clothing on when he arrived to his room, but, right now, he couldn't care the least. He merely buttoned his shirt and ran his hands over it, hoping to smooth the wrinkles. He didn't care that it was Sunday and that he had no reason to wear the school uniform.

"Mitsuru-san commanded me to tell you that she would not report you nor Hamuko to the authorities, nor let any other dorm members know about the incident until we have appointed a culprit." Aigis spoke as painfully monotonously as usual.

"It doesn't matter." He stated hopelessly as he walked to the mirror of his room in order to tie his chocker properly around his neck. "Someone will leak information about the issue. And they will all be against me." He rested his hands on the sink, staring apprehensively at his rinse. "I still can't believe that Hamuko, of all people, would do this to me. Tsk, when I'm the victim, I'm the one who gets blamed… this is what I get for being a good guy. Might as well have actually taking advantage of her, for all the others care."

"Please, do not say such things; I believe you are not lying, Minato-san." The robot affirmed. "I do not perceive any external signs inherent of human's lies in you."

"Thank you, but your opinion is worth about as much as mine." Minato walked out of his room with a sigh. Aigis followed him out and locked the door. "I think you were supposed to do that instead of entering."

"Physical presence is a much more useful way of keeping you under vigilance."

"Suit yourself. At least you'll get to be happy now."

* * *

><p>"G'morning, it's time to have breakfast." Akihiko announced as he unlocked Hamuko's door. Before he could even get to see how she was doing, she walked out, still clad in Shinjiro's coat. He didn't dare to ask about it. "How are you doing?"<p>

"Phoenix Ranger has just ended." She replied, without even looking at him.

Akihiko seemed to notice the lack of cohesion between those two sentences. "If you're feeling unwell, you can—"

"I'm fine." Her answer was unconvincingly emotionless.

"It's okay to be depressed or mad after such a thing, but you have to-"

"Senpai, I have already been in the same situation before." She finally tilted her head up to look at him straight in the eye. "Why should I be sad about something I have already overcome once?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm still hungry."

Akihiko seemed a bit startled for some reason. "…Someone made pancakes. I guess it was Yukari or Fuuka's doing."

"I like pancakes."

* * *

><p>Finding each other was of course, unavoidable.<p>

"Hey." Hamuko greeted him while chewing her breakfast. "Come have some pancakes."

All the people present in the room, or at least those aware of what was going on, directed their looks towards him. "_**What**_?"

"The pancakes. They are nice." Her tune was more akin of that of someone biting lemons. "Maybe we should take some to Akinari-kun."

"_Why, you…_" Minato headed to the door without even bothering to answer.

"Hey, where are you-?" Hamuko stared at him fixedly until he slammed the door shut. Her eyes then shifted to Aigis. "Sit with me?"

"I have been ordered to watch Minato-san." She ran after him.

Hamuko frowned deeply as she absentmindedly stabbed the little mountain of pancakes she had on her dish with her fork, catching Yukari's attention. She seemed to notice Hamuko's clothing and general unkempt appearance. "Uh… What's new?"

"New? Nothing."

* * *

><p>"Minato-san, I request to know where you are going." The end of Aigis's sundress floated softly in the air as they walked around Iwatodai.<p>

"I don't know, Aigis. I just needed to clear my mind a bit."

"Maybe soap and water would be more effective." She suggested.

"…Was that a joke?" Minato let out a bitter laugh.

They ended up sitting on a bench in front of Octopia, bored after some long thirty minutes wandering around aimlessly. Minato felt a bit bad about Aigis, even though he knew that she was programmed to stand much more than boredom… because she seemed to be the only one on his side at that moment. "Aigis, have you tried takoyaki before?"

"Mitsuru-san suggested trying it during the last festival, but she was not capable to figure out how to consume it."

"I see." Minato got up and bought them some.

"Wow. Extremely high-temperature juices spurted out from inside." She exclaimed happily.

"That's... nice." Minato reluctantly put another dumpling in his mouth. "I think Elisabeth would like you."

"Elisabeth?"

"Ah, she's a frie-acquaintance of mine. She's um… a bit out there." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sure you'd be great friends, shall you ever meet."

"I will remember to befriend her so shall that ever happen." The robot tensed up her shoulders, in quite a human-ish way.

A deep silence ensued. "I really didn't do it."

"I do not doubt you, Minato-san."

"I'm also sure that she isn't doing it on purpose. She's just scared about not being herself, that's normal, I was scared too the first time." Minato got up and resumed his walk, this time towards the shrine. "She's just being Hamuko about it. As soon as she sees she's fine and she has got herself under control, she'll explain to everyone, they'll help us find a cause to why this happens to us, and then she'll beg me for forgiveness in private, we'll sleep… on it, and everything will go consensually great."

"Could you repeat that information? I could not process most of it." Aigis asked as she ran after him.

"Ah… Sorry, ignore that. I'm not used to talking to people as sane as you, Aigis." He laughed. The most normal person in his life was a crazy robot girl, alright. "Let's make one little stop more before going back to the dorm, alright? I've to tell a friend about something."

* * *

><p>"…Yo."<p>

"Oh hey!" Hamuko greeted Shinjiro, not bothering to take her headphones off. "This 'TVs & Monsters' remixed soundtrack is awesome, wanna listen to it with me?"

"No." Shinjiro denied uninterestedly, after a few seconds of silence. "…The others've left to take that Chidori chick to the hospital."

"Okay." She didn't even bat an eye for the longest time, staring at him emotionlessly.

"You shoulda gone too."

"Why?" Hamuko lowered her headset. "I am fine, Senpai."

"…You're oddly calm, aren't you?" The taller boy stared at her back.

"I was already through the same thing. With the same person." She curled up the wires of her headphones, trying not to meet his gaze any longer.

"What, you hoped to change him?" He snorted. "People do the same shit once and again, y'should know that. No one ever changes. No one can't."

"I know, but…" She sucked her lower lip in and breathed deeply. "I had already reached some resolutions, and I have no reason to think about them again." Her words became lower each time. "Why should I ever…"

"Running away from it'll do you no good." He sneered for a second and mumbled something about talking like Aki. What did he find funny? _**What**_ did he know? "Ain't got no rights to judge you, but if you felt okay 'bout what happened, you'd be obnoxious as usual."

"Is that how you see me? An obnoxious child who can't do anything?" She clenched her fists around the end of his coat's sleeves. "A helpless little girl?"

"Don't put words in my mouth." He grunted. "Dunno 'bout the other things you said, but you're no child anymore."

"Tell that to Akihiko-senpai." She retorted, letting out a small laugh. "…Shinjiro-senpai, why did you offer to watch over me? I thought you didn't care about what happened to me."

Shinjiro didn't seem willing to answer for a few seconds, but he eventually spoke up. "I'm making up for something."

"Making up for something?" She gave him a troubled look. "Don't feel bad 'bout not having taught me how to fight, Senpai; it wouldn't have made much of a difference."

"…Forget it." He shook his head. "Aki's been giving me weird ideas."

"About me being Miki?" Her words made Shinji choke. "…Can you tell me about her?"

"…" He ran a hand up his beanie. "Maybe another day."

"Then, can I go to Hagakure with you tomorrow so you can tell me about it?"

"What? Why the hell are you so insistent about spending time with me? Didn't you have a boyfriend or something?" Her lack of response told him everything he needed to know.

"I don't know. It just makes me happy to see you. Maybe it's because you saved my life, or maybe…" She began trailing off.

"Don't you ever stop being annoying?" With a big sigh he slouched on the sofa and pushed his beanie over his face. "…I'll come pick you up once Akihiko's training is over. You'd better wash that coat before giving it back."

Minutes passed in silence. "Thanks..." She whispered to a sleeping Shinjiro. She was surprised to see that the Moon Social Link had just been formed. Surprised? Why? She was as much as a Social Link master as Minato was. Why should she ever be surprised? She wasn't going to let herself be defeated by that-!

...That's right. They were in a competition. A serious competition. Gaining power to help others… Had she ever thought of it that way? How could she have forgotten that? The Social Links were their means of winning… But winning what, though? What was the competition even? Hone your powers and do some shit, is that all? Minato probably knew the answer! He knew what the prize was! That's why he already knew about the maxed out Social Links and why he always knew what to say and when to butt in and then say that some random thing crazed him and that nothing was his fault! It's not that SHE'd gone crazy, which she'd believed when she woke up and promptly denied; as she suspected, Minato had most likely casted a spell on her or something during the battle! All that saying he loved her and making her think that she loved him too was just to feed his caveman needs and make her think she'd lost her mind and that way he'd get her out of the way so he could have the power of all the Social Links to win the tournament! What a master plot!

Just then, Minato walked merrily into the dorm, accompanied by Aigis. He didn't even get to announce his arrival before Hamuko had crashed into him.

"I know what you're thinking!" Hamuko yelled, completely enraged. "And I have thought of that before! Don't think I don't think what you're thinking!"

"What?" Minato shook her off.

"Don't play innocent now! What the hell did you give me? How did you make me do that yesterday?" She insisted, shoving him back. "You made me attack you, you perverted bastard! How did you do so?"

"You recognise culpability for yesterday's incident, Hamuko-san?" Aigis's question made her froze immediately. "I shall report this to Mitsuru-san."

"W-What?" She stepped back. "A-Aigis, you're on his side?"

"What on Earth… Aigis, did you record that? Wait a second, please." Minato stepped ahead, towards her, after receiving a nod in response. "It's me, Hamuko. I didn't make you do anything, _you_ attacked me. It's okay, you weren't being yourself, I forgive—"

"LIAR! It was you!" Hamuko roared. "You're with HIM, Aigis? After all I've done for you?"

"I am not—"

"Fine!" She screamed yet again, making Shinjiro grumble on the sofa. "I'm fed up with living in your shadow. This means war, you hear me? Remember the calm days. You'll miss them." And with that she walked away, turning up the music of her MP3 to the max.

"_What_?" Minato looked at Aigis. "…Did you understand anything?"

"I am afraid not."

"AND LET ME BREAK THIS SOCIAL LINK, YOU ASSHOLE." She shouted from the living room.

"…Social Link?"

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Hamuko stomped her way downstairs, now clad in actual clothes and with a look of sheer determination and anger. However, Aigis stopped her before she got to the door. "You are not allowed to go outside without vigilance under any condition, Hamuko-san."<p>

"I'm going to Escapade." She replied in a low voice, trying to keep it a secret from Minato.

"You are not allowed to do so until your guardian is back."

"I somehow doubt Senpai will let me go." She snorted. "Aigis, move aside."

"Denied."

"BUT—"

"Denied."

"…Alright."

She didn't need even five minutes to sneak out while Aigis was busy staring at Minato.

If she was back before the others dorm members came back, she'd have no problems. If she wasn't… well, she was only going to Escapade with one objective.

* * *

><p>"Hey there."<p>

"Huh? Oh, it's you… the kid's girlfriend…" Mutatsu said with his typical slur.

"I've got a name, yanno." Hamuko mumbled through gritted her teeth.

"That's good for ya. I have a name too, but I don't remember it right now…" He hiccupped. "Watcha doin' here all alone?" The monk eyed her suspiciously.

"Oh, I just thought I'd check on you, since Minato said he didn't have time to deal with 'old, drunken bastards'…" She answered as convincingly as she could. Maybe she could manage to make his Social Link reverse or something. That way, he'd have to use more time to deal with him instead of other Social Links!

"Ahahaha, that kid finally learnt!" Mutatsu cackled. "Aah, at least now he'll let me rest… My head hurts too much to deal with kids…"

…Damn, Hamuko didn't have a B plan. And making men of questionable age suffer he effects of alcohol for too long just to take revenge wasn't in her book.

"I guess you should go home. I should go home too, or I'll get in trouble." The brunette commented, quite more conscious of the punishment Mitsuru could have ready for her. "But then again, I don't really wanna…"

"I hear ya, kid. Y'know, I've a memorial service to conduct tomorrow… Reciting the Heart Sutra with a hangover... ugh..." He slapped his saggy cheeks weakly, trying to keep himself awake. "Before, no matter how much I drank, all I needed was a cold shower to snap outta it. Guess I'm gettin' old, heh... It's times like these I wish I didn't live alone..."

"Huh? You live by yourself?"

"Yep. My temple's small, and I don't depend on anybody but myself. So, I'm the only one there." He stated proudly.

"You don't need to depend on anyone, huh? …That's pretty brave." She muttered, impressed.

"Brave? Livin' alone's probably the best thing a person could do!" Mutatsu laughed at Hamuko's surprised face. "You don't hafta wait for someone else to get outta the bathroom when ya need to go. My son took forever in there. ...Yeah, livin' alone is the way to achieve peace and serenity!" He nodded to himself. His tune then became somewhat gloomier. "...All things visible are bound to change and disappear... All things in this world are not singular. They're all smaller parts of a bigger picture. And yet, they're all different from each other. All things in this world are unique."

"What does that mean?" It… sounded important. And familiar.

"To put it simply..." He heaved a sigh. "No matter how hard you try to live your life right, someone else can always mess it up."

Hamuko choked in her shot glass. Holy crap, she felt he was reprimanding her about what she was trying to do just then.

"All things are unique, yet they are not singular..." He repeated. "I think that kid's given me quite a lot to think…" He turned to Hamuko. "You're free to come by my shrine if you ever wanna mess my life a bit."

His creepy laugh was her cue to leave, completely disgusted. Maybe meeting a creepy drunken old man wasn't the best thing to do just a night after what happened. Just maybe.

"Oh, yeah, about the memorial service..." He spoke up as she walked downstairs. "The kid was only nineteen... a random murder victim. What a harsh world we live in... You be careful on your way home, okay… kid with a name?"

For some reason, Hamuko had some kind of… tingly feeling after this conversation. Too much vodka. Or maybe not enough.

* * *

><p>Back at the dorm, after getting severely scolded by Akihiko and receiving an execution warning from Mitsuru, of which she didn't get half a word, she headed to bed. An insistent beeping woke her up when alcohol-induced stupor had already overcame her. She had a text message.<p>

"Wry do-ah h-haf to-tou-towel… Towah le-vel… Eight? Nine…? O-oh, six. –Minato."

After some minutes of waiting, Minato finally received an answer.

"_Gnmd uqdsitnm_." …He'd have to ask once she was sober. Although, why even bother, she wasn't going to answer him. Maybe that bonk was really too strong; she seemed to have completely lost it.

* * *

><p>In the way to school, Yukari informed Minato about Chidori's sudden muteness and how really worried Junpei was about her, but he didn't get half of it.<p>

* * *

><p>Were there any classes? All they could remember was a contest of glares.<p>

"…What did you mean by 'this is the war', Hamuko?" Minato asked in a low voice during Ekoda's class.

"Exactly what you're thinking." Hamuko retorted coldly. "So let this stupid Social Link break already."

"Hamuko, no one messes with my Social Links. Not even you. I don't care how insane you are, keep your hands off them or I'll have to keep them away by myself." He threatened.

"Look at all the fucks I give." She threw her pencil case at him, but it didn't quite reach him, landing on Kenji's table instead. "Yanno, as soon as I get to the dorm I'm gonna invite Ken to my room."

"No, you won't." He narrowed his eyes dangerously while she smirked.

"Yanno what they say about the forbidden fruit, don't you?"

"You'll have to defile that child over my dead body."

"You're just as sick as I thought." She growled.

"You _**two**_ are sick." Kenji exclaimed from the end of the line of tables, throwing Hamuko her pencil case back.

"Should I keep records of this conversation, Minato-san?" Aigis suggested.

"…Why did you EVER change seats?" Hamuko grumbled, stifling a scream within her hands before cutting the conversation.

* * *

><p>"Hamuko-san." Aigis called her once the class ended. "Minato-san requests visiting the Student Council Room. Since I am the guardian of both of you at school, I require your cooperation."<p>

"Of course, Minato said so. And Minato's word is law, ain't it? What if I don't want to go, huh?"

"You have been flagged as 'high escape risk' as of yesterday, hence Minato-san's decisions have priority." She explained calmly, oblivious to Hamuko's anger.

"Traitor…" Hamuko muttered as Aigis dragged her out of the classroom.

"Shut up. You have no reason to be angry, Hamuko. _**You**_. Tried. To. Assault. _**Me**_." Minato slammed his hand against his chest. "But I didn't let you, so you wouldn't regret it. And I haven't reported you, even though Aigis has records of your confession. I'm being really nice, Hamuko, so stop bitching about it."

"Holy shit, you've got a conscience! You won't report me after drugging or hexing me, trying to make me rape you and almost breaking my head! Whoa, that's so fucking nice of you!" She shook her wrists trying to free herself from Aigis. "Let our Social Link break, or I'll break your face instead!"

"I'd like to see you try." Minato sneered. "You'll eventually come back to me crying once you accept what's on, why let you ruin our relationship?"

"Say we have anything again and I'll ruin your chances of ever having a child!"

"…_Was I that mad after my last episode_?" Minato couldn't help but wonder. He remembered two things about… whatever that was. One was the obvious sexual tension; the other was feeling rather aggressive towards Hamuko. Fortunately, it vanished over time. Or was it Yuko? Regardless, Hamuko was enraged toward Aigis too; a variation from what happened to him. Then again, he didn't even know Aigis back then. "Aigis, Hamuko, wait here, I just want to say thanks quickly and then we'll be going."

"And what if I wanted to assist the meeting, huh?"

"Do you?"

"…" Hamuko slouched against the wall and snorted.

"Excuse me—"

"Whoever did this deserves a strict punishment! They must understand that we aren't kidding around about the cigarettes issue!"

"What? Come on, it's been months! Why are you still thinking about that, Odagiri? Can't you just let the issue slip already?" Someone yelled. "We don't even know who the culprit is!"

"It doesn't matter, thinking of a punishment is something of the utmost importance!" Hidetoshi didn't back away. "The law is the same for everyone!"

"Uh… Chihiro-san, what's going on?" Minato asked, stepping away from the heated conversation.

"Ah, Minato-san! W-well, they're having a discussion about a cigarette found in the boys' bathroom a few months ago…" Chihiro stuttered.

"I remember Hamuko…san told me something about it long ago." Minato mused.

"So um, d-did you want anything?"

"Oh, yeah, I've come to thank whoever was in charge for the initiative to protect the Persimmon Tree."

"Oh!" Her expression lit up considerably. "You also participated in it? I think that the owners of Bookworm really deserved to keep their beloved memorial tree, so I did my best… b-but I think it was mostly thanks to Odagiri."

"Ah, well, thanks." He smiled. "I'll wait until he's—"

"WHAT? No you won't!" Hamuko's voice exclaimed from the corridor. "I've got a DATE, yanno?"

"Erm, excuse me a second." Minato ran towards the door and peeked out. "You _**WHAT**_?"

"I told Shinjiro-senpai that we've split up. The truth." She shrugged.

"Hanging out with-whatever. You'll regret this, not me." He walked back in. "Think about it while we wait for the discussion to end."

* * *

><p>About half an hour trying to escape later…<p>

"Odagiri-san?" Minato stepped towards him once the meeting was called off. "Good afternoon. My name is Minato; I meant to congratulate you for your labour on the issue with the Persimmon Tree, but, I must say I'm impressed by your dedication to the matter discussed in the…"

"Why is licking Hidetoshi's butt taking him so long?" Hamuko grumbled. She could hear bits of the conversation, but not too much. They seemed to be discussing something about the need of justice and power and… wait, that voice—Emperor level 7? But… She didn't feel any stronger, she hadn't even done anything!

Wait. That feeling from the previous day… and now this… That meant… Err… Wait, she could guess it.

"…Have I just received power from your Social Link?" That.

"That power should have been MINE!" She tried to tackle him as soon as he walked out of the Student Council Room, but with a swift push Aigis made her detour, crashing right into the wall.

"I figured out something about Social Links; every time you get a rank up, you gain some power; however, if I do your job, you officially get the rank up, but I get the power, meaning that you can no longer obtain the power up inherent of that level of the relationship."

Hamuko only stared at him.

"It's the same you did to me yesterday, although I doubt you knew what you were doing. Regardless, 'this means war', didn't you say that?" He remarked dryly. "I'm not going to be nice to you anymore; or at least until you stop acting so immaturely and accept your fault." …That adjective was a bit inappropriate for the situation, but it got the point across. She only gave him a ferocious look, and then proceeded to not speak another word during the journey back to the dorm.

* * *

><p>Shinjiro and Hamuko walked through the Iwatodai Strip Mall in silence.<p>

"You look bad." He commented.

"You have half of your face swollen."

"I got in a fight with Aki."

"I'm hungry."

"Ain't got no yen to invite you."

"I gotta go to work anyway. Wanna come?"

"No."

"It's a maid café."

"That's good for you." He turned around and began walking back to the dorm. "See you at the—"

"Let's meet earlier tomorrow, Shinpai!" And with that, she ran off to the station.

* * *

><p>Mimi would note later that night that Hamuko seemed twitchier than usual…<p>

* * *

><p>Her last thought before going to bed was about those damned locked doors preventing her from setting up an ambush...<p>

* * *

><p><strong>I can only imagine how difficult drunk-reading kanji can be. <strong>

**It's not my fault that double standards and pseudo-consensuality made this post-attempt less dramatic than the previous. Not like any of you will complain about that.**

**Remember that thing about them being in a tournament—oh, that's right, it's even in the title. Well it starts now. 64 chapters after the beginning of the fic.**

**Yep.**


	65. Walls

**Author note: you know what I always find funny? People call me ShenJay, and many a fellow think I'm a male. As a random note no one cares about, Shenjay comes from SMJ as in SandraMJ, as in 'hey this is a sappy fanfic about two people trying to rape/kill each other, the writer must be female!'. Except that I am so the cliché is correct. **

**Alright, now for something completely different. Yes, Hamuko is acting like an immature bitch. It is an exaggerated reaction, but as usual, I recommend seeing it from the unlikeable character's perspective: she's convinced that Minato tried to attack her _again_, after even becoming more attached to him and trusting him more than before; she has just become aware of her inferiority complex, believing that everyone thinks of her as a weakling no matter how well she'll fare in battles and that she lives in Minato's shadow, as well as Miki's. All those thoughts condensed together with rage in a really short time. Instead of crying about it, however, she's simply rebuilt the shell of immaturity she used to mask her emotions about things that really stressed her (see: Hamuko from the early chapters). Once again though, complete selfish bitch reaction. That's a fact. **

**If you're not satisfied with this explanation, we may as well say that she bonked her head a bit too hard while she was PMSing pretty badly. Sounds plausible. **

* * *

><p>Chidori… that was all Junpei could think about. He had known her for about two weeks; he hadn't seen her as anything but the weird goth who was always drawing in the plaza… but she'd managed to mess up his life, somehow.<p>

When he asked, hopelessly, if the time they had spent together was only a lie, he heard her falter. She did care about him. And if he hadn't gone around bragging about things he didn't really do, they could have been happy, oblivious to the fact they were enemies. Yet now she was on that hospital bed, refusing to talk to anyone, continuously submitted to his seniors' interrogations, to which she only answered with silence.

Yes, he had attacked him. She could have ended his life at any moment during that night. But… he couldn't help but feel the need to care for her and stay by her side, and so he wouldn't even have left her room the previous day if Akihiko and Mitsuru hadn't ordered him to do so. Even though he was sure that if they let her go, she'd rush back to Strega and plot again against his life, his heart just couldn't let go of her.

"Heh." He let out a small laugh as he waked towards the door of her hospital room, carrying a few snacks. He felt he was beginning to understand his leaders somewhat better. "...How's Chidori?" He asked as he opened the door.

"Again? What's your obsession, Junpei?" Akihiko growled. Junpei got a few weird looks from Mitsuru and Akihiko, but at least Fuuka seemed to understand that it was okay to be concerned.

"Did she say anything?" He insisted.

Mitsuru let her gaze linger on Chidori for a few seconds, before heaving a sigh. "...Not a word."

Junpei walked determinedly towards his seniors, looking at the red head all the while. "Can I just talk to her?"

"Iori..." The third year gave her one of her unnervingly inquisitive stares. "It seems like you're letting your emotions get the best of you. Is everything okay?"

"Well..." Junpei faltered. "Not exactly... I know she attacked me, but..." Was it really okay for him to say this? "I can't stop thinking about her!" He somewhat expected Chidori to at least react to those words, but she ignored him.

"Junpei-kun..." Fuuka said softly, impressed.

"Sheesh..." Akihiko let out a long sigh. "Just what we needed, another masochist in he dorm." Junpei guessed he referred to their leaders, but he couldn't put his finger on why he sounded so furious about that topic.

"Mmm... desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose." Mitsuru mimicked the silver head. "All right, try and talk to her."

"Got it!" He rushed to the bed, and slouched on a chair next to it. "...You okay?" As the seconds went by, he realized that he wasn't going to get an answer that easily. "…I'm glad they let you keep your sketchbook... Haha, you're still drawing pictures, even in the hospital? You really do like to draw, huh...?" Junpei rubbed the back of his head, beginning to realize that the chances of getting a reply were-

"...It doesn't matter."

There was a sudden silence in the room. "She spoke..." Fuuka exclaimed, surprised.

"...No one else but me can understand my pictures..." Chidori muttered, and then went back to drawing. She gasped as the pen accidentally hit her wrist, making Junpei finally noticed something: there were bandages around her wrist, completely soaked in blood. It seemed pretty fresh.

"Y-Your arm!" Junpei yelled, panicked. The others, however, didn't seem very surprised.

"Tch... Again?" Akihiko clenched his teeth. "Fuuka, get a doctor!"

"R-Right away!" She ran out of the room. What? Why? What was he missing?

"Why are you bleeding?" He finally asked.

Akihiko decided to answer in her place. "She does it to herself." He sighed. "I though I had removed all the sharp objects in here."

"She did this to herself...?" He asked, confused.

"...Apparently, we can't leave her unattended for even one moment." Mitsuru folded her arms, mumbling something about her maybe needing a guard as well. "But fortunately, she heals at an astounding rate..."

Junpei couldn't believe this. He grabbed Chidori's arm to look at it closer, much to her chagrin. "Let go of me!" She yelled.

"Then, at the station..." The boy with the cap finally began connecting the points. "You did that to yourself?"

Chihiro shook her arm suddenly, making him free it. "...I never asked for your help. You were the one who misunderstood." She stated unconvincingly.

The girl Junpei loved was into cutting her wrists. He couldn't allow that. "Well, I want you to stop." He demanded firmly. "You can't be doing that... It's not right... And I won't let you..."

Chidori seemed kind of touched, and ready to reply, but it was Mitsuru instead who spoke up. "The doctor will be here soon." She glanced at Akihiko. "You two should go now."

Junpei hesitated a bit before lowering his head and walking out of the room silently, closely followed by Akihiko. He was pretty sure Chidori had her eyes on him as well as he left.

"...So, you seem to have found your voice." He could hear Mitsuru's threatening voice through the closed door as they walked away. Damn it…

* * *

><p>The previous night went by quickly, and so the first morning after the Fools' bajillionth fight arrived. Minato was adamant on not cutting their ties. A Social Link could only reverse when both parties agreed on it, as it was usual in their fights, or when one was just too out of it to put any opposition, namely after what happened at Shirakawa. And he really had no intention to humor her whining. He was used to Hamuko's train of thought. He knew that she'd come around the idea that he did nothing and then be all flustered about it. He was more than tired of their stupid way of splitting up and then getting back together in the blink of an eye. It was really frustrating, for him at least, to see her attachment to him and her conclusions bail so much. So he knew they'd come back together when she felt calmer, why let her break up their Social Link, consequently losing power for both of them? Why couldn't he have his cake and eat it too? …That came out wrong.<p>

Regardless, this wasn't what he expected. He could look at Hamuko, leaning her chair back on two legs and rocking back and forth, about to fall back, without feeling worried, awkward, angry, sad, amused, bemused… anything, for that matter. Like he was looking at a wall. And he could see in her gaze earlier that day that she didn't seem angry when she looked at him either, more like actually happy about it. Maybe. Possibly. Sometimes. It was really difficult to see through her as usual. He was beginning to think that perhaps he was actually staring at a wall, for Hamuko wasn't capable to hide her emotions so well. That would be hilariously awkward, yet it'd make him feel a lot calmer. But no, that was Hamuko falling to the ground, prompting a roar of laughter from everyone in the class, except him and Aigis, albeit for different reasons. Junpei didn't seem to be laughing, either, but he had no idea of why.

As soon as the school day ended, Hamuko wasted no second jumping to her feet and running to Junpei. Minato sat on his desk and rested his chin of the palm of his right hand as he began watching her like a hawk. If she wanted to be his enemy, and she'd managed to learn a poker face or something in one night to be worthy, he'd treat her like an enemy, and that began with analyzing her every move.

'What's up?' would be her normal question seeing Junpei so sad. "Hey, dude! Wanna hang out?" Was the question of the auburn haired girl in competitive bitch mode. It was unclear if she was aware of Minato's gaze.

"Sorry, Hamu-chan, I gotta go to the hospital…"

'That's okay. Why? What's wrong?' Was to be expected. "Okayseeya" and running away from him was a completely different story. Even Junpei looked perplexed at that reaction. Then again, to him Hamuko had changed suddenly, whereas Minato could blame what happened a few days before. Partially.

Apparently, she couldn't think and run around the class at the same time, so she stopped, her eyes quickly drifting to Yukari who was still picking up her things.

Yukari had noticed she was staring at her, and decided to hurry up, having no intention to talk to Hamuko. Minato smirked to himself. It was his moment to strike. He stood up and made sure his bowtie was correctly tied. It wasn't, as usual. It'd been a long time since he last used his gentlemanly –a nice name for manipulative- skills, too busy with the one girl who seemed aware of them, and it'd been quite a while since he last interacted with Yukari for more than five minutes straight. He followed her out of class as stealthily as he could, hoping that Hamuko would be too busy trying to get Junpei to hang out to see him, and that his… flirt side would remain quiet, as it had been for months. Then again, he hadn't interacted with female Social Links at all other than Chihiro, and only for a brief time, in that period. And he'd been continuously pretending not to have anything with Hamuko when that short exchange of words happened. Could it be related, somehow? Had whatever took control of him decided to lay down and die already, resigned to just make him talk more politely than it had became usual for him? Maybe he'd be lucky and it only worked with actual Social Links.

"Erm, Yukari-chan…" Minato called softly, barely a pair of steps away from the door. He put up a surprisingly convincing depressed face as he tilted his head up slowly to look at her, batting his eyelashes slowly. He felt like an idiot knowing that he was doing this on purpose, but, if that kind of act worked for the protagonist of that one manga about conquering girls, why wouldn't it work for him? "It's been a while since we last talked."

"…Yeah." She raised a dubious eyebrow, glancing at him somewhat awkwardly. He couldn't avoid thinking of what Mitsuru would say about him being accused of rape attempt and trying to become closer to another dorm member only three days later. Apparently, his concern showed, as Yukari moved a bit closer to him. "Is everything okay?"

"Actually… no." He took a deep breath. This was it, she'd take her to the rooftop to talk together and get her power. "You see—"

"Wait for us, Minato-san." _**Crap**_. Aigis. He had forgotten all about her. And of course, she had to be accompanied by all the troop –that is, Aigis dragging Hamuko, who in turn was trying to drag her back to class while dragging Junpei, who escaped as soon as he could. "You cannot be left alone."

"Hey, you! Why are you talking to Yukari?" Hamuko yelled. "Yukari, ignore this guy! Come hang out with me!"

"You're perfectly aware that we'd end up hanging out all together anyway since we both have to be supervised by Aigis, don't you?" He affirmed, rather than asked, prompting Hamuko to mumble something under her breath. Probably an insult. He then turned toward Yukari and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, it's a long story." Minato tried to look as hurt as possible. He had forgotten how eerily natural acting was to him. "Never mind, you probably have better things to do than listening to me…"

"No, that's…" She fidgeted with her hands behind her back as she kicked the ground softly, trying to decide on what to do. "…Do they really have to come with us?"

"I'm afraid so." He furrowed his eyebrows. "We can buy them a burger at Wild Duck and talk by ourselves. I need to tell you a few things."

"So do I…"

"Will you two stop talking like I wasn't here?" Hamuko growled. It was a much subtler way of saying 'GET YOUR MITTS OFF MY SOCIAL LINK' which is what she probably meant. He wouldn't be surprised had she outright said that. …'Mitts' didn't sound like something she'd say, though. Neither would he.

Oh wait, the date or whatever it was.

* * *

><p>"So, why did Aigis say that you couldn't go out on your own?" Yukari asked as she slurped her Cylon Tea. Minato was a bit disappointed by the lack of sultriness compared to the way Hamuko usually did it, but, there was a place and a time for that kind of thoughts, and bleeding profusely usually didn't help much in a conversation.<p>

"Oh, you know. Aigis just being Aigis." Minato shrugged.

"Liar." Hamuko whispered in a barely audible voice through gritted teeth, obviously a bit put off from being surrounded by people she didn't want to deal with. Well, she wasn't actually gritting her teeth in anger or something, just innocently –as innocently as a scorned woman can- biting the straw of her own drink after having finished it. Then again that should be… unnerving, what with being a scary Freudian image and all, but it wasn't giving him any kind of impression. Maybe the imaginary wall was some kind of self-imposed defense mechanism so he wouldn't feel sorry for her while being mean.

"The real reason is…" Both Fools gave Aigis a shocked glance. "It is all for their safety."

"Safety?" Yukari asked, amused. "Minato is the one usually protecting everyone, Aigis, he wouldn't need that." Her smile seemed to decay a bit, remembering the last time she'd been among the people he'd helped. "Not that we need it either, right Hamuko?"

Crap. Yukari was willingly involving Hamuko in the conversation. "Right!" The brunette exclaimed cheerfully. "I mean we COULD kick any punk's asses any day, we're just too awesome to bother wasting our powers with them." She shoved half a hamburger into her mouth and bit it angrily. Seeing that made the wound hid by Minato's choker sting. As the days went by, his resolution of how better it would have been to just let her do as she wanted grew bigger. He would have been happier and perhaps so would have been her.

If the list of boys she could remember she'd… _exchanged addresses_ _with_ -which she shared with him once curiosity hit him while they were cuddling in bed during a particularly pleasant make out session a few nights before, which completely killed the mood and which Minato would prefer not to remember at the moment- was any true, she'd had a lot of bad experiences already. And 'the rights to call group dates a joke'… whatever she meant with that. So he wouldn't have been the first one to take advantage of her, making him look like less of a heartless, unscrupulous dick. But he hadn't, and that only made him look like exactly that. Karma and love were such bullshit…

"But," Yukari's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "I've been thinking about what happened last time we hung out together…" It wasn't clear whether she was talking to him or Hamuko. "I don't like having to depend on other people. I wanted to be able to take care of it myself... but we ended up needing your help."

"Don't 'we' me…" Hamuko grunted.

Yukari seemed to opt for the same thing Minato had: ignore Grumpy dwarf. "I never told you this... but I was really glad you came." She smiled warmly as she put a few strands of hair behind her ear. "I think there's a part of me that's really unsentimental. I always keep thinking of myself as apart from others... To tell the truth, I didn't care about other people. But at the same time, I didn't want anybody to get involved with me either." She glanced down. "I don't think I could say this to anyone else, Minato-kun... Thanks for your help back then. I really appreciate it."

"What? And not me?" Hamuko yelled. "I got in the fight to help you too! And we almost got wrecked together! Why don't _**I**_ get a thanks?" She got quiet for a few seconds, aware of the Lover Social Link level 6 Minato had just obtained for her. "You're making me sick." That totally meant 'I'm horribly jealous but I don't want to accept it'. "Screw you all." She turned toward Aigis. "He's with Yukari, isn't he? That means he's accompanied; let's go. Have fun or, whatever, while you can."

"I guess she's still mad at me for Yakushima…" Yukari murmured as Aigis walked away, somewhat confused by the loophole Hamuko had brought up. "I guess that she was kind of right. I did want someone to pity me…" Minato couldn't avoid thinking that it was like all the whining which was inherent of Yukari had been trespassed to his girlfriend. "So what did you want to tell me about?"

"No… nothing particular, I just, was feeling alone…" Lies. "Hamuko and I got into a… particularly nasty fight a few days ago, and she's been acting like that ever since." He let the curiosity stir in Yukari for a bit. If he did the next movement well, he'd have Yukari so wrapped around his finger that she'd outright refuse to talk to Hamuko ever again. If he did it wrong, it would be very awkward. "I told her that I'm in love with another person." He stared intently at her. "I'm sorry for having been so distant, but—"

Yukari was too fashionable to choke or anything, but he did get her to gasp. "Y-Yikes! Look at the time! I better go home, there's a lot of homework! S-See ya!"

…Yep, he failed. Did he really need help from higher powers to help him flirt with girls? Or had he just failed on purpose because he knew that pretending to like her would have been horribly cruel to Yukari, and painful to himself? He wasn't too sure. Regardless, he'd been left alone to pay everyone's food. Damn.

* * *

><p>The evening went by slowly: Shinjiro didn't show up to the dorm, Hamuko couldn't find Koromaru either, Ken was doing some class project, Fuuka was busy experimenting at the kitchen, so she decided to keep a safety distance, and she refused to talk to Aigis. Even that night was slow at Chagall, what with the waitresses scolding her for being jumpy and a bit rude to the customers. She only decided to believe so when she snapped at Mimi after she asked her if everything was okay, telling her to mind her own business. She'd never seen her coworker looking so disappointed at her. She'd never seen her disappointed at all.<p>

Hamuko had almost snapped again and told the boss to stick his part jobs wherever they fit after he refused to pay her that night for her poor job, but fortunately she caught herself before opening her mouth. Count a few seconds. Apologize. Leave. She never liked the fact that Minato had almost forced her to learn that technique with his 'think before you think', but it always worked.

So there she was now, locked in her room, trying not to break too many things as she vented some anger. Kicking stuff lying around helped until she hit something metallic under a pile of clothes with her bare feet, making her stop right away and lay on the bed with a big sigh. Not being able to leave in the middle of the night to raid the fridge and eat her rage with some scraps any longer was quite bothersome.

She tried to fit her knees into her shirt as she stared at the ceiling. Nights had begun getting a bit colder as summer slowly turned into autumn, but still not cold enough to hide under blankets.

Let's see, she had declared war on Minato, confident of her capability to manipulate others just like he did and thus prove to everyone that she wasn't only at his level, but higher. Prove to whom, though? The Social Links thing was a secret, and she had no intentions to impress Minato.

As it turns out, she hadn't learnt half a thing from all the times she'd seen him playing with people. He'd managed to snatch two ranks right in front of her, and the only thing she'd come up with to stop him was yelling, and he laughed at her. If she wanted to get anywhere she couldn't go back to old tactics; being immature about it and hope someone will befriend her out of spite wasn't going to work anymore. She had grown past that. She could go all fancy strategist like Minato and then make him regret ever having done… whatever he did to her. She wasn't proving herself that she could have as much foresight and wit as him, just that she could be a 'mature' jerkass. To him, and no one else. Without needing to get in a battle.

She glanced down at her extra long shirt, trying to find something to stare at in order to get sleepier. It was too dark to tell what shirt she had found lying around and put on almost mechanically that night, but she could feel the collar was carefully folded, which wasn't too common among her clothes. It was also pretty wrinkled. And it smelt faintly edible. And that was annoying, clothes shouldn't smell like food. Only food should smell like food. She didn't recognize what kind of food it smelt like, but it was making her both angry and hungry. Or maybe hungry and therefore angry. …Anger made her hungry? She was sure there was a bag of chips laying somewhere around.

As a last note before falling asleep after an unsuccessful search for stray snacks, the shirt tasted blue.

* * *

><p>"Hey, sorry for not wanting to hang out lately… but I can't leave Chidori like that."<p>

"That's alright." Hamuko smiled at Junpei. "I'm sorry for trying to push you yesterday. I've been in a really weird mood lately. Lotsa shit going on." That was quite the understatement.

"Tell me about it…" Junpei snorted. "So, where's Minato?"

"How should I know?"

"Oh, gee, I dunno. It's totally not like you were always following him around or anything." He rolled his eyes in amusement, but Hamuko's expression seemed to darken considerably.

"I'm not his shadow." She breathed deeply and then patted his shoulder softly. "Oh well. Good luck with your girl."

"Good luck to you too."

* * *

><p>As soon as the afternoon classes ended, and instead of running around trying to find someone to pull into a conversation, Hamuko walked to Aigis and Minato with a calm demeanor and a smug smile. She was going to prove how much she knew of both. Oh, how she was going to make him suffer.<p>

"So. Do I get to choose where we're going today?" Hamuko asked suddenly.

"That is not a matter of days, Hamuko-san. Minato-san is established as—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She shook her hand in front of her face, trying to make the robot stop talking. She turned toward Minato. Talking to him had become substantially easier since the previous morning. She felt less angry when she looked at him. Maybe her subco… subcons… mind had done some trick so she could focus on the competition. Now he was as interesting as a rock. So yeah, anyway, on with the next part of the plan. "I guess I'm too dangerous to make decisions, huh?"

"Excuse me?" Minato's attention grabbed. Need to punch him restrained. Going as planned. Now she only needed to be a good actress. She was better at singing than that, but oh well…

"Yeah, trusting me would probably be too hard after what you _**claim**_ to have happened." Hamuko failed to get that delivery believable, but Minato was giving her a weird look.

"You…" He furrowed his eyebrows and squinted, like he had problems seeing.

"It's not fair if I can't choose where I go! How will I have any chances at winning?" She reproached him.

"Oh, but isn't that the point of siding up against you, just like everyone in SEES is siding up against me?" Minato lowered his gaze, staring at something which fortunately wasn't her. "Then again, that isn't too sportsmanlike from me, is it? But you aren't a sportsman either. Or at least you can't have become one in a single night." He linked his hands under his chin, smiling deviously, like he had just made a joke which she couldn't get. "Would you like to choose today?"

"_**What**_." That wasn't what she expected! Hamuko was convinced that he'd go full jerk mode and drag her with him and make her accompany him to speak to a Social Link of his. That way, she could do a 'rank steal', but not if he was being a magnasomething bastard!

…But of course! All he wanted was to make her relax and then strike. If he made her hang out with a boy, she would have attracted their attention the easy way, even though doing that kind of things with boyfriends' boyfriends seemed somehow wrong. Maybe she just was used to girlfriends' boyfriends. Speaking of which, she hadn't thought about what she'd do if Minato made her hang out with a female friend. She'd been less confident about her skills with them since failing to charm Aigis… Or maybe it's just her bikini wasn't nice enough. She'd have to ask Bebe to sew something awesome for her before leaving and… oh. Wait.

Her lips tried to form a smirk, but she wouldn't let it show, lest Minato would begin thinking depraved things. "Actually…"

* * *

><p>"I'm not going there." No matter how much Minato tried to resist, Aigis was forcefully pushing him in, while he clutched the doorframe. "N-no, my manliness is in danger! You can't make me—"<p>

"Of course I can, 'cause I know you want it." Hamuko smirked. Wow. Déjà-vu. Minato seemed to get a weird feeling as well, because he let his ward off long enough for Aigis to finally shove him into the Home Ec Room.

"Oh?" The continuous noise of the sewing machine came to a halt. Bebe looked up from the fabric he was working with and his face immediately lit up. "Hamuko-sama!" He exclaimed as soon as he saw her. "And who are zese people…? Oh! You are… Minato-sama, ne? We met at ze library!" He announced with a big smile on his face. "And you? You can't be Japanese, nihonjin…"

"I am Aigis. I was manufactured in Yakushima." The robot didn't speak another word.

"Zat's a wonderful name, Aigis-sama!" The blond boy seemed euphoric. "What are zey doing 'ere, Hamuko-sama? Oh! 'Ave zey come to join the Fashion Club?"

"That's right! Minato was pretty much begging for it!" Hamuko practically yelled to hide Minato's negative exclamation. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Since we 'ave new members, we should do somezing easy!" He clapped his hands in delight. "Do you remember how to do knit rabbits, wasurenai? You can teach Minato-sama while I help Aigis-sama!"

Damn it. She reluctantly took a chair next to Minato and pulled the materials closer to them. He watched her work while she quickly explained the steps, just putting a show for Bebe. He didn't seem to be looking, either way.

"Taking me here so I feel too ridiculous to try to steal anything." Minato suddenly whispered in her ear, making her misplace the needle, forcing her to repeat that part. She would have tried to punch him if Bebe and most importantly Aigis weren't right in front of them. "That was pretty smart. For you, that is." He remarked with a teasing grin. He was trying to make her angry and achieving it, but, she couldn't bring herself to glare at him. There was something about having him so close that was making her dizzy. "I wonder though, how are you going to prevent me from stealing him, proven that you stand no chance against me when it comes to words?"

Hamuko didn't answer, trying to block him mentally out of her sight. Eventually, however, her concentration was lost when Bebe made his next announcement. "Yatta! Knit doll finished! Now it's your turn to do it while Hamuko-sama and I watch!" …Dohoho?

Watching was too boring, so Bebe suggested trying to knit something more complicated –a scarf! Scarves were always awesome, so, sure. He also said something about wanting her to be happy which she tried to ignore. He began working slower until coming to a halt…

"What's wrong?" She asked more out of boredom than concern.

"I am worried about my uncle... I still 'aven't convinced 'im to let me stay…" He sighed. "'Ow can I convince 'im? If I became a samurai, maybe I could stand up to 'im..."

"I don't think even a samurai could face family problems." Minato joked. "Let me guess, problems deciding whether to stay or go?"

"Yes! Hai!" Bebe exclaimed, impressed. "'Ow did you know?"

"Minato has a lot of experience in that field." Hamuko's bitter remark was received gleefully by Bebe.

"...Oh! Then maybe if we go to ze Sweet Shop all together and 'ave a snack, I can come up wiz a plan!" His eyes were almost gleaming. "Shall we?"

"Oh, yeah…" Hamuko smirked. "If Minato doesn't have anything against that…"

Minato rose a lonely eyebrow at that question. "No, it's fine." Damn.

* * *

><p>…The fact that Minato seemed to have fun at the Sweet Shop with a boy disconcerted Hamuko, but she wasn't going to tease him. She didn't even want to deal with him in the first place, so that'd be unnecessary interaction.<p>

"...I 'ave zought about zis even in my dreams..." Bebe explained to an oddly focused Minato. "I will be disappointed if I 'ave to return to my country! I want to stay 'ere in Nihon even if I 'ave to eat dirt!"

"Yanno you have my who—"

"I don't think that'll be necessary." Minato chuckled. "If talking doesn't work, do you have another plan?

"Jitsu wa, actually... yes!" He smirked. If that slightly less innocent than usual smile could be even called that. "I will return 'ome..."

"What? Then why—"

"Mochiron, of course, I will not give up just like zat! I will come back 'ere after persuading my uncle! I will convince 'im 'ow great Japan eez!" Bebe laughed proudly. "Now, I just 'ave to figure out 'ow to explain it to 'im. Zat will be easy with your 'elp, Hamuko-sama! And yours too, Minato-sama! And Aigis's! Please help me! Onegaishimasu!"

He smiled warmly, letting his sight drift "...Ze sun is setting. I will see you again..."

Wait no, she couldn't let him leave her like that… She… Had to… "Aishiteru!" She exclaimed, hoping that the verb would at least catch his attention.

Bebe did indeed stop, looking at her bemused. "Aishiteru to you too, Hamuko-sama!" He exclaimed cheerfully before resuming his path. "And many zanks for your advices, Minato-sama! I'll do my best zanks to you!"

Temperance Social Link Level 6, and a smug smile from Minato. "Told you."

The brunette stomped her way back to the dorm, completely defeated.

* * *

><p>Soon, the afternoon was over. Back at the dorm, Hamuko decided to follow Shinjiro when he headed out for dinner out of spite, not having anything better to do. In either sense of the word. That totally had to be karma or something. Inversed karma.<p>

"I still ain't got no yen." Shinjiro stated without even turning around to face her.

"I brought money." Hamuko replied as cheerfully as she could.

"Why should I keep you company?" He growled.

"I brought money." She insisted.

"I feel like punching you."

"Go ahead."

He finally stopped. "What?"

"Punch me." She readied her fists. "Shinpai, punch me! You think I can't take a blow or what?"

"I'm not gonna punch you." He snorted and carried on walking to Hagakure.

"Is it because I look like Miki?" Her words made him halt again.

"It's because you're too annoying to bother punching you." He answered unconvincingly.

"Then, can I punch you? I need to vent some anger."

"Are you mad at me?"

"Of course not!" The brunette rubbed the back of her head. "I just thought that I could train with you… like Akihiko-senpai does…" She explained awkwardly. "I want to prove that I'm strong to someone, anyone."

"Aki's been letting steam off for too long, don't be like him." They walked into the restaurant and ordered a special for each one. "Tell me, do you think Aki's been fighting well?"

"If he's been fighting well…?" She echoed, surprised. "Well yes, he's really strong. He's… way stronger than me. But I guess that you don't need much to achieve that…" She laughed bitterly.

"You're a leader, aren't you? You should be confident 'bout your own strength before judging others'. Otherwise you'll be an hypocrite." The boy with the beanie reprimanded her. "Then again, you're comparing yourself to a boxing champion…" He chuckled, trying to decide whether she was undervaluing herself or having a dangerous excess of confidence.

As soon as their orders were served, they began eating silently. Ramen had to be the one thing that managed to kill every conversation.

"I don't like comparisons, but lately that's the only thing I notice." Hamuko commented offhandedly, fidgeting with her badly separated chopsticks. "I compare myself to a lot of people, and I usually get the short end. The worst is that I don't even know some of that people…" Hamuko watched the noodles swirl in her bowl as she stirred the soup. "Please…" She lowered her hands and clenched them around her knees. "I needa know about Miki. You said you'd tell me about her if I came here with you."

"No, you told yourself that." Shinjiro stared apprehensively at her, before finally relenting. "…What do you wanna know?"

"Anything will be fine." She almost begged.

The taller brunet shuffled slightly on his seat, keeping his glance on his hands, apparently not wanting to meet her eyes. She was surprised that such a cool boy could look so shy. "I'll never forget the day those two arrived to the orphanage. Aki and Miki. A walking fishbone with needles for arms, and the bandaged kid crying her heart out by his side." A little wry smile appeared on his face. "To say the truth, I've never known if they were really siblings or if they just happened to arrive on the same day and then became great friends, seeing how different they looked. Never bothered asking Aki. Not that it matters anymore."

Shinjiro began tapping the tips of his wide fingers one against another. He was probably bothered by having been forced to think about such a thing. "She never spoke. I didn't hear her voice, other than wails, 'til about a month or two after they arrived, and only because she asked me if I knew where her 'big bwo' was. She was scared stiff of speakin' to anyone but him, so she began cryin' when I tried to explain her that I wasn't his friend; too scared to go ask more people, she decided to stick by my side 'til he came back. The idiot'd gone to the toy store leaving her all by herself…"

The wryness of his smile vanished, if only a bit. "Miki was really tiny, like Aki, but she had those creepily big red eyes, and she always wore a big red ribbon to hold her ponytail. That ribbon was the only way to find her, always hidin' her face in some book or another from the library of the orphanage. She never had other friends than the books 'cause her brother hadn't a yen to buy her any toy and the rest of children were older than her…"

His grin was completely gone, replaced instead with deep, restrained grief. "Aki never got over that fire. He's been punching things ever since. Please, don't take his habits."

The following silence only lasted a few seconds. "Thank you…" Hamuko muttered, a hint of a hopeful expression gleaming in her otherwise sad eyes. "Thanks for sharing that with me, Senpai. If you don't mind only one more question, how have you been dealing with that? You look really… fazed."

"Me? I like to just pretend that it never happened." He snorted. "You're making that difficult, though. I don't like having anything to do with the past. You're a walking reminder."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Her words became lower and weaker until she finally shut up, clutching her fingers around her bowl so strongly that it was making it shake. "Please, forgive me…" She left some papers, enough to pay their dinner, and hurriedly excused herself running away to go to work with Moon Level 2.

* * *

><p><strong>Going full 'screw canon I've cooler plot points' with Shinji's Social Link, yaaaay.<strong>

**Guess they'll need a while to get used to their tournament's dynamics. **


	66. Life expectancy

**Author note: the person who added the Darkness Induced Audience Apathy trope to the YMMV of the TVTropes article really managed to make me stare at the monitor for a while. I never take any critiques angrily, and I often insult my fic –especially when talking about the infamous parts- but that just made me sad. Indifference is the one thing I really don't want to cause in my readers. I want everyone to have their opinion of the characters, whether it's bad or good. Not connect with them or anything, because they are supposed to be unlikeable in varying degrees until a certain point in the story, though.**

**I know that when The Reveal –or The Untwist, if you were capable of reading the signs- comes with the explanation for the ridiculous and overused dark turn into drama, which was foreshadowed nonetheless, in a bunch of chapters everything will be forgotten and forgiven and all the readers will be like 'oh shoot, why didn't I see this before', because that's what happened to my beta reader. Yet it still makes me feel bad for you, because probably you're just thinking 'This author went retarded and fucked up the fic', while I'm here suffering because I'd love to tell you the reasons so you don't think that kind of things. There IS a 'why' for everything that happens, okay? Sorry for rambling.**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and for the battle scene!**

* * *

><p>Shinjiro made his way into the dorm silently. The Dark Hour wasn't the best time to hang out while he lived there. Nor for staring contemplatively at nowhere either. Like that girl curled up on the sofa. He snuck his hand into his pocket, trying to hide a little bag of pills he'd left at his previous home.<p>

"Senpai didn't remember to accompany me to Chagall and lock me in my room tonight." Hamuko said to no one as Shinjiro walked past her without even looking at her. "I fucked up and lost my job, so you can turn me in if you want."

The sound of his steps going back to her was muffled over the carpet leading to the stairs. She didn't do anything as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. Good, because he only meant to drag her upstairs. "I don't wanna go to bed." She stated simply, rubbing the back of her sleeve against her eyes. Like a sleepy child. Or more like a teenager with only a shirt on. She didn't seem to care about it, so neither did he.

He freed her hand once they reached the boys' floor. "Go to your room. Make sure you don't get found, or Kirijo will kick yours and Aki's asses." He commanded. Then, he strode to his room.

"I don't like feeling like this…" Her voice was a whisper. Loud enough to make him stop and turn around to look at her. She clutched her blouse as she spoke and kept her gaze strictly on the ground. "Can I go to your room?"

"What?" He was sure he heard that wrong. "Are you drunk?"

"Would you… sleep with me? Please? Would you?" She begged with moist eyes. "I… W-what if I really was Miki, Senpai? Then… I'd have a family, just like Minato, so I wouldn't have to feel like this and… and then you wouldn't have to forget her and… we'd all be happy. I… I don't want to suffer this. I hate this feeling." She sobbed something mostly unintelligible. "Y-You sounded like you liked her. You liked her didn't you? What if I'm her and then-"

"You aren't Miki." They kept their gazes on each other for a few seconds. He reacted when she advanced a step toward him. "You're fucking sick." He headed to his room and slammed the door behind him.

People were saner back at the alleys. He didn't go back to have to deal with an identity-confused fucker and a rapist or two.

* * *

><p>A long night of trying to sleep didn't help Shinjiro too much. Take a pill. Cough. Cough some more. Spit some blood. Take another pill to make it stop. Get some sleep. Rinse and repeat for the past two years. Think about things. He hated that. He never got anything good out of thinking things over. But he did this time. He noticed that Chidori had been in the hospital for four days. Without any help from the rest of Strega, that meant something horrible was prone to happen. He also got some theories about… several topics.<p>

* * *

><p>Shinji got up early. Staying on the bed was painful. He took a look around. No one had passed out on the stairs. He found was a blue haired boy and his robot on the way back to his room. Minato seemed to flinch when he looked at him. Couldn't blame him, he probably looked madder than usual.<p>

"Can I ask you a question?" Shinjiro asked. Minato stopped suddenly. He seemed ready to run.

"If it isn't too long." Minato replied timidly. He didn't want to talk to him. Again, couldn't blame him. Shinji tried to give him a good beating a few days ago.

"It could be quite long." He warned. "But I wouldn't tell you if it wasn't important."

"…I guess." He cleared his throat. "Do you have any… appointment with Hamuko tonight?" The bluenet waited for him to nod and then added. "We could talk with Aigis in front of us, if that's okay with you. Don't take it badly but, I'd rather not be alone in a room with you or Akihiko-senpai."

"Okay." Shinji quickly agreed. "Thanks." Minato and Aigis walked away. Hamuko was waiting for them at the stairs and quickly ran after them.

Shinjiro headed to the kitchen. Natto would kill his hunger a bit.

* * *

><p>"Hey Shinji." Akihiko. He didn't even need to turn around. That guy loved interrupting his meals. "We're going to the hospital this afternoon, you coming?"<p>

"Why should I?" He glared deeply at the silver head.

"All you do all day is sleeping on the sofa; might as well go try to help us with Chidori."

"Tch. I didn't sign up for any club activities." The boy with the beanie went back to eating his breakfast. End of the conversation. Tough. He needed to be tough. Otherwise, everyone would take him for granted. He didn't want to form any bonds. Friends were the last thing he needed in the world. Going to the hospital would give him a reason to be away from the dorm and its denizens, though. He had no intention to talk to Hamuko until he could get confirmation of some theories. Not like he'd like to talk to her afterwards. But knowing shit was good. It'd be good for everyone. Not that he cared. Fortunately for them, he knew something about Chidori that they didn't: she belonged to Strega. Well they knew that, of course. They didn't know what that implied, though. Tch, what a bunch of idiots… They'd get her killed if it wasn't for him. Whatever. He needed some sleep.

* * *

><p>The day went by slowly. Every day went by slowly. Shinjiro's health didn't allow him to do much other than laying on the sofa. Or playing with Koromaru. Eating as well. Conserving energy for Tartarus was important. When he didn't feel energetic, he played with Koro and laid on the sofa at the same time. Koro was too intelligent to enjoy chasing a ball down the corridors for more than five minutes. He'd sleep then. And badly. The only thing he did right nowadays was eating. He'd promised a stupid child years before that he'd always do so. Got sick from eating too many candies once. Stole them. So maybe he was the stupid one. He kept his promises to dead people.<p>

Mitsuru often 'suggested' going back to school. He wasn't that bored. And he had no intentions of ever going back there. What for? Getting a job at some point in his future and be an honorable citizen? Ken had finally found him. He knew his reasons for joining perfectly. And Shinji was ready for it. No earthly attachments, no possessions, no worries. No fear. Only one remorse: driving a kid to do that. If Shinji's theories about seeking revenge were right, the poor boy was going to ruin his own life. That was what he had chosen. He had no right to oppose to losing his life as a payment. He was condemned, no matter what killed him.

* * *

><p>Afternoon. The hospital. Shinjiro hated that place with all his strength. A nauseating place. He'd rather die than live connected to a machine again. He'd hated hospitals since his time in the burn ward. The smell of disinfectant and burnt skin, mixed with the sight of so many of the children of the orphanage which would be scarred for life… among which she wasn't. That was something he couldn't get out of his mind. No matter how much he tried. Couldn't get it off his body, either. Weakened lungs. Burnt skin on his torso. Easy to hide even with a short sleeved shirt. No plans of hanging out naked in front of anyone. That was for people with a life.<p>

He found Mitsuru, Junpei and Akihiko outside Chidori's room. Junpei was bouncing, completely excited about seeing his girlfriend or whatever she was while he babbled about having a gift for her.

A nurse walked out of her room. Damn, that was some nice looking nurse… it had to be that mole in her face. But that wasn't the time to look at nurses.

"Yo, Chidorita!" Junpei yelled.

"...Don't call me that." Chidori mumbled. She really looked kind of pathetic when she wasn't wielding an Evoker.

"C'mon, cheer up..." He pushed the bag he had been carrying into her hands, and produced a notebook out of it. "I brought you a new sketchbook. I thought your old one might be getting full."

The red head stared at it. She seemed impressed. "That wasn't necessary, Junpei."

"Heheh, you said my name... I was worried I'd never hear that again." Aww. That was so sweet… that Shinji thought he might get diabetes. Mitsuru and Akihiko seemed to share the idea. They never were ones for romance. Or at least Mitsuru.

Well, Chidori seemed just fine. Maybe he had misjudged the amount of time she'd have without Suppressants.

"…At least she's talking." Akihiko finally broke the awkward silence. "So... how comes you joined us?" He joked. Before Shinjiro could retort, a shriek got their attentions. It was Chidori's.

The red head seemed to be in extreme pain, holding her hands over her neck, seemingly trying to pull something away while she did choking noises.

"Chidori?" Junpei asked, completely shocked. "Wh-What's wrong?"

"Ugh... Arg..."

Shinjiro narrowed his eyes. For a fraction of second, he could see a reddish monster straddling Chidori, strangling her while roaring. Huh. Just as he thought.

"I get the feeling there's something in here!" Akihiko yelled, clutching his Evoker. "Is it an enemy?"

"Wrong!" Shinjiro exclaimed. "Get out of the way!" He ran up to Chidori and reached into his pocket. He produced a pill out of it and forced it into her mouth. A few seconds later, Chidori was fine, only breathing heavily.

"Chidori!" Junpei looked at her, awestruck, and then glanced at him. So did the others. Fuck… he expected to be wrong, so he could actually go back later and work with secrecy. Well, no point denying all this.

"Relax... her Persona just went berserk." He explained coolly, and then shrugged. "It happens."

"It... happens?" Mitsuru looked completely perplexed. Hah, that was weird in her.

"Were you guys not watching at all?" The boy with the beanie snorted. "You could see for a second that her Persona was strangling her." He pointed at Chidori. "They're not like us. They can't fully control their Personas. That's why they need to take Suppressants... to keep their Personas from killing them..." The more he said that aloud, the more he felt he needed to question Minato.

"Suppressants...?" She echoed. "...You know about Strega?"

Shinjiro smiled knowingly. "You'd be surprised what you can learn on the streets." He headed to the door. "I'll give the doc the right pills. ...The rest is up to you."

Of course, they wouldn't let him leave alone. "Shinji, wait!" But at least only Akihiko seemed to be interested in pursuing him. Oh well. He felt he was going to miss a sugary-sweet talk between the clown and the goth.

* * *

><p>"Hey, wait! Shinji!" Damn, he was insistent. Aki'd been running after him nonstop even to the point of taking a monorail ticket to follow him to Port Island. "What the hell's going on...? Why did you have those pills?" Damn insistent, indeed. "I've heard about those... They're taken to suppress a Persona when the user can't control it." Why was he explaining that to him? He was surprised that goody-two-shoes Aki knew about them, but the Chairman had probably told him, just like he told Shinji back then. "But, the side-effects... You're not taking them, are you?"<p>

Shinjiro just turned around and stared at him.

"Answer me!" Aki demanded.

"I don't owe you anything." He growled. Aki'd been the one to drag him into the dorm, after all. Not once, but twice.

"Tch. The same as always..." The boxer shook his head, disappointed.

"Save it. I've heard it all before." Shinjiro frowned deeply. He hadn't had a good day. And it was going to get worse. "You think I'm wasting my power... but you're just too thickheaded. I'm tired of your damn prea-"

A punch. Akihiko punched his face strongly. "Ow..." Fuck, he had cut his mouth again.

"Don't you get it?" He yelled. "You know the reason... Ten years ago. My sister. The fire. I wasn't strong enough to save her. They held me back, while she..." Akihiko's eyes were almost watering. Damn, he had always been such a wimp. "That's why I try so hard..."

"I know all that." Shinjiro muttered. He knew there was more to what Akihiko was saying, but he didn't feel like disappointing Aki right then.

"We promised, remember? To become strong enough to do what we think is right..." Again with the preaching. "So, why the drugs? Why didn't you come talk to me...?" So dramatic.

"I'm back in the fight now..." Shinjiro stated dryly. "So let it go."

Akihiko seemed ready to retort, but he only sighed. "...And the side effects?"

Shinjiro glanced away. They had just discovered that he took Suppressants. Might as well warn Aki of what could happen. "There's something I need to take care of. It's something only I can do."

"...Like what?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a big sigh. "Listen, don't worry about me. Just do what you think is right."

Akihiko didn't follow him this time.

* * *

><p>Shinjiro rested his hands on the bars of the gate leading to Gekkoukan. It'd been quite a while since he last showed up. Talking with Minato there would probably make it easier for the boy. But… waiting for him, slouched against the gates, while wearing that kind of clothes would probably prompt some distressed student's mother to call the police. He'd better walk closer to school and feign to have an actual purpose. He was supposedly a student after all…<p>

Then again, Minato might have as well left. He knew that both he and Hamuko always showed up pretty late, so maybe they were in clubs. Or had a pretty busy social life. Either way, he wouldn't find out if he didn't get in and ask some student. One that didn't run away when seeing him.

His plans vanished as he stepped toward the main entrance. In the other end of the garden, he saw Hamuko and some girl with grey hair sitting on the stairs together. The red eyed girl was hugging her, while the other clutched a newspaper. They both seemed to be crying, who knows why. He really didn't want to get involved, so he turned around and walked out of school again.

"A-Aragaki-senpai?" That stammering voice was familiar.

"Yo." He greeted Fuuka.

"I'd never seen you at school… y-you don't wear your uniform?" She asked with curiosity and some fear. Not many people could stand his glare for long.

"I'm looking for Minato." He explained. "Have you seen him around?"

"Oh yeah, we just got out of Music Club… I guess he's picking up his school back. Shouldn't take too long to leave." Fuuka smiled weakly once she concluded her explanation.

"Huh. Thanks." Shinji meant to stop talking, but Fuuka stopped him once again.

"Um, S-Senpai…" She stuttered. "Is Minato-kun in trouble?"

Shinjiro eyed her carefully. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, Aigis's been following him around even more for a few days, and now you come asking about him and…"

"I'll find out if he is." With that, Fuuka left, and he remained waiting against the gates.

Fortunately for him, Minato and Aigis didn't take too long to show up. The boy seemed pretty bothered by the sight of his girlfriend and the older looking girl, but he said no word, opting instead to avoid them. He tilted his head up, eyes widening when he saw Shinjiro in the distance. He turned to Aigis and told her something before walking towards him. The robot obediently began walking after them about ten seconds later.

"Alright, what do you want?" Straight to the point. Good.

Damn. Shinji hadn't thought what he'd ask him… "I wanna know more about what happened." He didn't need to specify. Both of them knew what he meant.

"Did she do anything stupid?" Minato was apparently pretty good at reading others. Way too good, in fact.

"She wanted me to—"

"She's feeling lonely. So she asked nicely? Bargain or depression, then?"

"What?"

"If she crying back at the gates means she's undergoing depression, that means that soon she'll accept…" Minato talked to himself.

"Explain." Shinjiro ordered.

The bluenet gave him a look of superiority, like he was staring at a dumb child. "I am assuming that she's going through the five stages of grief. They apply sometimes to accepting death, so I guess that they could work with whatever makes us act like that. Five stages of accepting you're a monster." He spoke quickly and without emotion, mumbling ideas every so often. Like the detectives in films.

"Hey, wait. I never said I believed that bullshit of—"

"Of course you do. Otherwise, you wouldn't be talking to me." He ran a hand through his blue hair and looked at him expectantly. "Do you know anything which could help?"

"…Have you ever heard about Personas going berserk?" Shinjiro asked after a few seconds of trying to process information.

Minato finally shut up. "I think I might have. Could you please elaborate?"

"Persona is the strength of heart." That was something Mitsuru had told him really long before, and which he laughed at for how sappy it sounded. "A Persona can only be controlled by people with great strength. If your mental condition's flaky, your powers are weak. At least, that's what happens normally." Shinjiro made a small pause to look at Minato's face. He seemed to be processing everything he said. "Sometimes, a Persona will refuse to submit to a person who cannot control it, and try to set itself free. That involves doing whatever the fuck it wants, and trying to kill its owner."

"…I see." The bluenet nodded his head slightly. "Have you ever had any experience with one of those?"

"More than enough. And I also had to deal with one just this afternoon." He explained. "Chidori's Persona went berserk. That's something else, though; they're not the same kind of users as us." He had no intentions of explaining, and Minato didn't want to pry.

"Hamuko and mine's Personas attacked each other when we first summoned them." Minato informed him without being asked. "Orpheus versus Orpheus."

"The same Personas?" Shinjiro asked, surprised. "I didn't know that it was even possible."

"I… guess it is. I don't remember many details." It probably had happened a long while before. "Regardless, the important part is what happened after the summon. A different Persona came up from both of them. In retrospective, maybe that was our first Fusion Spell." Shinji didn't know what that meant, but he didn't ask. "Ever since we had some… trouble."

"Trouble?" He knew that some new Persona users suffered from a series of conditions.

"We err… tried to kill each other. Several times. Because of seeing a Persona or being in the same room with too many people." Minato seemed to be skipping details, but all that was crazy enough. Holy fuck, how come no one in the dorm cared about that? "That was only the first month, though. We grew to control those needs. Or at least we thought we had it under control, until…" He glanced down ruefully. "Tanabata."

"That's when you tried to jump her." He didn't even need to ask. "And now this' happened again…"

"But, I didn't attack her. Hamuko threw herself at me." The younger boy glanced up, looking quite incensed. "Tell me, Senpai, do berserk Personas take control of their user?"

"I ain't never seen anything like that happening. I dunno much about them, though, so it could be possible."

They fell in silence as they got in the train back to Iwatodai. "So how long were you… 'possessed' last time it happened?"

"I don't know. I didn't think too clearly for a few days. However, it eventually went away after Hamuko and I tried to kill each other again. Or maybe it was when…" He mumbled something. "No, it can't be that."

"Tell me."

"Well I… had a relationship with another girl." He cleared his throat. "I guess I was kind of cheating on her, but I didn't choose to be with her. I only wanted Hamuko, but I couldn't even think when I talked to her." Minato sounded really terrified and again, he seemed to be keeping things to himself. "I-it was all perfectly consensual, though. At least from her. I didn't want to be there."

Shinjiro snorted but said no word about that.

"So uh… is there any actual way to control berserk Personas, provided that's what's happening to us?"

"There is." Shinjiro reached into his pocket and slowly leveled a bag of pills up to Minato's face. "Suppressants."

"Suppressants…?" He echoed, surprised.

"These pills hold your Persona back, making sure that it only comes out when you order it to. You could even summon them without an Evoker if you were high enough." He let the bag dangle before his eyes a few seconds before suddenly closing his fist. "There's a catch, though. Each of these pills take weeks or months of your life."

"They cripple your 'heart', 'mind' and liver." He deducted, quite correctly. "But… they could save lives." Silence ensued again. "How long have you been taking them?"

"Two years." Shinjiro would never know why he confessed to him. Minato was just a person easy to confide in, even if he was trying to hate him.

"You don't have much time left, do you?" Minato pressed the palm of his hand against a window of the monorail. They had almost arrived.

"I'll serve you for as long as I can, so don't worry."

They walked out of the train, with Aigis following them from a respectable distance. "I'll ask my confidants tonight if there's any chance I'm suffering from a berserk Persona."

"Your confidants?"

"You have your secrets, Senpai." He muttered with an uncharacteristically stern face. "We have ours."

"Alright then." Shinjiro turned around. He wasn't going to go to the dorm just yet. "For you." He threw the bag of pills at Minato, and he caught them in the air. "Don't ever use them. Drugs are bad, okay?"

"Understood." He slid the bag into his pocket. "Take care of yourself, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm not gonna die just yet." He shrugged.

"Oh, and Senpai…"

"What is it now?"

"If Suppressants don't work for us, I…" He seemed to be sizing his words. "If things got much worse and someone was in danger and things got really awful and it was a matter of life or death and I wasn't there to mend the situation heroically…" Minato couldn't bring himself to say whatever he had in mind. "I-I w-want you to help Hamuko get o-over it." And with that he dragged himself back to the dorm, looking completely repulsed at what he had just suggested. The feeling was shared. What kind of man would share his girl? …Bunch of freaks.

* * *

><p>Shinji was forced to have dinner at the dorm, seeing that he hadn't enough money to have the usual at Hagakure. Oh well. Fuuka tried to make him a test subject of her culinary experiments, but Minato saved him, taking his place instead. A 'thank you', perhaps. He was taking Minato's words with a grain of salt, but he did seem a nice boy after all. Maybe.<p>

Last he knew before heading out to see if he could get some money punching punks out of the way, Minato was making a fuss about something related to Ken and Hamuko and dinner and his dead body and barricades in Tartarus. Whatever. It'd been a long day.

* * *

><p>"I do not understand the concept of berserk Personas, Minato-sama." Igor stated through his unnervingly big toothy grin. "Personae do not have a will of their own as far as I am concerned. They are subjected to the wishes of one's heart and evolve as the hardness of life require so. This… 'mental weakness' you spoke of are the very reason Personas exist, to protect those gaps from the attack of Shadows. It is true though, that only those who develop great strength of heart can summon their Persona at will and fight with its help." He crossed his fingers under his nose after concluding the explanation.<p>

"Then… do you have any idea of what's wrong with us? Why do all kind of weird things happen to us?" Minato almost begged.

"I am afraid giving you such information would defy my Master's most strict orders of impartiality." He chuckled. "I believe the terms of the contract were clear enough. There is a human saying which could exemplify the situation rather closely: 'All is fair in love and war', was it?"

"It'd only be so if we knew what we were doing!" He answered angrily.

Igor just tilted his head quizzically. "Nonetheless, you acknowledge your actions and the motivations behind them, do you not?"

"What-? No! Something's forcing us to that kind of things!"

Igor's smile acquired a dangerous aspect. "I would suggest doing some intensive introspection of your heart's most basic wishes before blaming higher forces for what humans established as the properties of life. They might lose sympathy for you, otherwise."

"So you're saying that… those things happened because we really wanted all of this?" Minato took a hand to his forehead.

"I did not say any such thing. I am not but pointing out the fact that being guided by instinct is something only natural for a Fool, and in your case, bizarre if I may say, your hearts are still beating thanks to the primitive instincts you have been gifted with. I do not believe it is a matter difficult to understand." He drummed his fingers on the table. "Your instincts will remain advising you until the day you have fed either of them. Or perhaps do you believe that you may use sand to satiate thirst? I wonder."

"Feed either instinct? Can water kill hunger now?" That sounded hypocritical in many levels.

Igor just chuckled lightly at the remark. "I am not authorized to give you any more information. Please, limit yourself to business directly related to the services of the Velvet Room or leave."

* * *

><p>This would be easy. Three Guardians, all looking like some sorta tank thing. Pft, Guardians were nothing. She took down a Full Moon Shadow while Minato was down for the count. This is a cakewalk in comparison.<p>

_"They are called the Arcane Turrets," _Fuuka informed. _"They seem to be quite magically strong, so watch out!"_

Hamuko just strode forward confidently, not bothering to check on Shinji, Ken, and Junpei getting into position around the enemy. They were smart enough to take care of themselves. They didn't need some blue-haired wannabe famous general guy snapping out orders right and left.

"Lachesis!" she commanded, bringing forth the Persona for a wide-area Magarula that proved to aggravate the Shadows more than actually damage them.

Junpei and Ken followed suit, feeling out the Guardians' weaknesses with their own elemental assault, which petered out pitifully against them.

"Damn, fire and electricity ain't working!" Junpei swore.

"Then stick to physicals!" she shot back, watching the Turrets carefully. They seemed to be glowing with some odd blue haze.

"Physicals ain't doing too much either," Shinji grunted as his axe and Persona both hardly scratched the tough Shadow's exterior.

That was fine. Just fine. Up to her to save the day, huh? No problem! First she'd see if ice worked alright, then she'd start throwing a bunch of crap at them until they died. Simple. Easy. They haven't even counterattacked yet. She'd take them all out, and they wouldn't even bother bringing that bastard back up here, since she could take care of it all on her-

_"That's a Mind Charge!"_ Fuuka warned them in a panic. _"Brace yourselves!"_

What.

Tartarus itself seemed to roar its fury as each of the Shadows loosed a mighty Ziodyne at her allies, all of whom bore the brunt of the electrical onslaught directly. Junpei and Shinji managed to remain standing, if only barely. Ken collapsed to the ground, smoking slightly.

Shit! Shit! Ken! Damn, he was their healer, so he couldn't get himself back up. Wait, she had Recarm! No, no, Lachesis was weak to Zio, right? So that'd be bad. No, just stick to the plan. Try some ice. A quick mental shift, and...

"Parvati!"

The air grew colder as the pink-haired Persona loosed a Mabufula that felled each of the Shadows at once.

"Yes!" Hamuko crowed, pumping a fist in the air. "I've been waiting for this! Come on, All-Out Attack!"

A pair of groans to her left and right interrupted her jubilation. She turned to see Junpei and Shinji, still a little twitchy from the attack on their nervous system.

"Hate to interrupt, but we ain't exactly in a fit state to rumble right now," Shinji grumbled, leaning heavily on his axe.

"What? No, come on Shinpai! Jun-kun!" she begged desperately. "We need to run in on them and beat the crap out of them and then they disappear and we won because of me like last full moon because it wasn't a fluke an-"

_"Hamuko!"_

The Agidyne from behind blew her off her feet, propelling her for what felt like miles until she hit the ground bodily, all sense knocked from her head.

She should have seen that coming. Should have dodged it. Should have. Why wasn't she getting up? Why wasn't Ken-kun healing her?

_"Get up, please!"_

Five more minutes. What's wrong with her head? Why didn't she use any kind of support skills, or healing? Why didn't she get Ken-kun back up? Where is he? Too much shouting.

_"Junpei-kun, watch out!"_

Shh. Stop shouting. Trying to think. Why can't she think? Her head. Did she hit it? What's clouding it?

"I don't know what is wrong with me," she mumbled semi-coherently, before the world erupted into a great blinding light, engulfing everything.

Hamuko groaned as she was helped to her feet by Junpei.

"Whahappened?" she slurred out.

"I got Ken back up with a Revival Bead while Senpai kept the Shadows busy," he explained. "Figured we needed someone who could heal, or at least all the help we could get while you were all loopy. Then he... hell, I dunno. Looked like that thing you used back with the Hermit."

"It was a Megido gem I found in a chest on a floor a little while ago," the young boy explained, looking a little roughed up. "I tried to give it to you while we were going up, but you seemed kinda focused on other stuff."

Ken saved the day. Junpei assisted. Shinji drew their fire. And she... she fucked up. She did nothing. She failed.

"Yay team," she muttered halfheartedly, traipsing wearily back to the teleporter.

* * *

><p>Mitsuru's disapproving glare at her actuation was surprisingly weaker than she expected. Wish she could tell the same about the rest of the team… and Minato, who was just shaking his head while talking to Shinji. She'd have run up to him and punched him away from her Social Link, but, she had her doubts about her capability to walk two steps without stumbling right then. But she didn't feel like hitting him anyway.<p>

* * *

><p>Yukari was back to averting her eyes from Minato. Then glance at him quickly. Then look away again. As if Minato wasn't noticing that. Well, whatever, he really didn't have anything better to do during Mr. Edogawa's class.<p>

"Minato-kun!" Edogawa's voice echoed ominously all over the room. "Which book helped further the art of magic during the Renaissance?"

"What?" Minato was caught completely dozed off.

"WRONG!" The teacher yelled, startling Minato pretty bad. "It is my time to punish you for your heresy. Hold still…" He began looking for something in a suitcase he carried around, which had the pentagon star representing magic.

"Wait what… What are you going to—" Minato was almost ready to run away, but he instead shut his eyes, knowing that whatever he'd do wouldn't be worse than what Ekoda would do to him if he found him running in the corridors.

"There." Edogawa smashed… a bunch of sheets into his hands. "Extra work for your despicable lack of regards towards the story of magic. Move along."

"Thanks…" He sat down and stared at the papers. They were written in some foreign language he couldn't quite recognize. Minato just sighed and wrapped his fingers around the bunch of sheets, tapping it lightly against the table to order them. "Ouch!" He accidentally hurt his index finger when doing so, making him wince at the stingy pain. "Shit, I hate these cuts…"

He could feel someone staring at him. At it wasn't Aigis, for once. Hamuko had her eyes fixed on him, with a look of disconcert. Whatever, she probably was just happy about the bell ringing to signal the end of the day.

"Minato." Or maybe not. She was just standing there, a few steps away. However, he was wrong, she wasn't looking at him; she was observing the hand resting on the extra homework.

Could it be she was worried about him? "Ah… It doesn't really hurt or anything, don't…" His words were stopped as she carefully took his hand in hers. It didn't seem to be an act of concern, but more of fascination. "Um, what are you—"

Minato had expected a list of things to happen. Putting the wounded finger in her mouth, in front of the whole class, was definitely not one of them. That should have been sexy in one too many levels, if one were to forget the location within which it happened and a few other things to take in count. But alas, it was Minato who was getting his finger sucked. "That's nice and all, but it's… g-going to get infected if you keep doing that."

"Huh?" Hamuko looked to her left. Lots of students staring. Her eyes then focused on the boy in front of her. And then her mouth slowly opened as she blanched. First, her face went white, then yellowish, and afterward she ran away, not even having time to turn red.

He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief and dried his hand with it, trying not to think too much of the possibilities which had just began blooming in his mind. Putting it back into the pocket, his hand grazed a little plastic bag. The Suppressants. He let his fingers trace the outline of the pills, briefly considering how unethical would feeding them to her secretly be. 'For the greater good' wouldn't justify testing it on her to see the effects of being robbed from your life time, ever.

Fortunately, he didn't have more time to give the idea some thought, focusing instead on another thing. Yukari. Mad face. Crap.

He ran after her when she stormed off the classroom. "Wait Yukari-chan, that wasn't-!"

"I saw it with my own eyes, thanks!" She yelled at him without even turning back. The faster he ran, the faster she walked as well. "You really got some balls to make me believe that you could be…"

"Yukari, you're getting this wrong! Actually, you got all wrong from the beginning!" Minato really didn't need more dorm mates against him. "Please, just listen-!"

"No!" She yelled, stopping in the middle of the road. Next he knew, she was completely frozen as a car approached her at full speed. He'd already lived through something like this. And once again, he was too far from her to…

"YUKARI!"

It happened incredibly quick. Hamuko appeared out of nowhere, tackling Yukari to the sidewalk, making both fall rather painfully to the ground. That meant either she had some nice hamster senses or she had been tailing them. It wasn't too difficult to guess which of them was he correct one.

"Auuugh, my hands…" Hamuko grumbled as she blew some little rocks off the scrapped palm of her hands.

"Hamuko—what…?" Yukari only looked at the girl who had just tackled her, in a way very much reminiscent of how he saved her months earlier from the Chariot. "Th… thanks…" She managed to mutter with a harsh look on her face. From that point on, the conversation became a series of screams about each other's irresponsibility, but… Minato couldn't avoid thinking that it was okay.

"I am sorry, Minato-san!" Aigis ran towards him in that plane-like fashion of hers. "Cleaning duties take unexpectedly long."

"That's alright." He said with a smile.

"…Should I help Hamuko-san and Yukari-san up?"

"Nah. Let them be." The unspoken cue was 'I don't really want to know what she was up to.'.

And so they headed to the station, the sound of the girls' heated discussion being the only thing disrupting the peacefulness of the afternoon.

"Let's see how's that Mamoru guy is doing, all right?"

And so beef bowls and talks about siblings ensued that afternoon.

* * *

><p>"…Senpai?"<p>

Shinjiro looked up from the magazine covering her face the third time Hamuko asked, and he had probably only done so because he was pitying her about what happened the previous day, but it didn't mater. Her eyes were probably really sore and she generally looked like shit after arguing the whole afternoon with Yukari and sharing a bitch slap or two, somehow ending up reaching a peaceful conclusion, but she didn't care. She was way too happy, and that was a nice change, considering that she'd been sulking or grieving for the past days non-stop. It'd been also quite a while since she last consumed so many Wuck burgers in one go.

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I wasn't thinking straight." Hamuko sat down next to him, not very sure of why she was even apologizing. She probably wasn't thinking too well now, either. She hadn't been thinking too well for a while. "I've only known you and Akihiko-senpai for a few months, so I shouldn't butt in, but… I really don't think that pretending Miki never existed is okay." She rubbed the back of her head. "I don't like getting compared to her either, but… I know that accepting difficult things is difficult."

"That's what makes them difficult."

"I guess it must be so." Shinjiro's joke made Hamuko's smile lit up genuinely. He glanced at her sideways. "When you smile like that… you actually look a lot different."

"Different from… Miki?"

"Different from yourself." He muttered, giving a tiny smile of his own. …Talk about someone who looked different when smiling. Gosh.

She extended her hands towards him, offering her last burger to Shinjiro, who was oblivious to the level up of their Link. "…Would you like a bite?"

"Of that Wild Duck rubbish? Do you even know what kind of chemical shit those burgers have?" Shinji seemed to find his own words amusing, for some reason beyond Hamuko's comprehension. "And you haven't even eaten the lettuce."

"I don't like veggies. Green doesn't taste good." She pouted.

Her pout turned into a frown as Shinjiro pulled her up and motioned her to go to the door. "C'mon, we're going to Wakatsu. If you don't eat well, you'll never—"

"Hey, that's just what I told Ken the first time we hung out!"

"…"

* * *

><p><strong>In the year 202X, Shenjay writes a new fanfiction. "Rebuild of The Fools' Tournament. You can (not) cross the road alone." 20% less drama. 50% more cars trying to roll over things. And a lot of blood.<strong>

**The title is in no way a reference to Act 1 of Katawa Shoujo. Nope.  
><strong>


	67. Test

**Author note: I changed the fic description so that it warns now of its darkness. Now I won't feel bad for misguided new readers going all 'aw this is such a cute cou—OH GOD WHAT.' Because seriously. I feel horrible about them 8D**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading, and to gadeel for always contributing so much to the TVTropes article! (tell me if you ever want a drawing or something as a thank you, man)**

* * *

><p>"Minato-san. Minato-san." First attempt at awakening Minato-san failed. Proceeding with second. "Minato-san." Shaking his shoulders proves to be somewhat more effective.<p>

"…Good morning, Aigis." The blue-haired human opens his mouth wide, proceeding to cover it shortly after with his hand. "Damn, I was having such a nice dream…"

Humans seem appreciative of the images they can see during REM sleep. "Nice dream?" Aigis does not sleep. She merely recharges batteries.

"It was about…" Breathing suddenly coming to a halt. Exhalation of air executed through gritted teeth forming a smile. "Many things. Lovely, unimportant things." The human gets up and stretches his limbs, giving yet another 'yawn' to refrigerate his brain. Humans have a poor ventilation system compared to hers, which reproduces it, albeit in a much more efficient way. "Go get your uniform on, I need a shower." Poor refrigeration systems as well.

* * *

><p>Aigis is now clad in the standard winter uniform of Gekkoukan High School, prepared to face a new day. She waits outside the bathroom. Minato-san was very specific about the restrictions of that zone after her first attempt to accompany him in. She is only allowed to go into the female version of the room if she ever needs a shower. She does not need showers, so she does not need to go in, other than to detect Minato-san better. Now she can perfectly hear and record his complaints about missing the furo of something called 'Shirogane Estate'.<p>

* * *

><p>Minato-san walks out nineteen minutes, thirty seconds later and so does Aigis, following him to his room. He used to become flustered and slammed the door claiming that she could not see him with only a towel on, but he seemed to abandon resistance when Aigis pointed out that all she ever wears in the dorm is a ribbon. To quote him: <em>'<em>Alright, alright, come in!_ Crazy robot girl.._.'. Paradox. A girl cannot be a girl and a robot. That is why Aigis is Aigis and not 'a girl'.

* * *

><p>Hamuko-san walks downstairs ten minutes, eight seconds later. She stops to look at Aigis. Her superciliary muscles no longer arch down in a menacing or furious way; they arch upwards showing concern andor hesitation. The latter is further confirmed by a slight aperture of her mouth which indicates the will to speak. The cause could also be forgetting how to breath nasally. Thirty-two seconds go by without any further proof of either.

Her expression changes completely when Minato-san walks out of his designated room already fully dressed. Aigis's heat vision function indicates a sudden increase of temperature in the female. Minato-san's remains somewhat stable, if anything increasing slightly.

Forty seconds go by without any further interaction. Minato-san's fingers hit the door rhythmically, attracting Hamuko-san's attention. She looks startled for about ten nanoseconds. Hamuko-san's nose twitches as her eyes focus on the hand solely –how could Aigis have missed the cut in his index finger? First-aid and bandages are to be applied later!

Hamuko-san's eyelids lower and her muscles tense as she exhales the sniffed air. Her pupils dilate two fractions of thousand of a meter, and there is a sudden peak of temperature as his hand stops being her focus. Minato-san seems to be aware of this change of stance. The temperature of his face is significantly lower than the average of his body, which tenses in alert while his hand goes into his pocket. What could he have there? Some kind of weapon? Maybe shurikens to battle Hamuko-ninja?

Imminent attack possible! Evasive maneuver required. "It is time to go to school." She suggests. Slight loss of tension in both humans proceeded by murmurs which lead to the danger blinking several times as her pupils contract quickly, and running ahead with a significant temperature decrease. There is also a cool down somewhat less noticeable in Minato-san. Mission completed.

* * *

><p>Listening to the teacher called Ono is a repetitive task hard to endure. He often repeats the same facts about a period called Sengoku Era. His heart beats considerably faster just by talking about it. Ninjas are admittedly more interesting to Aigis's battle strategies.<p>

Hamuko-san has been hiding her face on the table and looking at the opposite direction of Aigis since the lessons started. Sometimes she tilts her head to look at her or Minato-san. She then quickly hides again, thumping her forehead painfully against the desk every time it happens. She seems to be following some kind of restraining training. Maybe she is teaching herself tricks.

"Aigis." Hamuko-san does not look up from the desk as she extends a folded piece of paper towards her. "Give this to Minato, will you?"

It does not look like any kind of explosive, radioactive, or generally harmful paper. "Affir—"

"Shameless interrupter!" Mr. Ono clearly caught a glimpse of Aigis receiving the note. He has a different way of being angry from Mr. Edogawa. Samurai anger is truly something else. "What is so important to interrupt a samurai? Read the note, or face the anger of my ancestors!"

"Proceeding." Hamuko-san is looking pleadingly at Aigis while shaking her head for some reason she cannot understand. "**Scratch.** _This morning… _**scratch**_ I was just thinking that you _**scratch scratch scratch****scratch**_ smell nice, alright Minato? Not anything _**scratch**_ creepy in my mind, I swear! _**Scratch scratch scratch 'equal to' symbol, beginning of a parenthesis some more scratches**_…Who am I trying to fool? I needa see you. I needa talk to you. Alone. I needa get this feeling outta my chest. I don't care if it's in my room or yours, but we really need to do it. -Hamuko._"

One second of silence. Two seconds of complete silence. Three seconds and the students began exhaling air through their mouths in a way supposed to express amusement. Laugh. They are not aware of the context of those words. Perhaps that is all the context there is to it, in which case Aigis would feel obliged to oppose. Why?

… corrupted. Changing explanation to human stock phrase: 'that does not sound proper'.

"It's… not what you guys are thinking about. I hope." Minato-san sighs and hides his face in his hands while the student named Kenji extends his hand to pat his back. Dangerous move? Minato-san does not seem bothered about that. His heart is beating dangerously fast with the expectation of what is to come later. Or maybe a classroom is not a correct place to read notes.

Both of her protégées are looking at Aigis with their eyelids low despite the dim lighting of the room. Perhaps they are showing her one of the so named 'glares'. Hamuko-san had tried to teach her how to give them. She had also been repeatedly warned by Junpei-san to avoid Yukari-san's.

Hamuko-san is now trying to slid under the table as a mean to hide the sudden suffocation affecting her. Ninja skills cannot protect humans from notes.

Even samurai teachers seem to cease all mental activity when exposed to the power of paper. Junpei-san had told her about the power of the rock, but he was wrong. It is the paper which wields true power. Unbeatable paper.

The lesson restarts eventually, once the samurai teacher's body temperature increases to a normal level.

* * *

><p>The lessons come to an end. Aigis sits down expecting new orders. She is allowed to go out on her own, but she does not have anywhere to go, thus, if she did not have to look after Minato-san and Hamuko-san, she would go straight to the dorm or 'hang out' with Junpei-san.<p>

"So, you wanted to talk?" Aigis can register their conversation from that distance. They seem to be somewhat nervous. Hamuko-san's temperature is above normal again.

"Um… not here, Minato. I wanna try something tonight. But I'll need your help. I needa know more about this… _condition._" Condition? Was that why her body temperature was so high? Maybe Hamuko-san is just overheated. Aigis had heard Minato-san comment about how Hamuko-san probably had an Orgia Mode like hers. He was struck with a blunt item shortly after.

"So this means you're finally in the 'Accepting' stage?" Minato-san seems happy.

"Accepting stage? What?" Hamuko-san does not share the feeling. "I… I need to check something. I haven't accepted anything yet." She sighs and rubs her arm. "But lately things have been really weird and Imightkindathinkthatmaybeit'snotyourfault." Unable to process the last part of her dialogue.

Minato-san gives a sharp nod and smiles. They then walk in Aigis's direction.

"Well, it's afternoon, we have to hang out with people… But I'm not going out with anyone from this class today." Minato-san pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs, annoyed, tired or bored. "You could have worded that note much better."

"Aigis's fault."

"I only read the words in your note as commanded."

"Yeah, well you-! Err… You aren't allowed to read my notes. Ever again. Just pass them."

"Then, what are orders for the next time I am commanded to read by a teacher?"

Hamuko-san rises a finger on the air and opens her mouth, ready to speak, but in the end she closes it and sighs. "Nevermind, if this goes well, I won't need to talk to you again."

There is a sudden silence. Minato-san does not seem comfortable.

"And now for something completely different… we gotta go to the Cooking Club! I… promised someone I'd cook him something." Hamuko-san's words are met with a face Aigis cannot quite understand.

"…Whom?"

* * *

><p>Everyone goes to Fuuka-san's classroom and pick her up. Fuuka-san seems happy about it, and talks about what they are going to cook and how happy she is to see Minato-san had joined them when they arrive to the Home Economics Room. Fuuka extracts a variety of ingredients from her bag, including raw meat, several spices, oil, corn starch, a takoyaki-shaped cell-phone strap, red wine…<p>

"Is liquor permitted in school grounds?" Aigis's question made Fuuka-san jump, startled.

"O-Oh no, don't tell me i-it isn't!" She exclaims completely flustered. "N-no I didn't m-mean to-!"

Her panicking are interrupted by Minato-san patting her shoulder. This makes her heart beat slightly slower. "I-it's not against any rule when it's used to cook." As he comforts her, Hamuko-san's eyes narrow dangerously at both.

"Non-cooking club members have to wait over there." Hamuko-san growls as she pushes Minato-san towards a chair. Aigis follows him, making Hamuko-san look dubious for a moment before going back to the kitchen. "And… everything's here! Thanks a lot for buying everything, Fuuka-chan!" The female bounces happily from one place to another, carrying ingredients. "You see, Shinp—Shinjiro-senpai told me that he was worried about us not eating healthy stuff, so I thought we could make something more elaborate! Like, BEEF STRA—stroff… strag… drag… dragon beef?" What is Hamuko-san doing? Casting some new spell? Is it a new Persona? "Err… you know that one thing in the recipe book by the banana cupcakes picture?"

"Oh, yeah!" Fuuka-san nods in agreement. "But, I want to watch you cook first, alright?" She pulls out a little notebook and a pen from a pocket in her jacket.

"Um, cook it… by myself? I've never cooked anything more complicated than curry…"

"And even then I had to help you." Minato-san's incision made Hamuko-san's shoulders tense awkwardly. Restrained rage?

"Nevermind, I can do this." And with that, she grabs the knife and mercilessly attacks some innocent vegetables. Poor mutilated celery.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Forty minutes. The smell of the kitchen gets progressively worse as Fuuka-san begins helping at Hamuko-san's request. Hamuko-san's mood darkens all the same. Fuuka-san's notebook fills with notes. Minato-san's been listening to music for a while. Aigis remains in energy save mode.<p>

"Auuugh why doesn't this look like the picture?"

"Well, my dishes don't ever look like the ones in the recipe book either!" Fuuka-san's words seem to alter Hamuko-san even more.

The door suddenly opens, startling everyone as a huge human steps through it. His hat identifies him as Shinjiro-san. His frown shows he is quite exasperated. "Aren't you done yet?" He asks angrily.

"Ack! What are you doing here, Shinpai? Didn't I ask you to wait for me outside?" Hamuko-san yells back.

"No, you made me promise that I'd come pick you up and have dinner with you. And it'd be free. It's dinner time. I'm hungry." He tapped the ground with his left foot, further proof of annoyance. "And just what the hell is that smell? Did someone die here?"

"It's this stupid beef skullgreymon!" She stomps the ground and points to the pot.

"What?" Shinjiro-san walks in that direction and checks the food. His face says a lot. "Just… What? What was this again?"

"Beef stroganoff." Fuuka-san announces.

The older male looked at the half-cooked food for some seconds. "Explain."

A long, convoluted, non-sequitur explanation later…

"Have you ever heard the expression 'more than you can chew'?" Shinjiro-san pinched the bridge of his nose. "You made all that food go to waste… Don't you know there're hungry people out there?"

"I… just wanted to make you happy." Hamuko-san's words cause the temperature in Shinjiro-san's body to increase ever so slightly.

"You never cooked for me." Minato mumbles in a voice inaudible to the others.

Shinjiro-san sighes. "You got any of those ingredients left?"

"Oh, yes. I bought extra everything..."

"...I'll make it." He states proudly. "Watch and learn."

"Wait, can you even coo-" Hamuko-san's words are stopped with a glare.

"And be QUIET."

"I-I'm sorry, Hamuko-chan. Weren't you going to go out with Shinjiro-senpai...?" Fuuka-san asks apologetically.

"Eh. This should be interesting." She took a seat by Aigis's side and slouched on the chair.

* * *

><p>Fuuka-san and Shinjiro-san argue about cooking. It is rather similar to a monologue though. "...How did you manage to sneak booze into school?"<p>

"Don't start messing around with recipes until you've improved your basic cooking skills." He commanded some minutes later. "Seriously... Don't you feel bad at all for charring all this food?"

"...I'm sorry."

"Now listen up. Prepare everything beforehand. Chop everything that needs to be chopped…"

Fuuka-san quickly uses the power of paper in her favor to leave testimony for future-generations of Shinjiro-san's culinary wisdom. He does not seem amused.

"Put that notepad down and watch me. Here's the meat. When you put it in..."

* * *

><p>In about ten minutes the dish is ready. There is no observable difference between it and the one in the photography of the cookbook.<p>

"Wow, it looks so delicious..."

Fuuka-san's comment makes Shinjiro-san's temperature raise a bit. "...Just shut it and eat up before it gets cold."

"Can we really eat this?" Minato-san stares at the dish in awe.

"Hey, who invited you?" Hamuko-san growls and grabs her plate. As soon as she brings her fork to her mouth, however, she stops chewing. Is it poison? Does it burn? Is it a lie? "This…" She savors the bite. Aigis does not understand what 'savoring a bite' means, since she does not have a gustatory sense, but it looks like something enjoyable. "It makes me happy, for some reason…" She reluctantly swallowed and cut another bit. "It tastes familiar. Senpai, had you ever cooked for me before?"

"No."

"…I see." She shakes her head and keeps eating silently.

"You're amazing, Shinjiro-senpai..." Fuuka-san seems delighted.

Fuuka-san somehow manages to make Shinjiro's temperature raise every time she speaks. Perhaps she is secretly a stove. "I mean, anyone could do something like..."

"No, they can't! Please, teach me again! Promise!" She claps her hands together and bows. I'm good at observing and analyzing things, so I'll learn fast. All I have done until now is 'try harder', but every time I cook I say I'll try harder next time, without really doing it. That's why... I've stopped thinking of attacking everything with that mindset... And I've begun trying to find ways that I can do the things I'm not good at... When I began to think of it that way, it felt much better and I started enjoying what I was doing. If you teach me, Shinjiro-senpai, I will be more likely to succeed."

"Then what have we been doing all year?" Hamuko-san complains.

"Oh, no… Hamuko-chan, you really were a big help. You saw all the things that were bad about me while you were here cooking with me... And you always encouraged me even when I messed up... That's why... I thought I should also try to like myself for who I am."

"You know that that makes absolutely no sense and that it's just a pretty excuse to leave me and the club, right?" Hamuko-san breathes deeply and seems to zone out for a moment. "Oh well, I'll forgive you if Shinpai cooks for everyone next time!"

"Hey, I ain't—"

"Good idea! Thank you so much, Shinjiro-senpai! Oh! Go ahead and leave, I'll wash the dishes!"

"Wait, I-!"

Fuuka-san pushes everyone out of the room with a big smile. Shattering dishes are heard shortly after.

"'Please teach me again...'?" Shinjiro-san sighs.

"And 'please, cook for everyone'!"

"…Guess I don't have a word in this, huh?" A small smile forms on his face, but is hidden by his long hair. Hamuko-san smiles as well, her eyes becoming unfocused for a short moment. Minato-san is frowning silently. More shattering noises can be heard. "…Let's give Fuuka a hand."

* * *

><p>The day proceeds without further disruptions, save for Junpei-san's incessant rambling about Chidori-san's incredible healing powers. She is a Persona-user, dia spells are not uncommon. But, maybe that is 'love': greatly exaggerating your beloved's capability and boasting continuously about them.<p>

"Aigis." Minato-san and Hamuko-san walk towards her. Akihiko-san is glaring in Minato-san's direction from afar. Koromaru is wagging his tail happily at Shinjiro-san. "We need a favor."

Aigis only nods, so Minato-san continues speaking. "Tonight, we want you to unlock our rooms."

"That would be against—" Her words are cut by Hamuko-san's hand.

"Please, we have to try something very important. " She begs. "We only need you to unlock the doors five minutes before the Dark Hour or so. You can be with us if you want."

Protecting both… is… Aigis's mission. Higher priority than rules. _**Must**_ comply. "Understood."

* * *

><p>"It would not be wise to make noise."<p>

"…Who's there?" Minato asked through the locked door.

"The spirit of Christmas past." An annoying familiar voice called from the other side of the door. "Who the hell do you think I am?" The door was unlocked by Aigis, letting him see Hamuko standing there. She hesitated a bit before entering. "Aigis, wait there."

"If either of us calls out for you, please, come in immediately."

The robot nodded and closed the door reluctantly.

Hamuko leaned against the door while Minato just sat on his bed. Seconds passed silently. "So."

"Shh. I'm trying to think." The brunette furrowed her eyebrows and folded her arms, looking at the ground. Minutes pass.

"Feel anything yet?" Minato asked, slouching on his bed.

"Nooo—" The world went green suddenly. "Well, yeah. I… feel kinda…" The feeling was mutual. Slight dizziness, all too familiar…

"Hi... It's been a while." Pharos greeted both Fools with a smile.

"Yeah. I can't remember the last time you came by." Minato commented.

"Oh? Well, that's okay. Three seasons have passed since we met. Time goes by so quickly, and many things change. Yet, some things will always remain the same..."

"You sound like an old man." Hamuko snickered.

"Maybe so... But, don't you agree?" The little boy asked with a risen eyebrow.

"No, everything changes, apparently." She muttered, looking away.

"Apparently..." Pharos… sighed? "I've been thinking a lot lately thanks to you." What did that mean? "...That tower for instance. I've been thinking about it lately..." The boy then walked to Hamuko and held her hand in his.

"Hey, what are you-?" Minato asked, shocked, before the boy grazed his hand softly.

"I wonder... Will our relationship stay the same...? Or, will it evolve...?"

"Um, what are you talking about?" Hamuko tried to pry her hand away from Pharos's, quite unsuccessfully. "Hey, let go of me…"

"…No matter what the future holds, you and I will be friends. ...That is for certain." Pharos's smile looked surprisingly sad for some reason. He then looked at Minato and nodded. "I'll come again. Until then, good night..." His eyes quickly drifted back to Hamuko. "My dearest..." And with that, he vanished. That boy was just the epitome of creepy...

"Hrk!" Hamuko took a hand to her mouth and another to her stomach as her legs wavered.

"Hamuko!" The boy stopped her from falling, letting her rest a knee on the ground as he held her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, thanks." She smiled weakly. "Dunno what that was, sorry."

"That's alright, you probably just ate too much earlier." He helped her to the bed and let her rest by his side a few seconds before speaking again. "Maybe we should call it a night, since it doesn't look like anything's wrong with you right now. Ah, are you feeling better? Want some water or… wait it's blood now. Wait here, I'll bring you some juice or something."

Minato meant to stand up, but he noticed Hamuko's stare. He knew it all too well. Damn his big mouth. Or actually, that was actually quite a chance to go on with Hamuko's research. "W-what is it?"

"Oh, you probably made me dizzy, because… have I ever told you that you… " Hamuko leaned forward ignoring any need for personal space and rubbed the tip of her nose against his neck and up his jaw. "…Smell delicious?"

"What."

"Hrm… It makes me hungry…" She nuzzled the shell of his ear, earning a weird look from the boy. "Are you wearing some new cologne or something?"

"N-no?" She began nibbling his earlobe as he spoke. He couldn't let his mind wander. He was doing it for science. He was doing it for science. He was doing it for science.

"So that's all natural? Your… 'essence'?" She wetted her lips and smiled in a way which would have meant **great** news in any other situation. "I want to try it."

"A-A-Aigis!"

"Proceeding!" The robot quickly opened the door and took Hamuko out rather forcefully.

Minato sank his face in a pillow and told it how much he hated everything. _"She didn't really mean that, stop thinking about it, augh!_" After a few seconds, he regained his composure and turned his head to the door. "Do you feel calmer now?"

"No! Let me back in! I need to be with you!" She was yelling at the closed door, but she did sound somewhat more relaxed. "Don't make me suffer this! I hate this feeling!" Her sobs were muffled by Aigis's mechanical shoulder as the robot made sure she stayed in place. "I really hate it…"

"What are you feeling?" He asked through a little opening.

"It's just like before… Every night at this hour it gets worse. Like back then. I feel lonely. Like before I met you. I needed someone… anyone… I need you! See you and touch you and love you and bite you and touch you and... I… I can still sense you from here! Damn it, open that door!" Hamuko growled some more things, but they didn't make much sense. In any case, Minato's attention had been picked up by those words.

He didn't get to be 'possessed' for too long, as far as he knew. What? A pair of days of brooding and rage, and thoughts which were rather creepy in hindsight after the incident? Hamuko was crying at his door a week later, ranting about wanting to be one with him. He winced unconsciously as he realized the implications 'before meeting you' had. If she was acting that way because of those feelings, supposing Igor was right and her claim of having been feeling alone for years was not an exaggeration… He didn't even want to know.

Normally he'd take pride in knowing that he singlehandedly stopped that foul behaviour, but now it worried him deeply. That was some fixation right there, which brought yet another question: had she changed because of him, or for him? And the same question applied to himself. Did they change just by approximation?

And now that he thought about it… change? If Hamuko had acted that way before meeting him, and was acting that way now, that meant that she'd been 'possessed' all along? Or was that her normal self, then? Then, could that mean the same to him? Would his apathetic self have tried to attack a person on a 'fuck abstinence' whim because he felt he needed to do it, or just because things weren't going his way? He didn't know. He didn't want to know. He was getting to things he didn't appreciate.

All those things began changing when they met. Maybe that'd make them some sort of… medicine for each other. Maybe everything that happened wasn't because of them being close. Maybe Igor was wrong. It wasn't drinking sand to calm thirst what they were doing! Igor… was actually their enemy, of course! He'd put all those obstacles in their relationship, he only wanted to make them fight each other! That'd make so much sense! He probably got profit out of making them fight. Feigning to be impartial, but against what? He had to be the true boss... Ah, no… Of course he wasn't. He had no reasons to doubt Igor, he'd been only helpful so far, in his own, bizarre way.

…Why were all the adults he knew such cryptic bastards?

* * *

><p>Minato only snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed the colours of his room changing back to normal. He got up from his bed and shook his shoulders, which were bothering him a bit after at least half an hour without moving from his bed. He opened the door slowly, a bit afraid that Hamuko would jump at him, and tentatively peeked out. Hamuko was sitting on the ground, next to Aigis, resting her head on the robot's chest with her arms wrapped around her. She'd very obviously been crying. Harsh.<p>

"It's not fair." She muttered. "Why were you saying the truth? Why do I have to depend on you? You should be mad. I was mad when you did it. Why aren't you mad when you did nothing?"

"Because I know it's not your fault." He answered with a tiny smile on his face.

"I really can't believe it…" She smiled wryly as well.

"It's difficult to accept. You don't know how long it took me to get over with it, since the first time it made me act up with Yuko." He sat down next to her. Aigis was a good emotional support, but not that good.

"So that's it? I have to 'get over with it' and happily look forward the next time I get turned on just from you passing by?" Minato wouldn't have minded, but saying that Hamuko seemed displeased with the idea would be quite the understatement. But that was something that would never change between them. Minato kept his head cool and watched the events pass with indifference. Never lay his cards on the table until he was sure of everything. Hamuko would punch trees if she didn't have an axe. It was only natural she expected him to come up with some definite conclusion. He probably should have; he'd been postponing it for months, afraid of what he could discover. Now, though…

"…How long did it take you to stop thinking that you were crazy because only you could live the Dark Hour?" Maybe a new focus would help the matter.

"Ten years. Ten fucking years of pretending nothing happened. I usually slept through it as a kid, though, so I thought it was only nightmares for a big while. The people at the shelters did too." Hamuko couldn't hold back a snort. "And then you happened."

"Likewise." He sighed. "I think I took it better."

"I'd say I'm glad you did, but I'm not. Sorry." Their words were lacking any kind of affection or anger directed towards each other. They were mere facts. Minato tried to put an end to that by lightly stroking Hamuko's cheek, but her reaction was very much unexpected. "Don't do that… _please_." She rubbed her cheek against his hand in spite of her words. "I'm having a hard enough time trying to block you out."

"If you were a boy, I'd ask if that was a pun." Minato's attempts to mock her to cheer up the mood were answered with a little groan of disapproval.

"I'll bite your hand. I'll bite you if you don't lock me now and let me face this by myself." The girl pulled herself up from the ground and away from him, dusting her shirt. It wasn't his.

"You said my shirt helped you feel less alone." He observed. "Do you still have it?"

"Ah, eh, I… Y-yeah, your shirt's been definitely helping a lot lately. I-I don't think I'm ever wearing it again, though. Err…" She shifted uncomfortably in Aigis's arms. Had she just said…? "A-Anyway. We're both crazy. And unlike you, I can't live with thinking that I might try to attack you any second."

"You think it's easy for me or what? I already told you once that this whole losing control stuff really scares me."

"Yes, and then you tried to have sex with me. Very self-demonstrating." Hamuko grunted.

"Now don't act like you didn't want it!" Minato's retort earned him a ferocious glare from Hamuko.

"That doesn't matter." She shook a bit more in Aigis arms before finally letting go of her. "I don't think you mind me being like this, but I do. This only happens at night and when I'm with you, so we just need to keep apart."

"But what about you feeling alone?"

"I…" The brunette closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "I'm addicted to you, Minato. I'm always depending on you."

"Is depending on me really so bad?" He asked, surprised.

"Yes! If I'm always depending on you and everyone I'll never learn to do things by myself! Even if I fuck up once and again, and being away from you hurts me, that's what we have to do." She slouched against the wall. "Why can't you just stop being nice to me?"

"You know the answer."

She glanced at him sideways and shook her head. "Why do you insist on making things so difficult?"

"Do I really have to answer that?"

Hamuko made a weird face. Minato was pretty sure that it was a grimace. "I can't be with you, knowing that I could try to hurt you any moment… or, you could try to do it. I… really wouldn't be able to live with it. I guess that I'm still not as strong… or stupid as you."

With every word she spoke, Minato felt that her words reached him less and less, and her emotions became even harder to read. Thicker walls, he supposed, reminded of the times when he couldn't understand half the things she did. He'd tell her about the Suppressants. He'd explain her how they worked. Everything would go back to normal.

But how normal was 'normal', knowing fully well that they could be depending on pills for the rest of their lives, or even that they might not work.

"At least you could confess to senpai that you attacked me, I'm sure they'd take it easier if it came from you." It always happened. Damn double standards.

"I… think it's safer this way. Really. We mustn't see each other like this. We have to become strong enough to face ourselves or we'll never grow up." Her gaze drifted away from him, his words having a feeling of maturity Minato had been able to appreciate only a few times since he knew her. "Let's keep focused on the competition, alright? Maybe we can bribe Igor so he gives us info in exchange." Nice to see that at least they shared ideas sometimes. "We'll earn our happy ending, yes?"

The silence only grew denser as Minato found himself incapable to share information with Hamuko. Did they really want to end up like Shinjiro? Knowing for sure that their lives wouldn't last much longer and that ending would come quicker than she expected if they took them… Should he even tell her about what Shinji was going through? Make her count the days she had left of playing with her dear Shinji? He despised the idea, hated how obvious and random her feelings for the older boy were, but he wouldn't tell her. When you love someone let them free, was it?

"I'm going back to bed." She finally announced, striding towards the stairs. Before arriving, though, she stopped and turned around. "Um… Minato, just one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Um… can I…" She seemed to be putting a lot of thought into what she was about to say. She looked down at her growling stomach and then at Minato. "Can I have your trousers?"

Long live instant noodles.

* * *

><p>Phoenix Ranger wasn't the same without the appropriate company, so Minato decided that watching them wasn't worthy. There probably was something to do outside on a beautiful near-autumn Sunday. However, his Social Links didn't seem to enjoy hanging out too much. Except Mamoru and probably one or two people more. Namely Aigis.<p>

"Oh hey Minato!" Junpei cheerfully greeted him as he calmly walked to the lounge, enjoying a can of Mad Bull to make up for the lost sleep the previous night. "…Got a visit last night, eeeeh?"

Minato froze in his steps. Akihiko and Shinjiro were having breakfast right there. He decided to pretend he was listening to music and stroll to-.

"What is he talking 'bout, Minato?" Damn. Aki was like a bear mum towards Hamuko.

To lie or not to lie. Aigis was there as well. If he lied about her presence and she spoke up things would get nasty. Fortunately, Hamuko had gone out with Yukari, which meant she wouldn't have any chance to make things worse. "You have been forgetting to lock Hamuko."

"Huh—hey, how do you know that? Shouldn't YOU be in your room?" Defensive mode. Of course.

"Calm down." Shinjiro growled with his mouth full of natto. "I told him."

"…That still doesn't answer my question." But of course, he wasn't going to ask Shinji for more. That was cool.

Shinjiro got up and walked towards Minato as he was about to leave. "Before you go, I wanted to tell you that I heard a lil' something yesterday at school."

"Huh?"

"Something 'bout a note."

"Huh."

"I hope it's not what I think it is." Shinjiro's voice was two times more menacing than Akihiko's.

"Of course not…" Minato cleared his throat and slid out of the dorm, closely followed by Aigis. He was convinced that he was on friendlier terms with the scary-looking boy, but damn… They were like a couple of bears. Wait, not a couple. Just two beary protective bears. Err… Maybe he'd had too much Mad Bull.

* * *

><p>"Good day."<p>

"Oh? Hello, Minato-kun." Akinari smiled warmly at the bluenet. "Aigis-chan."

"How are you doing today?" Minato asked as he took a seat by him, signalling Aigis to do the same.

"I'm doing better today." He glanced around. "Hamuko-chan's still not feeling well?"

"No, I think she's better now. She was a bit busy today, though, I'm sure she'll visit next time."

Akinari smiled wryly. "Maybe she's just put off. I know it probably looked pretty bad last time, right?" A sigh escaped his lips. "...I had been reading a book before you came that day. I got so absorbed in the reading that I forgot to close the window, and I didn't realize how chilly it was."

"Ah… damn summer breeze. I know how bad colds feel." Minato nodded to himself.

"Bad colds should feel bad." Aigis intervened. Such great insight, Aigis.

Silence. He shouldn't have talked about colds with a boy with a terminal disease…

"...Do you read many books?" Akinari's sudden question made him blink in surprise.

"I don't read much." Minato shrugged. "I've been meaning to borrow Hamuko's books for a while but, I doubt she'll lend them to me now."

"I see." The sick boy didn't seem too pleased. "Good books are rare indeed, but I've been reading a lot lately. There's not much else to do at hospital, you know…" He smiled for some reason. "I have a lot of books, and I don't know the ending of any of them. I'm afraid of reaching the end."

"The end is a scary place." The bluenet agreed. "Neither of us knows what's waiting the next morning, or if we'll be even alive the next month…"

Akinari seemed surprised by these words, but he said nothing, only apparently accepting them partially. "I really get into the story and usually reach the end quickly, but... I never want to finish it. ...Because if I finish the story, I'll be stuck here, again. Alone in this room. ...As Akinari, the person who can't escape his fate. Stories about hope or heroism... Those're the kinds of books I read. So hopefully, if I do decide to finish reading them, I'll feel happy at the end when I come back here." He coughed into his fist.

"We have several recordings of heroic facts." Aigis announced once he was done speaking. "Minato-san would surely be pleased to share his stories with you."

Minato was a bit shocked at first, but then he quickly nodded to show agreement with Aigis's idea.

"That'd be great, but it'll have to be another day." Akinari grinned. "I have to head to the hospital soon." He stood up with some difficulty and coughed some more. "Thank you very much for talking to me. Say hi to Hamuko-chan…"

Minato had been lately surprising himself seeing how few he cared about the power he was getting. Maybe it was just because he wasn't his Social Link, or maybe it was just because Akinari was an objectively great guy. Who knows…

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in Be Blue V…<p>

"So can I take the job—" Hamuko stopped talking all of a sudden.

"Hamuko?" Yukari asked by her side as she was about to pay some rings.

"Huh? …Oh, sorry_. I just remembered that I have to kill someone later_."

* * *

><p>"YOU!" Hamuko ran to Minato, who was resting on the sofa, and jabbed her finger into his chest. "Give that back! Akinari-kun is too awesome to get stolen!"<p>

"So sue me, I care for him too." He shrugged. "Are you going to get angry every time I take profit of your deficits?"

"…No." She narrowed her eyes. "I'm going back to Paulownia instead." And with that she ran off.

"Alright, have fun—oh. Oh." Minato darted off after her immediately. He was pretty sure that Aigis would start following them any second. As it turns out, she didn't.

* * *

><p>Hamuko ran as fast as she could to the station. Sunday night. Iwatodai Station was full of people buying tickets to go to Port Island and coming back from it. As she jumped to see where the queue ended, Minato sprinted past her towards the Moonlight Bridge. There was no way she could catch up to him running, but if she got on the monorail she'd arrive much faster. It was a safe bet. Then again, she was facing the Track Team Star…<p>

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, Minato arrived to the entrance of Paulownia Mall. No trace of Hamuko. He collapsed to the ground and stood on one knee, panting heavily as he tried to get his breath back.<p>

"Too slow!" It was now Hamuko's time to ran past him, across the shopping mall and right into… the doorkeeper's hand.

"ID."

"I come here every week!" Hamuko shook her hands as she tried to pull her forehead away from him. "What's with everyone holding my forehead? Don't you have any other place to grab?" He took her arm instead as she tried to get into the club. "My arm? You really think that I can't—oh holy crap I really can't move… let me in you-!"

"My ID." Minato exclaimed as he slipped two thousand yen into the doorkeeper's pocket.

"Err—I'm with him!" And with that Hamuko tried to dash in… Only to be stopped again. "Auuugh, why won't you—"

"You don't handle alcohol well." What a familiar voice…

Hamuko finally looked up from the hand holding her head, only to find Shinjiro's harsh stare. She hadn't recognised him without his beanie and everything. "Oh… Where's the other guy?"

"The last doorkeeper got fired for letting minors in. I'm the new one." Shinji stated firmly.

"But Minato just-!

"At least he looks his age." Shinjiro shrugged and pulled Hamuko out of the queue.

"Look his- Shinpai, this IS impor-." A glare sufficed to make her back down and let herself fall on the ground. "All that running for nothing…"

"Maybe you'll think two times before making me promise things that way." He smirked at her.

"Oh yeah? Well you—you will think two times before pulling pranks on someone who can take a pic of you without your beanie!" She pulled out her mobile phone and pointed it at him menacingly.

"Scary."

She puffed out her cheeks. "…Can I at least go have some vodka?"

"No. I'm not leaving you and Minato alone and drunk in there." Shinji growled.

Minutes passed, with Hamuko not even bothering to leave his side. Suddenly, the music of the club stopped, replaced instead by slurred words.

"The… Heart Sutra?" The boy with the beanie peeked into the club, completely flabbergasted. Hamuko used the chance to sneak in. "Hey wait!"

Maybe Hamuko wasn't going to get any divine powers that night, but there was no way she was going to be kept away from the booze.

* * *

><p>"Shiiinpaiiii yar soooo pretty." Hamuko slurred as she barely dodged a rock.<p>

"I-I'm not Shinpai, you dolt!" Minato retorted angrily. "I'm Kitaro!"

"Yar Kitaro? I know no Kitaro… But erright! Then I'll be Aki! Row row fight! Trainin'! Protein shakes!" She laughed hysterically. "Howzat Minato?"

Shinjiro let out a big sigh. He surely had committed an horrible sin in another life. Karma was the only explanation to babysitting drunk clowns.

* * *

><p><strong>Reading new tropes in the article is my way of polishing my ego—I-I mean… my confidence remains unfazed by such trivial things!<strong>

**You loved Aigis's POV. Don't deny it.**


	68. Memento

**Author note: Little Busters! is the weirdest thing ever and I love Kud forever. And Rin. But I hate Rin so Kud it is. I wish I could cry manly tears for her. But I'm not a man and I don't usually cry of sadness, so! :V**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and the battle scene, and gadeel, Catt and everyone else for expanding the TVtropes article! And sorry for being so late, my beta reader now has a job to attend and the site decided that not letting me upload the new chapter was fun :I**

* * *

><p>Light. An overwhelming white light, shining far beyond reach. A while had to pass so that the light diminished into nothing more than an incandescent bulb, hanging from the ceiling, uncaring of the person below.<p>

"Aww…" A pained voiced was the only thing breaking the complete silence of the room. Raising little hands in the air, trying to touch the solemn bulb, yet another stifled voice escaped. It hurt. Everything hurt. But, with an overwhelming effort, the world stopped being upside down and the room began making a bit more of sense. Just getting up was so tiresome that the voice turned into agonizing pants. Breathing was almost impossible for some reason.

Trying to calm down, the little person scanned the room. It was perfectly clean, not a single bit of dirt to be seen. The ground was sparkly white; the walls were just as white as well, and so was the ceiling. The only things which weren't white in the room were those metal locker-like things with lots and lots of closed drawers. The drawers had tags on them, but the kanji written on them didn't make sense for the kid. Instead, the drawers served as mirrors which gave back distorted images. However, there was something in the rinse impossible to confuse: a big mass of reddened skin going from one shoulder to the other, and occupying some other patches of the undeveloped body. It was on the neck where it was most evident, being a reddish purple. It really hurt.

As breathing became somewhat less difficult, and the marks seemed to slowly dissipate, the search for a clue of what was that room continued. After studying the metallic lampshade which brought illumination to the room, a metallic table below gained importance. It wasn't as tidy as the rest of the cold place; there were some instruments in it which were rather unrecognizable, save for one: a knife. A really thin one. Weird. Eyes kept traveling down, expecting some food or maybe chopsticks to calm a growling stomach, but found tiny feet instead. A name tag was attached to them. Crouching down, the kid untied it. The kanji was still too difficult.

It was really too cold in there, but there was a warm-looking old dress, full of patches, folded on a metallic-looking chair. That was so much better.

The almost empty room became boring. A metal door nearby was much more interesting. Reaching the door knob was quite an adventure; finding a busy corridor outside, even more.

Stepping out, the kid began exploring. No one seemed to mind the kid visiting the different crowded rooms which smelt weird, until a tall man with black hair and blue clothes got in the way. He asked about mum. Mum? Didn't have that. Dad. Dad? He was long gone too.

"Lost", he said. "Doesn't belong here", another man in white answered. The man in blue seemed to be worried, and asked if there was anyone to phone. Anyone to phone? Never seen a phone. Oh, but there was this one phone number…

* * *

><p>"So forgetting about that stupid typhoon, I heard the school festival's coming up!" Hamuko commented, in an unusually low voice due to her headache.<p>

"Yep! I heard that 3-D is gonna make a haunted house!" Junpei replied cheerfully. "If Chidori's out of the hospital by then, I'll be able to take her in, and defend her from those scary ghosts, and-"

"Dude, she was part of Strega, you think she'd be scared of a haunted house?" The brunette shook her head laughing. "Ah, whatever you do here, it can't be better than what we did at my previous school. The guys in my class set up a group date for the festival last year!"

"Wow, and they let them do that?" He asked, impressed. "How was the rest of the festival?"

"Sore."

* * *

><p>Nuclear fission. Fission. That was different from fusion. Fission consisted in splitting things. Like hair. Like Mr. Takenozuka's wonderful brown hair. Like her headache after drinking one too many shots. Like her personality, every so often.<p>

Wait, bombs did the fission thing too? Oh wait. Of course. They break things. Breaking things split in several parts.

She really needed an aspirin.

* * *

><p>Mitsuru pretty much dragged her to the Student Council room that afternoon. She left for a brief moment and came back with a bag full of letters.<p>

"Complaint letters." Mitsuru explained, letting the bag fall loudly in front of Hamuko. "The majority of the Student Council is unavailable right now for several circumstances, so, I find it's only appropriate for you, as you were the first to bring the issue to our attention, to be the one to answer the letters informing the followers of the initiative about the progress we made."

"…Come again?"

"You are not to leave until you finish them. And you're lucky that I won't execute you."

"W-wait, is this about yesterday night? Senpai!" Hamuko shouted as Mitsuru walked out of the room. "Not fair! Punish Minato too!" Seeing that her words wouldn't even reach her anymore, she plopped down on her chair and looked at the bags. There had to be at least fifty letters in there… Oh well. She brought one out. Iwasaki. Oh, that was Rio's surname.

"Blahblahblah important tree blahblahblah… Hmph…" Hamuko picked up a pencil and stared at the letter. Soon she began nibbling on it as she struggled mentally on what to say. As if nibbling a letter would help. "Um… _Thanks a lot for your words! Where glad to tell you that the trees not gonna be chopped out any longer! Thanks a lot again for your colaboration, we woulndtve been able to do it without your letters!_... And now it just needs a smiley face and… Perfect!" She dropped the pen and clapped her hands in delight. "Now it's time to use my carefully improved punishment-avoiding techniques… PHOTOCOPIER TIME!" She jumped to her feet and headed to the photocopier.

"Do you always talk to yourself when you're in the Student Council Room?"

Hamuko froze in her steps. She turned around just to see Minato. "Oh, it's you."

"If I were you I wouldn't do that. Mitsuru-senpai won't take it lightly if she discovers you're cheating." Minato warned her.

"Well… you aren't gonna tell her, are you?" The brunette asked nervously. One execution was enough forever.

"Nah." He smiled as he strode towards her. W-what was he doing? Why wasn't Aigis with him?

Hamuko backed away slightly, finding the tables in her way. She remained cornered like a shadow surrounded by S.E.E.S. as Minato walked towards her. She shut her eyes as her hands grabbed the border table behind, perceiving only a weird scent in front of her.

"Here."

She opened her eyes just to see that he was handing out an envelope to her. Oh.

"It's from the old couple at Bookworms. They asked me to bring it to the Student Council, but they won't tell me what's it about. Maybe you should show it to Odagiri-san as well."

"W-will do." Hamuko answered as she breathed heavily for a moment.

"Are you okay?" There he was again, barely inches away from her. "…You look kind of red."

"Well, you look kinda blue." Best retort, obvious response.

"…Do I look sad to you?" No. Many things, but not sad.

"Err, just kinda tired. Did you come here running through the Moonlight Bridge or something?" She asked, needing to have something to distract herself from that smell. It was making her dizzy.

"Oh, yeah. I want to go back to practice soon, so I need to keep fit. It's your fault for making me realize that I can't even run twenty minutes anymore." Practice. Now that he said it, she had to talk to Rio as well. But, there were more important matters right then.

Hamuko hopped onto the table, tired of the border sinking into her back. She crosser her legs and rested her hands behind her. "So. Is that all you had to do here?"

"Yeah." Aww… "Just make sure you give that letter to Odagiri-san when you see him. And don't let Mitsuru-senpai catch you cheating. Well, later." And with that, he left, accompanied by Aigis who was waiting for him outside.

Hamuko huffed as she got up. She relaxed immediately after he was out of sight, and decided to go back to doing photocopies.

But first, her head had to meet some walls.

* * *

><p>Sixty-eight photocopies messily shoved into envelopes later, Hamuko decided that she was free to go and face the consequences later. However, if she showed up early to the dorm, Mitsuru would notice much faster. It was too late to show up to any club, but not late enough that all the students had left, so Hamuko picked up the letter Minato had brought and decided to kill some time reading it.<p>

"Wow, this is some shaky handwriting." Oh. Right. Old people. "Well, let's see…" Hamuko rested her face on the back of her hand as she read the letter. "Thanks for your help… we are forever grateful… but… BUT?" She jumped to her feet and held the letter right in front of her face. She had to have read that wrong. "They want us to cut… cut the tree? WHAT?" There was no mistake; that was just what the letter said. "…I have to show this to Hidetoshi!"

Hamuko ran around the place, positive that he wouldn't have left yet and the only reason why he didn't show up is because he was busy, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. She was about to give up when she heard a loud voice coming from the Faculty Office. She hesitated a bit at first, but eventually got closer to see if the one getting scolded happened to be Hidetoshi. As it turns out, that was indeed him.

"Don't be so stubborn!" The teacher yelled. "Just put her name on the list!"

"Hamuko-kun was chosen by the President to be in Student Council." Wait, what—"She's very responsible. That's why I don't consider her a suspect." Double what.

"There are witnesses who saw her wandering the streets at midnight, with bad companies! She's also been involved with the newspaper scandal and never attends cleaning duties! There's only one explanation for that, isn't there?" Hamuko didn't quite catch what the teacher –Ekoda, of course- was implying, but she was pretty sure it wasn't nice. Were they still talking about that cigarette thing? "I thought you hated students who don't follow the rules..."

"I don't doubt that there were witnesses for all that, but... I believe in Hamuko-kun. So, I'm not adding her to the list of suspects." Hidetoshi sighed. "...Besides, I thought we were talking about the smoker. Your accusations of bad behavior... Are you trying to slander her? What exactly do you intend to do to her using this list?" He was… defending her.

"In the end, you're just an adolescent interested in the girls too, huh? I never thought you'd fall for a girl like..." Ekoda sounded almost disgusted. "...Forget about our deal."

"...If you'll excuse me, then."

The door opened too fast for Hamuko to escape. Not like she would have done it anyway, though.

Hidetoshi and her only stared at each other silently for a few seconds. "...You were listening?" He sounded deeply uncomfortable, but that was okay.

"You… Look, thanks a lot for the help, but I actually…" She stopped and began mumbling to herself. What was she about to tell? "_Yes, I drink; yes, I hang out at half-past-fuck and yes, Ekoda gave me and Saori-chan a lecture which only I deserved, but at least I don't think the cigarette was mine?_" She considered it for a brief time and quickly dropped the subject. "You should go back and get your deal or whatever!"

An ambiguous smile appeared on his face. "I wouldn't do such a thing. I believe you in you. I won't sell you out." He snorted. "It's not like I was defending you or anything, though; I just did what I had to do."

For some reason she couldn't quite point out, Hamuko felt herself blushing at those words. "Still… I… I'd be in some big trouble if it wasn't for you, huh?"

"…Call me if anything happens, okay?" Hidetoshi began walking away as Hamuko's mind went numb after obtaining Emperor Level 8.

"W-wait." Hamuko called out for him. "…T-thank… thank..." She was having trouble thinking. She couldn't even form words. What…? She closed her eyes tightly, trying to focus.

The next time she opened them, she was running towards him, barely an inch away from his face. "_Whoa-whoa-what_?" She had heard about this. Minato had told her about how he kissed Yuko suddenly. She personally didn't have anything against kissing Hidetoshi, but she wasn't too comfortable with the idea. And the boy would most likely freak out as well. And then she'd freak out when everyone discovered Minato's and hers little problem. 'Little'.

Gathering all her willpower and strength, she managed to move her neck to the left as she was about to collision with him. The next second, she was giving him a peak on the cheek.

"H-Ham…?" Ham? Who was he calling a ham—oh, Hidetoshi seemed to be about to get a heart attack. She didn't want to know what would have happened if she had actually kissed him.

"Um… T-Thanks a lot?" She said unconvincingly with a big awkward smile plastered all over her face. "Welp, um, see you!"

"E-eh… Y-Y-Yes, no problem…" The boy walked away rather robotically.

He hadn't fainted or anything! That was quite a success! "Ha! Hamuko, one, Fucker side… two! …Three? Uh?"

There were some students staring at her as she celebrated her victory. …She needed to remember how to think silently.

Walking away, she wondered why had she been looking for Hidetoshi in the first place. "_The letter!_" …Oh well, that'd have to wait.

* * *

><p>As she was going through the plaza of Port Island Station, she heard some heavy coughing. It didn't sound too healthy, so she glanced around to see if the person was okay and…<p>

"Shinpai!" Hamuko exclaimed as she ran towards Shinjiro, who was rather red.

He kept coughing, falling on one knee to the ground and put a handkerchief to his mouth. Wait, was that… blood?

"H-hey…" He greeted her with an incredibly forced smile.

"That's some cold there…" She extended her hand towards him, but he refused it.

"That's n-no cold." He coughed some more. Hamuko got tired of that and tried to make him stand up, but he was way too heavy for her.

"Shinpai, something warm will do you good. Come with me, alright?"

Shinji reluctantly agreed to being leaded to Paulownia.

* * *

><p>"Doesn't that feel much better?" Hamuko asked as they settled down on a table in Café Chagall and had some hot coffee. The waitresses had been giving her sideway glances since they arrived.<p>

"Funny." Shinji muttered after taking a long sip of his mug. "I meant to invite you here some day."

"O-oh, did you?" Her eyes were almost gleaming as she asked, but the boy with the beanie didn't seem to give it much importance.

"Oh my!" That voice… Please, no… "Seikatsu-chan! So long without seeing you!"

"It's been a week, Mimi-sen—" Hamuko pursed her lips and glanced down. "Mimi-san."

"Aww, you remember my name!" The waitress snorted, resting her tray against her chest. "We miss you, you know? Honestly, if you hadn't lashed out like that…"

"I'm sorry. Life's been kinda weird lately." The brunette pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"I can see that!" Mimi exclaimed. "So who's your friend? This month's model? I liked the last one better."

"W-What? Senpai!"

Shinjiro turned to her.

"Not you, the other!" She slammed her hand against her forehead. "Err… Mimi-san!"

"Ahaha, I'm just kidding… But he is, right?" Mimi raised her hands in a placating way as both Hamuko and Shinjiro glared at her. "A-Anyway, take care of yourself, alright? Come visit some other time."

They kept drinking coffee silently, both somewhat flustered after the encounter.

After a while, Shinjiro reached into his pocket and produced a pocket watch out of it. "It's getting late, we should go."

"Hmm." She nodded.

As Shinjiro was about to put the watch back in its place, Hamuko noticed something red hanging from it.

"Shinpai, can I have a look at that?"

"Huh?" He growled. "Why?"

"Scientific curiosity." Her red eyes clashed with his greyish glare. And somehow, they won.

"…Be careful." He left the watch on the table and gently pushed it towards her.

Hamuko took the item as delicately as she could. It seemed an old watch, judging by the blackened zones, the oxidation here and there and the deep scratches which threatened with shattering the crystal cover of the front part. But that wasn't what made it feel special. Tied around a little hole right above '12', the strip of red cloth caught Hamuko's attention. It seemed to have formed a chain in the past, but now the band just fell limply at the sides of the watch, its ends abruptly broken and blackened –carbonized, more like.

She hesitated a bit before carefully tracing its shape with her index finger. The fabric was soft, and didn't feel too different to that of the ribbon she wore every day with her school uniform. Touching the burnt ends made her flinch. Could it be…?

Just then, Shinjiro snatched the item away and put it back in his pocket hurriedly. "You happy now?"

Hamuko twirled her fingers slowly, slightly put off from being bereft of the watch. She took a deep breath and balled her hand into a fist as she stood up. There was a warm smile on her face, though. "…Thank you. Thank you for sharing this with me, Shin…jiro-san."

"It's just an old watch." He shrugged.

"I'm sure it is." She chuckled softly as they walked out of the café.

"Hey." Shinjiro poked Hamuko's shoulder.

"Shinjiro-san?"

He turned away from her. "…I think I like 'Senpai' better."

"Shinpai..." She muttered in awe.

"That ain't what I said, you dimwit."

Hamuko found it impossible to care about the Moon Level 5 she had just received.

"C'mon, don't just stand there. We gotta buy some ground coffee for that dinner I promised."

She followed the taller boy suit, beaming until her eyes laid on another person with blue hair, and the blond robot beside him.

Minato was talking to a familiar-looking business man. For some reason, he was unnaturally red and quickly flailing his hands rather uncharacteristically. Hmmm… that man gave the feeling of being a possible Social Link. Damn it.

Minato seemed to notice her stare, as he looked in her direction. Hamuko gave him a sideways glance and did an 'I'll call you' gesture, to which he gave a half nod in response.

And thus the night went on…

* * *

><p>"So you are telling me that you managed to stop yourself?" Minato couldn't believe what Hamuko was saying.<p>

"Yeah. I only managed to move my neck, though. The rest of my body was acting by itself." Hamuko extended her hand and clenched it a couple of times. "Feeling you aren't you is always so weird."

"Indeed. But, oh well, you didn't kiss Odagiri-san, everything's fine. Err… for you, of course." The bluenet cleared his throat. He didn't even know why he was trying to make up excuses; Hamuko knew that he wasn't going to give up on her. "So what was the other thing you wanted to tell me about?"

Hamuko mouthed an 'oh' and then put her schoolbag on the ground. She looked into it and then stopped. What Minato supposed was a dubious look appeared on her face as she looked back at him. "Err… oh right! Shinjiro-senpai is going to make dinner for us tomorrow. Keep it secret."

And she checked the schoolbag to say that, huh? "…Is that really it?"

"Yeah. It's a secret, alright?" With that, she ran ahead, leaving him and Aigis behind. Minato could only wonder what she was hiding from him.

* * *

><p>"So, where are we going today?" Minato asked as soon as the classes were over.<p>

"Huh? Do we have to hang out together? I keep going everywhere without Aigis's vigilance." Hamuko answered without even looking at him.

"You are accumulating charges, Hamuko-san. If Minato-san allows me to report you, they will only add to your punishment." Aigis stated quite seriously.

"What she said."

While they were discussing about who would be in worse trouble if the other accused them, Yukari approached Hamuko's table. She visibly grimaced when seeing Minato.

"Hey um… wanna hang out?" Yukari was obviously doing her best not to look at him. Why did all the women for whom he expressed romantic feelings do that?

Oh well, he didn't need to hear the 'without them' part so he motioned Aigis to follow him, since Hamuko was technically 'accompanied'.

As Minato was walking out of the class, someone stumbled and fell right into his arms.

"Um, hello?"

"T-Thank you so much for—OH, MINATO-SAN!" Chihiro jumped to her feet, startled, but then stumbled a bit again.

"Take it easy." Minato held out a hand for her. Did he make all women fall into dizzy status upon sight or what?

"I'm sorry, I feel a bit light-headed…" She put a hand on her forehead and sighed.

"You do look a bit pale." He commented, worried.

"I think I have caught a cold. Would you be kind enough to accompany me to the drug store?"

And so they headed to Paulownia, accompanied by Aigis from afar.

* * *

><p>"M-Minato-san, that's quite a big lot of medicine…"<p>

"There's been a… flu spree at my dorm." Also known as a Tartarus visit planned for that night.

"I see…" With that, they walked out of Aohige… right into Hamuko and Yukari. …Damn.

Hamuko narrowed her eyes sharply at him whereas Yukari just glanced away. Chihiro, oblivious to the exchange, just shifted her eyes between the three second years. Minato had already lived this. Something like this anyway.

"YOU!" Hamuko yelled, stepping towards him. She had seemingly taken a liking to using the 'onore' insulting version of that pronoun on him. Probably she had been watching too much anime. Or not enough. Regardless, both Yukari and Chihiro seemed negatively surprised to hear that. "What are you here for, huh? Following us, eh? Well just so yanno, you arrive late to interrupting us! Yukari's already got a call from her mum!"

"That's nice." Minato tried to be as simple as he could with his answer, but she couldn't be calmed. Being even more protective than usual of Social Links was either another effect of not being in her sanity, or just being a bitch about the competition. He didn't want to know.

"Well yes it is and it's awesome because I already got my power so you aren't getting any and that's horribad for you and—" Alright, time out. That rant was stupid even for her, so bitch option discarded. Kind of. At least Chihiro and Yukari didn't seem capable to catch half a word. "And Yukari says that she understands her mum and how she misses her Dad now because I'm important for her and we're going out and-!"

"…Did you just say you're going out with Yukari?"

"Why, yes! She said it herself!" Hamuko put her hands on her hips and rose her chin proudly.

"I… didn't mean that, Hamuko." Yukari commented with a really awkward smile on her face.

"What? Aww, so you don't wanna be my girlfriend?" Minato decided to pretend that he imagined the dejected tune in Hamuko's voice.

"N-No?"

"…A pity." The brunette nodded to herself. Awkward. She then turned her face in Chihiro's direction, and her eyes narrowed. "Damn, I didn't want any witnesses of my failure…"

In any case, Chihiro didn't seem to catch what had derailed into _**hopefully**_ just a joke, and meekly hid behind Minato. "That's enough, Hamuko." He growled. "We're not here to bother you two."

"It's really not what you…" Yukari seemed about to explain herself, but then decided to give up, probably realizing that she had no reasons to give explanations to him. "Let's go back, Hamuko."

"So you really don't wanna…" Hamuko's whines trailed off in the distance. Whatever.

"T-Thank you, Minato-san!" Chihiro's shy voice came from behind him. That girl was really forgettable… "Y-You defended me…"

"Defend? Ah you actually weren't—are you shaking?" Minato took her hand in his. "That's right, your cold…"

"Y-Yeah t-t-the cold, that's w-why I feel s-so out o-of breath…" She was turning redder each second, but Minato couldn't notice with the Justice card informing him of how he reached Level 4. "Ivegottodosomething!" And with that she ran away. Woops.

Well, time to go back and get ready for the night…

* * *

><p>This should have gone better.<p>

_"Give me a second," Minato said confidently. "I'll burn this thing to ashes in one shot."_

_Calling forth on the mighty powers of the Magician arcana, he set the Evoker to his temple, unable to contain a slight grin at the power that was one trigger pull away._

_"Come forth! Surt! RAGNAROK!"_

_The sheer might contained in the mighty giant made the air thrum. Clutching its signature fire sword Laevateinn in one huge hand, it gestured forward without concern, summoning the fires of the world's end. Though dozens of meters from the epicenter of the conflagration, the entire party flinched away, feeling the resultant heat sear their skin even from the distance._

_The pyre faded. The Sleeping Table stood steady, hardly harmed at all._

With all the power at his disposal...

_"It seems to be resistant to magic. Should have known- Magician arcana enemies usually are better off being hit with physicals. Alright, let's try this, then."_

_It took a slightly longer moment to concentrate on the switch than usual. The mighty German hero was just at the limit of his control over his Personae. The power granted to him by the completion of the Strength link was embodied in the mighty warrior that he brought forth._

_"Siegfried! VORPAL BLADE!"_

_A swing of Balmung, and the air around the Table compressed and rent him from every angle imaginable. It tore and slashed at the Shadow, an attack of such ferocity that anything ought to have been shredded. But again it stood steadfast, its unchanging mask a mockery to Minato._

With all his tactics, and his intelligence...

_"Aigis, give us a speed boost! Mitsuru-senpai, be on your toes! This thing probably slings fire! Akihiko-senpai, cut its defense! Cu Chulainn! Matarukaja!"_

_The famed Irish lancer came out. Minato mused that he expected his armor to be more... blue. He breathed in heavily as the familiar relative slowing of time that Sukukaja brought on kicked in, and focused his sight on the Shadow before him, looking for a weak spot, or a chance to flip it over._

_"Strike attacks are useless!" Akihiko fumed._

_"Stick to Zio and support!"_

_"A report, Minato-san. Pierce attacks seem to have ordinary effectiveness upon this enemy."_

_"Thanks, Aigis. Cu Chulainn! Vile Assault!"_

It had started to seem like they gained an upper hand with that. They just pissed it off.

_An inhuman roar issued from the Sleeping Table's mask. A nova of fire exploded out from it, forcing a quick switch to Surt on Minato's part. The others were not so lucky, Mitsuru in particular. The concussive force of the explosion drove her into a pillar, knocking her out as she smouldered gently._

The Shadow had a frightening amount of intelligence to go along with its power. Eliminating Mitsuru first, who had been relegated to healing the team's wounds, it began displaying strategies beyond what a Guardian would normally have.

_The Table turned its attention to Akihiko, locking its mask's gaze onto his eyes. The teen began to shake._

_"A-Ahh, no. No! D-Don't you fucking... I don't want to see... don't burn!" The terrified voice that came from him didn't seem to belong to his normally confident senpai who always spoiled for a fight._

_A horrifying scream came, not from Akihiko, but from the Table. Akihiko's eyes rolled back in his head as the scream overwhelmed his already terrified mind. He shut down completely, rocking back and forth and mumbling to himself._

In short...

_"Have no fear, Minato-san. I will not allow you to come to harm here," Aigis reassured, bolstering his defenses with a Rakukaja. Her own natural defenses, quite impressive due to her metal frame, were all that were keeping her in the battle, supporting Minato as she took occasional potshots at the Shadow._

_"Aigis, we need to shut this down NOW. Activate Orgia mode!"_

_"I will do my best!"_

_She stood still for but a moment as her limiters disengage. A moment too long. The familiar runes that the group had long learned to avoid lit up around her. As the Hamaon spell activated, the pure energy overwhelmed her circuits._

_"I'm sorrrrrryyyyyyy..." Her voice tapered off into a mechanical buzz. She collapsed to the ground, smoke issuing from every joint._

"I am completely fucked."

The light gathering atop the Table, pulsing dangerously, was one he had seen before. That was no Hama spell. That was Hamuko's new favorite move, a Megido spell. But it seemed stronger. He would not be able to endure it, even with the Rakukaja still in effect. He would not flinch at his death, though. If he died, he would do so with pride. He stood tall, looking right at the ball of light as it launched in the air, and exploded outwards.

Suddenly, time seemed to slow. An opening in the supernova of power revealed itself. Never one to let an opportunity pass him by, Minato narrowly avoided the deadly blast, feeling it graze his side, then whirled around behind him to see Hamuko walking menacingly off the teleporter.

"Geez, just because I'm pissed at you, you think I'd be okay with you going and dying here? Come on, hero. Pull your head out." she taunted, grinning fiercely.

"Wouldn't mind a little help..." he grunted back, holding his hand against his side, feeling a spreading heat.

"Huh? Why do ya think I'm... here... oh, you are _really _hurt..." her voice took on an odd tone as she saw the blood issuing from the wound. "You, uh... let me... no!" She shook her head violently. "Dammit, no! Kikuri-Hime!" she shouted, after a quick switch to the healing oriented Persona.

She switched back to her original Persona as a huge gout of fire from the Table flowed harmlessly into them both. She turned a glare onto the Shadow.

"I... am getting really. _FUCKING. _Sick. Of having my control nearly taken from me, or taken from me, or whatever. I don't know what the fuck is messing with my head, but I'm gonna kick the everloving crap out of absolutely EVERY SINGLE SHADOW until it stops. And I'm starting with you! Kumbhanda! Agidyne!"

"No!" Minato barked. "Any element but fire, and only piercing physicals."

"You're giving me orders now?"

He grinned almost playfully at her. "But it's not an order. It's a suggestion."

"In that case, I accept!" Smash. "Kaiwan! Vile Assault!"

Smash. "Cu Chulainn! Vile Assault!"

The combined blows flipped the Table over, causing it to flail impotently. Hamuko pumped her fist, looking over to Minato.

"Now's our chance for an All Out-"

"No."

"No?"

"Not with just two of us. Nuke it. Nuke it hard."

"Heh. Got it!" Smash. "Pazuzu! Garudyne!"

Smash. "Lakshmi! Bufudyne!"

Smash. "Dionysus! Ziodyne!"

Their attacks flowed together like a symphony, a perfect duet of destruction. The Table was given no quarter, no breathing room, no recourse but to cower against the hammer blows of the Fools.

Smash. "Cu Chulainn! Matarukaja!"

Smash. "Kali! Marakunda!"

Smash. "Loki! Garudyne!"

Smash. "Byakko! Ziodyne!"

The Fools weren't so much clockwork as they were a single cog. No words passed between them, nor any nonverbal communication. And as they made a simultaneous switch, it seemed very natural to them to point their Evokers at each other.

"Siegfried!"

"Ares!"

**"SCARLET HAVOC!"**

The dust faded. The ichor left behind by the Sleeping Table dissipated. The two looked at each other wearily, realizing they had used their first Fusion Spell in months. Minato smiled wearily at her.

"Thanks for controlling yourself. You feel any better?"

"...Not really, no. Just a little less worse."

The green moon gave way to white, and a new day began.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, Hamuko. When will you learn what a group date is? Alternative joke –with the help of Evilshroom for the punchline: <strong>

**Hamuko: "They did a soccer match and I scored a lot."**

**Junpei: "Oh, what position did you play in?"**

**Hamuko: "Position?"**

**I'm not done with the Katawa Shoujo references yet, it seems :Ic**

_Beta note: Nor am I, apparently. It's a damn sickness._


	69. Decision

**Author note: _chapter 69_? And I don't have anything obscene ready yet? Damn it. I'll proceed to complain about how I want to play Little Busters EXtasy then (for several reasons 83). Or whine about how much I hate it when new readers come by and say sweet things about my story, not having yet reached chapter 39 ;A; It's the worst feeling. No new readers allowed until I finish the fic.**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading!**

* * *

><p>The morning started… with a lecture from Mitsuru about how The Fools were not allowed to exchange groups and help each other and so on about how Hamuko had messed up badly in her eyes and the Chairman's for 'exposing herself' like that to Minato. What the hell did that mean? She wasn't even wearing her bikini anymore. Sure, Minato couldn't deny that he had feared the worst when Hamuko began eying his wound with an expression all too familiar for him, but she managed to shut those feelings away long enough to help him. They had no reason to be listening to Mitsuru with their faces looking down in apology.<p>

Eventually, they let them go and follow the usual path to school with Aigis in complete silence.

"Hey, Hamuko." Minato tried to start a conversation. "Thanks for-"

"I could have taken it down by myself." She answered, trying not to meet his gaze. "If you hadn't gone there first I wouldn't have had to help you."

"Still trying to do everything by yourself, huh…?" He smiled halfheartedly at the morose girl. "Well, doing it together helped you test your reactions to me a bit more, and made the task easier for both of us. It was all profit, wasn't it?"

Hamuko glanced at him sideways and nodded. She then slowed her steps. "So… is the wound doing better?"

"It still hurts, but it isn't too bad." He took a hand to his side, wincing a bit as he pulled his white dress shirt out of his trousers to show the scar left by the Megidola spell. "Sometimes I wonder if Dia spells will be bad for us in the long term. I mean, I know they're magic, but they probably have a biologic base such as increasing the rhythm of cell duplication at a superficial level. And they are certainly horrible when you are wearing clothes… Hamuko?"

The girl seemed completely zoned out. …Did he really bore her that much?

"Hamuko-san becomes altered when perceiving your wounds, Minato-san."

Both teens turned toward Aigis. "Now that you mention it… Hamuko does indeed seem to lose it when I get hurt."

Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head to the right. "You saying I like seeing you get hurt? I'm… not into that kinda thing. I'm no Dommuko."

"No, no. I mean… every time I bleed you seem to come running to offer your 'help'."

"…You saying I get excited when I smell your blood? Like a shark? Sharkmuko?" She asked, shocked. "Or maybe I'm preying on you like a hawk? Hawmuko? Or that I want to bite you like a vampire? Vampmuko?"

"Stop attaching your name to things, Hamtaro!" Minato sighed. He then smiled smugly. "…Actually, _**Vamp**_muko doesn't sound so off."

"…Eh?"

"A vamp is a term used in popular media to refer to a classic character type who—" Aigis's speech was interrupted by Minato's hand.

"W-We're going to be late to school." He announced before dragging her away.

* * *

><p>That Wednesday was rather amusing, what with Yukari becoming the general conversation topic of the classroom. This was due to a little miscalculation: complaining about having to wear a maid outfit to Fuuka that morning… while Junpei was around. Did he really have no reservations about fantasizing while having a girlfriend in the hospital? Oh well. Minato would like to think that his classmates would forget soon about that but… it was Yukari they were talking about. Everyone would be looking forward to the moe Festival.<p>

* * *

><p>"How about we give Bebe a visit, hm…?" Hamuko suggested as soon as the bell marked the end of the school day. "You really seemed to <em>enjoy<em> his company the other day. You two make such an adorable couple that I think you should go out together more often… Oh, I just know everyone would love seeing you together as well. I bet Junpei would have a thing or two to say, too…" Too many innuendos. She probably looked up 'Vamp' during the lunch break.

"**Seikatsu**!" Mitsuru's angry voice resonating through the corridors put an end to the conversation, if it could be called that.

"Don't worry. I'll be gentle with him." Minato winked at the other Fool, making her stare blankly at him for a few precious seconds before screaming something undecipherable and running out of the class as Mitsuru's steps were heard in the distance. Just as planned.

"How could you dare trick me like that?" Mitsuru stood at the doorframe of 2-F waving a photocopy of something. Probably a letter. Seeing that her yells received no response she glanced around. Her eyes slid to Minato and Aigis.

"That way."

Mitsuru ran off to the right corridor following Aigis's directions. Hamuko had ran away through the one leading to the sports fields, though. Minato looked at Aigis in surprise and she… smiled? "Your protection is my highest priority."

Seems Aigis knew about executions. Clever bot. But Minato was too annoyed at the fact that Hamuko managed to keep going out without Aigis to praise her.

* * *

><p>Hamuko didn't stop running until she reached Port Island Station, just to be safe. She got in the monorail and leaned against the window as the train began moving, letting out a relieved sigh. It didn't last.<p>

"Holy…" Hamuko's jaw dropped as she saw someone riding a motorbike through the Moonlight Bridge in the distance. Mitsuru's long hair floating with the wind gave away who she was and made her look pretty awesome. As beautiful as she looked defying wind resistance… Hamuko didn't want to get EXECUTED. "_**Crapcrapcrapcrap**_!"

As soon as the train stopped, the brunette meant to dart off the train platform and run straight to the dorm and hide under her bed or something, but Mitsuru arrived at almost the same time and was waiting for her at the exit which made the path to the dorm shorter. Well, Mitsuru was wearing high heels, so at least Hamuko was positive that she ran faster than her; however, she would eventually catch her in the dorm if she saw her running. This was the perfect moment for one of those strategies Minato loved so much.

Use the other exit.

Hide in the first store she could find.

Success. And double success since she had wound up in Bookworms. And even better since Bunkichi was asleep and hadn't noticed her rushed entrance. She briefly considered letting him sleep while she wandered around the shop until things got calmer, but decided against it, opting to let him know about her presence… and asking him about a little something as well.

"Erm… Bunkichi-san…"

"Zzz… Even if the tree's gone… you'll still… live inside us…" Suddenly, he opened his eyes and startled. "Oh, Hamuko-chan…"

"Sorry for waking you up." Hamuko apologized, but Bunkichi didn't seem to give it any consideration.

"Haha, I feel so relieved now that our problem is solved that I get sleepy all the time… you know, the other day I sleepwalked into somewhere I had never been before."

"Oh?"

"I got lost, but a few boys helped me find the way back home." Could it be he got lost in Tartarus? And he says the others helped him? Wow, she really must have been out of it. "Mitsuko says that I'm getting old…" The old man laughed heartily. "So, did you want anything, dear?"

"Yeah, I came to talk about this." Hamuko revolved the contents of her schoolbag. She produced a letter out of it and left it carefully on the counter. "Could you explain me what's this about?"

"Is this the letter we sent?" Bunkichi gave Hamuko a troubled look.

"Look, we really can't give up now. I—"

"You're the one who began the project, aren't you?" Mitsuko's question took Hamuko by surprise. "Minato-chan told us the other day."

"He… did?" She blinked in surprise. "A-anyway, why would you ever do that? I mean, we've been working the whole time to prevent this!"

"Hamuko-chan." Bunkichi spoke up with a smile. "We're really thankful for what you all did, so the letter's purpose was to ask for your permission."

Hamuko quickly glanced down at the letter and back at the old couple.

"I went to visit the persimmon tree a few days ago and met a student on m way back. He told me that the construction of the new auditory had been put on hold since the initiative to save the tree began. My son was a teacher. He would have got angry at his old man if he knew that we are depriving students from new learning opportunities." The old man smiled warmly. "Helping those kids is more important than hanging on to his memory."

"But… but I… we…" The brunette shifted her gaze between the couple. Both of them seemed adamant in their decision. "If you're sure about it… then I guess I have nothing to say…"

"I'm sure my son will be pleased to hear so. I hope that more kind students like you and Minato-chan will graduate from Gekkoukan."

"Hmm." She nodded. "Well then, I guess I should…"

"Wait." Bunkichi stopped her as she headed to the door. "Please, take this." He closed his hands around hers, leaving something in the process. It was an orange persimmon. "It's the first fruit produced by the persimmon tree. It's a little rough around the edges, like our son… share it with Minato-chan, will you?"

An ominous voice sounded in Hamuko's mind. "_Thou art I... And I am thou... The bond thou hast nurtured hath finally matured. The innermost power of the Hierophant Arcana hath been set free. We bestow upon thee the ability to create Kohryu, the ultimate form of the Hierophant Arcana..._" She had obtained the power equivalent to level Hierophant Level 10, officially making it impossible for Minato to obtain any more power from that link.

"T-thank you…" Hamuko muttered with a smile, as well as teary eyes. Not –just– because of the joy after stealing such an important amount of power from Minato, but about the scene.

"Don't cry, Hamuko-chan! We have to smile for our son, he'd want us to do so!"

Hamuko eventually got out of the shop, carrying her gift on her folded arms. After a little pause in which she felt that a certain someone had stolen Temperance Level 7, she looked at the persimmon and furrowed her eyebrows. "_So what do I do with you?_"

* * *

><p>"Hi, Hamuko-chan!" Fuuka was placing on the table the servings of the dinner she had been preparing with Shinjiro. "Um… why are you drawing a face on that persimmon?"<p>

"This isn't a persimmon." Hamuko pointed at the orange fruit with her black marker. "This is Kaki-kun!"

"…?"

"The owners of Bookworms gave it to me, and I felt that eating it would be a pity." Actually, she bit it raw and found it horrible, but that's unimportant. "So he's my new pet."

"N-nice…? I still have to sort out the table, sorry!"

Koromaru nuzzled her leg and growled as Fuuka walked away to get more servings.

Hamuko looked at the dog and tilted her head. "…Replaced you? C'mon, you've totally exchanged me for Aigis too!" She reproached Koro, earning a little whimper in response. "Are you saying that that's because I've forgotten you? What? Of course I haven't! It's just…"

"He's right."

Hamuko felt someone grabbing her shoulders and looked up. Minato. She couldn't quite tell what his expression was, but there was a shady look to it. Almost Mitsuru-scary.

He kept applying pressure to her shoulders, to a point where it was beginning to hurt. "Have you forgotten anything else?"

The pressure continued growing stronger, making her flinch. To any onlookers –what, Fuuka?- it probably seemed a massage, and since they weren't aware of what had happened in the past week... Damn Minato. "_I thought you said that getting angry about stealing Social Links is stupid_." Hamuko tried to get up from her chair, but the bluenet had no problem holding her down in that position.

"_I couldn't care less about stealing ranks, but…_" He lowered his face to hers. "_That ultimate Persona was for __**me**_."

"_Your collection won't be complete, Persona Captor Minato? Ah, look. I didn't do it on purpose… But it's not like you deserved that anyway._" She frowned at him. "_You wouldn't have given half a shit 'bout them if I hadn't showed up, would you?_"

"_That's—_"

His hands stopped clutching her shoulders all of a sudden. Had her words really had that effect on him?

"'Sup?" Nope. That was Shinjiro resting a heavy hand on Minato's left shoulder.

"I… was just discussing something with her. N-nothing important." He slid away looking as relaxed as he could while Hamuko just stared at him.

"I forgot to show him Kaki-kun." She mused aloud. "Oh well." She held the persimmon up to the older boy's face. "Kaki-kun, Shinjiro."

Shinjiro just nodded silently and slowly. "Kirijo was looking for you."

"Ack!" Hamuko jumped to her feet and glanced around, startled. "Where is she?"

"Right—"

"WHERE?"

"There."

Mitsuru was walking towards the kitchen with a look of complete exasperation.

"No! Nononono!" The brunette had no way to escape. There was no time; Mitsuru would find her anyway! She smelt fear! …Well probably not. But she was not about to face her and find out and get frozen alive again! She NEEDED to hide somewhere. Anywhere.

"…Why are you staring at—" Before Shinjiro could even finish his question, Hamuko was already flipping up his coat. "Huh?"

"Slouch against a wall, quick!" She commanded as she tried to hide herself by climbing onto his back, under his coat.

Shinjiro desperately struggled to get her off his back. "What the fuck are you-?"

"Who are you talking to, Shinjiro?"

The boy with the beanie gave up and hit his back against a wall, making Hamuko whimper slightly.

"Is everything alright?" Mitsuru asked again.

Hamuko was hugging herself to Shinjiro with her legs and one arm, and holding Kaki-kun with the other. If she kept that position, she'd fall to the ground, so she needed to get rid of Kaki-kun. But, if she dropped him, Mitsuru would notice…

"_Act natural!_" Hamuko muttered as she rolled Kaki-kun up Shinjiro's neck and hair and into his beanie. He was shivering for some reason…

"Shinjiro, do you think I can't see that you're hiding something on your back?"

Hamuko hugged herself strongly to Shinjiro's neck. "_I don't wanna get executed!_"

"Hidin' what? I'm just doin' some weight-training." Shinji finally spoke. "Y'know, training, like that beloved Aki of yours."

"Huh? Again with that? I thought you would know after all these years that I have no romantic interest in him." Mitsuru snorted.

"I dunno, you two still seem awfully close to me." He shrugged, making Hamuko have to held him more strongly. "Got any other business with me?" Hamuko could imagine Shinjiro and Mitsuru's glares colliding, like in one of those Western films.

"…Thank you for the dinner." And with that, she walked away, probably to kill some time until every dish was served.

Shinjiro stood up and then let himself fall on the wall again rather strongly, crushing Hamuko with his weight. "She's gone, you dumbass."

Hamuko let herself fall to the ground and sighed in relief. "Woo… you saved me… Although I was kinda afraid of dying of suffocation in there."

"And whose fault is that?" He helped her up without any effort.

"Oh well, I don't have anything to worry 'bout now. I escaped successfully." She stated proudly.

"Kirijo lives here. She'll come back to the kitchen any second now."

The brunette just stared at him with her eyes wide open. "So it seems this is unavoidable, huh?" She glanced away. "Food or death. Risking my life to try Shinpai's delicious food. Putting my life in the line to have something to eat every day; the fate of the greatest heroes ahead…" Hamuko bowed down, grabbing a pair of chopsticks from the table in the process. She then stoop up firmly and split them up in a swift motion. "So be it!"

Shinjiro stared at her silently while she wielded her chopsticks. "…Are you an idiot?" He grabbed her with one hand by the collar of her shirt and took two dishes with the other. Thus, they headed upstairs.

* * *

><p>Shinjiro only dropped Hamuko when they arrived to the rooftop. He closed the door with a kick and plopped down next to her. "You can eat safely here. I have suffered an execution too. Never again."<p>

"…Thanks?" She raised an eyebrow as he handed her her dish. "Um, are we even allowed to be here?"

"No. That's why Mitsuru won't look here for you. Or maybe she'll come straight here, I dunno." He heaved a sigh. "I used to come here a lot back when it was just the three of us, so I don't think that she actually cares." Shinji probably didn't know about the first Shadow attacking them in the rooftop.

"This… is the place where I first summoned my Persona, yanno?" Hamuko commented offhandedly. "Minato's as well." Her expression darkened considerably. "…I'd rather not think 'bout that night, though."

An awkward silence was their cue to begin eating.

"This is really delicious…" Hamuko praised him as she savored –she never thought she would actually get to use that word- his cooking. "Who taught you to cook so well, Shinpai?"

"H-huh? N-no one, really… I just had to cook a lot back in the day." He blushed slightly. D'aww, he was so cute… "…Will I have to make you eat that zucchini?" Way to ruin it.

They continued eating silently and soon finished their servings. "Yanno, I think I'm beginning to like this place." The brunette announced cheerfully. "Even though it gives me some bad memories and it's kinda chilly up here, the view is really nice."

"Yeah. Not as good as the one in Gekkou High, but still pretty cool." A smile spread across Shinjiro's face as he got closer to the border of the roof. "Look." He said, motioning her to come closer. "That's the Strip Mall."

"Oh, then, is that the shrine?"

"Maybe. I dunno." Okay…? "If you look closely, you can see the lights of Paulownia over there, following the lights of the Moonlight Bridge."

"The Moonlight Bridge, huh…"

"And over there, where the alleys of Port Island Station are now, that's where I—"

"Grew up?" She cut him. "The orphanage where Aki, Miki and you grew up?"

"…Yeah." He stepped away from the border. "That's where our orphanage was before the fire."

They exchanged glances silently until Shinjiro began coughing strongly.

"Maybe we should head back, it's actually pretty cold up here… And I should be the only one getting frozen." She meant to stand up, but Shinjiro held her back.

"I wanna stay out here a bit longer." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder in order to cover her with his coat.

"You just sounded like my friend Akinari." Hamuko smiled sadly as she hopped away from him, to which he answered bringing her back playfully. "Please, don't do that." She brought her legs towards her chest and hugged them. "I wouldn't want to attack you too."

"So you really did it after all, huh?" Shinjiro's expression was surprisingly calm.

"Yes, but I… I don't know why I did it! I don't know why he did it the other time! I don't know why we've been attacking each other for months! I don't know what's wrong with Minato and me!" She was talking to her shoes, rather than him. "Maybe we two are monsters… maybe I was wrong. Maybe monsters can only have monsters around."

The older boy didn't say anything. He just pulled her back to him once again. "Ain't got no right to judge you. Maybe you're right; I'm here with you."

"W-what? B-But… you're a really nice person, how can you say that? You haven't done anything like us, have you? How dare you say-?"

"…" He took a deep breath. "Have you ever killed anyone? Someone who didn't have any reason to die, just because you couldn't control yourself? Have you ever destroyed a house? A family? Have you ever orphaned a kid?" He let go of her. "This is not a contest about seeing who's the worse person, you idiot. I did something unforgivable. Now I'm making up for it. Don't you remember what I told you 'bout forgetting the past?"

Hamuko's mouth opened slowly as he glared fiercely at her. "But…" She really had nothing to say against that. Shinji was… Was that why he left S.E.E.S? "But… how can you live with that?"

"How can I live knowing that I murdered someone? …Minato didn't tell you 'bout the Suppressants?"

"T-the what?"

"We had a talk after that… incident. I gave him some pills which hold Personas back hoping that it'd help."

"He… he didn't tell me anything…" Hamuko murmured. "He… Did he want me to be in this state? Did he really?"

"Calm down. I don't think that's it."

"Then why would he…?" She felt completely lost when Shinjiro gave her an ambiguous grin.

"You'll have to ask him yourself. I don't like repeating things." He didn't say anything else after that. There wasn't really much to say. Hamuko couldn't bring herself to even care anymore, resigned to just embracing her upperclassman as the Moon Social Link reached level 6. He was bulky and she couldn't wrap her arms around him, but that was okay. She just needed the warmth of… a kind monster, she guessed.

She fell asleep on Shinji's arms and barely registered getting dragged –which felt somewhat puzzling to her after having spent so many times getting carried by Minato, who was way less strong- to her room.

"You go and try to apologize to Kirijo tomorrow, alright? And… forget what I said earlier."

"Thank you for the food, Shinpai. And for the hug. We should hug more often." She bowed, almost falling on her face, and then closed the door.

* * *

><p>Shinjiro headed to his room coughing strongly. A hand covered his mouth so that blood wouldn't splatter everywhere. He arrived there and slammed the door shut. He sat down on his bed. Checked his pocket watch. Snorted. Heaved a long sigh. Removed his beanie. Then something fell out. A persimmon with a face.<p>

"…"

* * *

><p>Hmm… Poor quality eggs, some uneaten vegetables, sweet and sour pork with Akihiko's name written with poor calligraphy on the bowl, some odd looking omelette… Mitsuru could not find any food which seemed suited to her tastes. Would this mean she would have to eat in the school café? …That would be a rather unwanted situation. Looking deeper into the fridge was a better option, and quite a rare chance since for once the fridge was not empty or full of half eaten plates with Seikatsu's name written with katakana in an utmost most improper manner. She could not understand why Akihiko and Shinjiro would side up with her so often –or at least, before the incident, now it was partially justified, but still not something satisfying. Mitsuru was their real leader and childhood friend. They should pay obedience to her, not a soon-to-be-executed delinquent and the might-or-might-not-be other delinquent.<p>

An item finally caught her eye. A bizarre sandwich made of badly cooked meat. A hamburger. A nameless hamburger.

Mitsuru had never been confronted with such a situation. Ever since she was a child, she had wanted to try a hamburger; however, their infamous low quality had always thrown her back. Would she finally dare stand up against her family and have such a dish for lunch?

…It still was a better option than eating in the cafeteria. She would not make that mistake twice.

* * *

><p>Mitsuru loved riding her motorbike everywhere, but she sometimes enjoyed walking to school and using the monorail like her fellow students, keeping a lively chat with them in the way. This was not one of these times. Motivated from the feeling of independence the hamburger had given her, she climbed onto her bike and dashed through the Moonlight Bridge. After parking her motorbike, she headed to school, trying not to pay much attention to the unjustified complaints of other students about the suspension of the School Festival due to the incoming typhoon.<p>

* * *

><p>Lunch break. The feared moment arrived. Mitsuru produced the hamburger, and carefully unwrapped it.<p>

"Is that a… burger?"

Mitsuru detoured her eyes from her lunch, fixing them instead on Akihiko. She nodded while looking at the burger again.

"Do you even know how to eat them?" His voice sounded unnecessarily amused.

"Why, of course." She pursed her lips slightly as she stared at the greasy sandwich. There was no way she was touching that without the proper instruments. A napkin was a good start, even though not as sophisticated as she would have liked. Akihiko was staring at her intently, as if making fun of her. "…" The hamburger really didn't look appetizing at all.

"Can I have it?" Her classmate asked after a few seconds of hesitation from her.

"No." She determinedly grabbed the hamburger, covering her hands with napkins, and brought it to her mouth. How was she supposed to eat such a thing? …Perhaps that was one of those situations in which the best one can do is not thinking too much. As she was about to take a bite, pickles and lettuce slipped out of the hamburger and right onto her desk.

"Pft… Ahahahaha!" Akihiko began laughing loudly, attracting the attention of other classmates. Mitsuru could feel blood rushing to her face in embarrassment.

"B-Be quiet!" Her order only made him cackle all the more. Seeing that he had no intention to stop, Mitsuru gritted her teeth and shoved the burger into his mouth, proceeding to walk out of the classroom while her friend tried not to choke while laughing.

Well then, seeing that she had no cash to spend on the school canteen, Mitsuru would have to head to the cafeteria. A shiver ran up her spine.

Perchance, she walked past the Student Council Room as she strode to the café. "…Huh? **Seikatsu**!"

The aforementioned girl looked up from behind a column of papers. Color seemed to drain from her face. Good, her kohai knew who to fear. "W-wait Senpai!" She cried as Mitsuru approached her. "I can explain, I-I…!"

Mitsuru couldn't even begin pronouncing her lecture, which would have ended with Seikatsu being publicly executed that night. The other girl was holding nothing but a pen in her defense, surrounded completely by letters which would impede her escape. "…Were you remaking them?"

She seemed to notice Mitsuru's non-aggressive demeanor, but still looked too surprised. Did Mitsuru come off as inexorably inflexible? "Huh? O-oh yeah! Yes I was! I told Shin…jiro-senpai that I would apologize. 'Cause he told me to do so. And I do what I'm told to get done. So I'm doing this. S-so, yeah. Sorry for the other day. I have things to do now." She smiled as she clutched a sheet against her chest. For some reason, what she said didn't sound like the truth… But she had proof. And that was irrefutable.

"…Well done."

She exited the room with a silent, tiny sneer on her face. Shinjiro, huh?

"…Ahaha!" …The maniac-like laugh coming out of the Student Council Room as she walked away was not only highly suspicious but also strangely familiar.

* * *

><p>The lunch break had been oddly calm , what with Hamuko taking off somewhere, and having plainly refused to even face him during the whole day. Not that it stopped her from glancing at him sideways, wanting to say something, apparently. But maybe she was too scared to do so. Minato didn't know he could be that intimidating. Welp, that was something good. She wouldn't go around messing with his max Links ever again. Probably… not. She had some suicidal overconfidence.<p>

"Teehee… hee…" Speaking of the devil, there she was, giggling like an idiot.

"What's so funny?" He asked, trying to be the one to strike up a conversation for the millionth time that week.

Hamuko looked at him disinterestedly. "Yanno how the school festival got canceled?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…" A devilish grin appeared on her face. "It just got de-canceled."

"…?"

With that, her smile vanished, turning against into shooting what he guessed were troubled looks in his direction.

* * *

><p>That one girl who had been suspended, Saori, stopped by their classroom, making Hamuko rush to her side and begin talking at lightning speed. Well, whatever.<p>

"U-um, Minato-san?" And that was Chihiro getting into his class.

Afternoon with Chihiro. That somehow didn't sound too promising.

* * *

><p>When they got out of the Sweet Shop, into which she had almost coerced him to go, Chihiro was all zoned out.<p>

"So, did you recover already from your cold?" Why did he always have to start conversations with everyone?

"Huh? O-oh yeah… well, actually… I'm not so sure about that." Chihiro looked down, her face a tad blushed. "Minato-san, I have been feeling really weird since the other day! The doctor said I'm fine though, but… since you have been so nice I guess I'll tell you!"

"T-that's oka—"

"Don't think I'm weird, okay?" Her eyes were gleaming. "Last night I… I have dreams about you every night, Minato-san!"

What.

Just… What.

That was it. Hamuko was right. He smelt sexy. That was the only reason to why 80% of the females he interacted with fell for him, with or without 'the other side'. He was a fan of monogamy, why the hell did he get a harem?

"Look ah… Do you eat too much at night? Pizza can give you some weird dreams."

"Huh? N-no…? I don't think that's the reason, Minato-san! I… might want to be more than your friend…"

"_No no no no no __**NO**__. No. __Don't say that. Forget Justice Level 5. Why would you ever say that?" _He was beginning to feel weird. _"No. That's not what I want… Not again… Don't… make those eyes… No… I don't feel like… Don't… Stop stupid body, stop!_"

"Minato-san, I get so nervous when I'm with you… especially when you look at me that way." He wanted to glare at her! "Sorry…"

"That's okay." He whispered softly as he took her hand in his.

"M-Minato-san?"

"We both know why that's happening, right?"

"…Hmm!" She nodded. "I think I'm starting to overcome my fear of men!"

A smirk broke forth in his face. "…The other reason."

"…?" Run, Chihiro! That's what he wanted to say as he leaned towards her. She somehow seemed to get his thoughts. "I-I... You're a bit too…" She ran away like a scared rabbit.

"…_Thanks_." Minato smiled as he hit his head against a wall. His hand travelled from the concussion to his pocket, grazing a familiar bag of pills. "_Guess you'll be my reverse Sildenafil. Hah._"

He quickly opened the bag and took one of the pills, clenching it on his fist. "My life for my sanity. Well then."

Minato closed his eyes and brought the pill to his mouth. Swallowing without any water was actually pretty— COFF!

He tried to cough the pill unsuccessfully as he wheezed after a strong blow to his back. He turned around to see Hamuko glaring at him intensely. "Weren't you the one saying that I shouldn't talk to myself?"

Minato sneered and gave her a half nod.

"Spit it."

He finally managed to gather some saliva to swallow the pill.

Hamuko only sighed in response to that. "…How harmful are the Suppressants?" So she knew about them, huh?

Minato would have liked to answer but… his head suddenly felt a bit messy. "I'll… talk to you tomorrow."

Hamuko seemed rather displeased with that answer, but didn't press him to answer. He… felt like laying down for a while.

* * *

><p>In the evening, Junpei pretty much dragged Minato to the Strip Mall, claiming that Hamuko had told him that she'd invite Ken to have dinner since he was K.O.<p>

…W-Was it just him or Ken was flirting with Hamuko, with all that 'I want to grow big and strong for you'? ...Whatever, he really needed to sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Kaki-kun is my new avatar in my DeviantArt gallery 8D Let's get 400 reviews before chapter 70, okay?<br>**


	70. Risking it all

**Author note: I just noticed that I have the same amount of reviews in the FanFic Recommendation page of Persona 3 as Fairly English Story. Victory \*w*/**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading!**

* * *

><p>"I don't care! I'll take them from you if it's necessary!"<p>

The morning had gone by quietly. Minato tried to dodge Hamuko's questions the whole day. 'When were you planning to tell me?' 'How did you manage to make the teachers announce that there was a mistake and the School Festival will take place on Sunday provided the rain lets up?' He took a pill. She tried again. 'How harmful are they?' 'So why did you do that?'. Even after telling him that she did it because she had managed to coerce Shinjiro into going with her there on a date– which he didn't seem to like- he still refused to answer.

At noon clouds had begun gathering. By the time the school ended, it was pouring. This meant that nobody felt like hanging out; and that was good. Hamuko really didn't want any distractions.

She didn't need to press the subject anymore, though. She found Minato and Aigis sitting together on a bench, ignoring the heavy rain. He took a pill. They got up when Hamuko arrived, and Minato began his explanation. Hadn't she been in a similar situation before? …Whatever.

Like most of what Minato said at the end of the day, some parts of the explanation came out as sweetened, perhaps made more 'bearable' for her. In any case, he finished his explanation halfway to the Port Island Station. He misunderstood her. She hadn't stopped him from hurting himself. She just didn't want him to try what could be a solution before her.

"Alright. I understand. They're dangerous. Now gimme those pills."

"No. As I said, I don't even know if they'll do anything. I could be just shortening my lifespan unnecessarily." He stated firmly, fidgeting with the plastic bag in his pocket, while his other hand put a fringe of wet hair away from his face. His hair became straight and its color turned into a funny shade of blackish blue when it got wet, making him look more emo than usual.

"That didn't stop you from trying them, did it?" Hamuko yelled back at him. She wasn't willing to put up with any evasive bullshit he could give to her.

"Well, there is always the chance that they might work." Why was he so calm about the whole deal? "But I wouldn't want you to get hurt unnecessarily."

"UNNECESSARILY?" She couldn't remember the technique to calm herself down. "Why am I even discussing this with you? 'A chance' is enough for me!"

"You're probably wondering if you should really take drugs in front of Aigis." He sneered. Damn, he was sneering. He was fucking leering at her.

"Y-You think this is funny? You think it is, don't you? Hamuko's going insane, ha-ha-ha, that's so hilarious!"

"You do indeed look insane yelling at me like that. Wouldn't it be better to head to the dorm already and continue this talk when we aren't in danger of catching pneumonia? Or corroding, I guess, in Aigis's case?"

"I am waterproof, Minato-san." Aigis replied as they walked ahead.

Hamuko ran towards them in order to block their path. "We're gonna keep getting drenched until you-!"

Minato rested a hand atop her head and pushed her away in order to keep walking towards the train platform. She slipped and fell to the ground, landing on her hands and knees. "Why you…"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, are you okay?" No answer. "Hamuko?"

"RAAAAAH!" She tackled him to the ground, making him land on his back. Her mind wandered a bit as her hands laid on him, but she managed to pull her wits together enough to head to his pockets instead.

"Don't you dare!" He rolled on top of her as he tried to get the bag back. He wasn't fighting though, unlike all the other times something like that had happened. That probably was an effect of the Suppressants! And that bastard wanted to prevent her from taking them!

Hamuko was pretty conscious that she could never win in physical strength by now, so she did her best to keep it as long as she could. Aigis had already begun trying to separate them…

"There, catch it!" She threw the bag away, making it slid slightly over the wet ground of the plaza. Minato let her go and ran towards it, slipping as well.

"One… five… Wait… HAMUKO!" Fuck, he noticed!

The brunette backed away slowly, still on the ground. Aigis was holding her tightly, preventing her from running away. Well then. She swiftly put the three pills she had managed to steal into her mouth and gulped them down without effort.

There. Victory. "…You think they're skittles or what?" Minato scratched the back of his head. At least he accepted defeat and motioned Aigis to free her, while he took a pill as well. "How could you take them like that?" He extended his hand towards her to help her stand up.

"I've swallowed worse things and… yanno, I've got experience with… pills." She clenched his hand and got up with difficulty. "Aww… I feel like someone kicked my balls."

"You don't have balls. You wouldn't even know." Minato let out a snort which got mixed with a cough.

"…Fine. Then I guess I feel like someone had kicked my nonexistent balls." She had to hold him not to fall. And that was awful, because they both were all muddy and wet and it was still raining so at least they wouldn't be muddy for too long and that was good but being muddy was still awful.

"You can only wonder how some pills work directly on the 'strength of your heart', hey?" Minato sounded funny. Haha, maybe the pills worked with magic. Oh, oh, maybe they were made of liquid shadows or something! That would be cool. Shadow extract. Eau de Shadow.

"Both of your cardiac rhythms seem to have increased to an alarming rate. Shall I report this to Mitsuru-san?" Aigis's voice sounded so distant. Just an echo. A whisper. Why did everything…

"I-I… c-could you… just… stop a…"

* * *

><p>Hamuko could hear bits of conversations while being unconscious. Something about Minato saying that they both had gotten sick because of the rain. Shinjiro seemed to say something as well, about not bleeding the first time or something. What the hell were they talking about? …Nevermind.<p>

* * *

><p>Cough. Cough again. Cough some more. Not even in the Velvet Room Minato could stop wheezing. "…S-Sorry."<p>

"We cannot become ill, feel free to try to infect us." Igor said calmly, smiling slightly. "…Do you acknowledge why I summoned you here?"

"Is it because of the Suppressants? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad! I-"

"Hm? Your sudden increase of strength of heart is indeed the reason why I have been able to summon you here. You had not possessed such high levels for the longest time, young boy. The same goes for your rival."

"I… see?" Minato blinked quickly at his words.

"And this increase of power was caused by some medicine?" Elizabeth asked, with a tingle of excitement. "What a wonderful world! You sell power in capsules! …May I try them?"

"Uh… no."

"In any case." Igor waved his hand at Elizabeth so she would be quiet. "I found this increase worrying. The strength of one's minds should match that of their heart's, Minato-sama. That is the only way you can fully control yourself. I believe I had already warned you about something like this."

"…Yeah." The bluenet gave him half a nod. He then sneezed.

The Velvet Room master smiled under his hands. "Did you reflect on my words?"

"Yes, and I believe you are wrong." He stated bravely. "Hamuko and I haven't done anything but help each other become better since we met. We aren't harmful to each other as you implied; I believe quite the opposite."

"Is that so?" The old man grinned again like the Cheshire Cat. "Tell me, my boy, do you know what the three properties of life I told you about the last time are?"

"Three properties? Um…" He had learned this in Biology… "Adaptation, feeding and reproduction."

"That is correct. Those are the three qualities that define a living being. And what we could call the source of your trouble, to simplify the issue and avoid breaking the rules further." Igor nodded to himself. "Persona is the way those gifted with enough strength of heart use to adapt to their new situation. Adaptation is also the way you react to others. This has been and still is a great source of conflict, being the basis of your race for strength."

"Then, there are other two 'instincts' which make us act like that...?" Minato rested his chin between his index and thumb. "Wait, is this what you said about only needing to feed one thing or the other? A-are you saying…?"

"I am not saying anything, Minato-sama. We have never had this conversation as far as I am concerned." The long nosed man shifted on his seat, while the female assistant glanced away. "I can only hope you will understand before the time is nigh."

After these words, Minato expected to be thrown back to reality. But it didn't happen.

"You are too tired to wake up now. Feel free to leave once you have recovered some energy. Dawn should be near by now…"

Minato let out a big sigh. "Mind if I stretch out my legs?"

"By all means, suit yourself. This is your Velvet Room, after all."

The bluenet stood up from his lyre-shaped chair and glanced around. He'd never actually got to hang out in that place. Probably because moving was a bit difficult with the constant movement of the elevator.

Minato began inspecting all the items in the room, determined to kill some time; however, he was way too used to seeing all the decorations, and Igor and Elizabeth wouldn't budge. There was only one thing he had never paid proper attention to; that enormous mirror in the back of the Velvet Room. As the first time he'd laid his eyes on it, the mirror gave away nothing but a blurred image… which was completely unrealistic. The only person who appeared correctly in the rinse was Igor. Minato didn't appear, and neither did Elizabeth… wait, it was not a mirror. Maybe it was actually a… window?

Minato extended his hand towards the glass wall. He only needed to graze it slightly in order to make the glass ripple like it was water.

"Minato-sama, you are not allowed to—" Elisabeth's voice didn't distract him from what he had just seen. Hamuko, sitting on the lyre chair, talking to Igor while staring at Theodore, having turned around just to look at him with an expression of shock, not too different from his.

"…" Minato blinked. "Not that surprising, I guess…"

"Minato-sama, I require you to leave if you haven't any business with us." Igor's voice sounded less indifferent than usual.

"…Of course." He nodded. "…Share this conversation with Hamuko, will you?"

"_**What**_ conversation?"

Minato left the Velvet Room after that, and not at his own will.

* * *

><p>The heavy coughing accompanied Minato back to the real world. The previous afternoon had been rather… 'fruitful'. He'd caught a cold. Hamuko had fainted before getting to the train. He'd made Aigis promise that she wouldn't say anything about Suppressants, unsure of how much did other dorm members know about Shinjiro's condition– they were corrupting Aigis so horribly- And then he had to face yet another interrogation about their state when they finally got to the dorm. Fortunately for him, he was allowed to go to bed when everyone saw that his face was paler than usual.<p>

Minato had had a weak body for as long as he could remember –and that was many years, now that he had some memories of his childhood back. He could remember having stayed in bed pretty often due to having flues and similar illnesses. Being accustomed to this routine was one of the reasons why he used to sleep so much. The first to get sick when there was some virus around, pale and skinny; as previously said, plain weak. Nobody else could ever allow a little cold make them lose a track competition.

The bluenet decided to get up from his bed, ditching those depressing thoughts. His fever had become less worrying, partially thanks to a wet towel which had been placed on his forehead. Had Aigis…? …Ah, fuck, now he felt like he was forgetting something.

He checked a watch. It was rather late in the evening. Saturday 19th of September, 11:36, to be precise. …Hadn't Igor said something about being near dawn? Speaking of dawn, it just dawned on him that he hadn't eaten at all in the whole day.

Stepping out of his room, he found a bowl of miso soup carefully placed in front of his room. It was easy to guess that it was for him. A beautiful detail, except, well… it was cold. Still a beautiful detail, so Minato decided to head to the kitchen to reheat it. Not like he would have been able to do much else with an empty stomach.

"Minato-san?" Aigis's robotic voice made him turn around.

"Oh, Aigis." He greeted her with a smile. "Was it you who cooked this?"

"Negative." She shook her head. Of course, she wasn't a kitchen robot. "The most probable cook was Shinjiro-san. It is likely that the rest of the dorm inhabitants tried to coerce him into cooking dinner for them, but he refused, holding his stance like an iron chef. That is, a chef made of iron."

"…Okay?"

* * *

><p>Minato put his bowl in the microwave and programmed it so that it would be heated for a minute.<p>

"Hm?" Another voice sounded at the beginning of the stairs. "Oh, I knew I had heard voices!" Hamuko rushed towards the other dorm members, now with a pajama shirt and… _trousers_, courtesy of the proximity of autumn.

"Hey." Minato nodded as a salutation. "…Seems we both have overslept, huh?"

"Oh, yeah, I've been sleeping all day in my room. I kinda pretended to be sick so I wouldn't have to go to school, but I'm actually alright." She confessed, adding a short laugh at the end. "That being said, I did feel like shit yesterday. You should have warned me that those things worked at an impossible speed!"

"Your fault for taking three after I said they're dangerous." He shrugged. "Actually, I don't know how many we're supposed to take every day. And we don't even know if they worked."

"Well, they… calmed me?"

"No, Hamuko. They knocked you out. I don't know what those pills are supposed to attack, but they sure have some crazy strength if they knocked you out in a minute."

The beeping of the microwave alerted Minato that it was time to retrieve his soup. Minato, Hamuko and Aigis just exchanged glances.

"…I'm kinda bored." The brunette finally spoke up.

"Do you want to watch some TV until the Dark Hour?"

"Hmm…"

* * *

><p>Well, watching a recording of Shinjiro pretending not to watch cooking programs and getting his cover blown out by Koromaru on the TV of the Command Room wasn't what Minato had in mind, but, okay. They'd told Aigis that it was a film with characters which just happened to be extremely similar to them. That made Minato think. Had they ever been recorded by the cameras in the dorm? …W-why were there cameras in the dorm? …Let's pretend he didn't know they existed. He had already decided that worrying wouldn't do him any good.<p>

"He takes a lot of them, right?"

Hamuko's sudden question got nothing but a "hm?" from Minato.

"Shinpai coughs blood and he's always tired. I guess he doesn't get knocked out 'cause he's much bigger than me, but he probably takes a ton of Suppressants. That can't be good for him." She sounded oddly innocent and naïve while formulating that hypothesis.

'That isn't it, Hamuko', he wanted to say, 'he's two steps away from dead. And we will end up like that too.' "…The Dark Hour is about to begin. Let's head back to our rooms, to be safe, alright?"

"Um, Minato…" The brunette grabbed his wrist as he was about to get up. "Let's try something first."

"You do realize that every time you say that I end up being reminded in a rather nasty way that I can't have you, right?" Minato answered, less than entertained with the idea.

"It's not like I tease you on purpose… a-actually, I don't think I'm _teasing_ you at all in that state." Hah. Good point. Wouldn't make him feel less horrible if he took advantage of her in that state, though. "Let's see if the Suppressants actually help."

"...Taking a pill and staying together during the Dark Hour?"

Hamuko blinked. "Well, I was gonna suggest trying to summon our Personas without Evokers… but that sounds more helpful! Let's do that!" She glanced at the computer's digital watch. "And quick, the Dark Hour is barely a minute away."

"…_Damn my big mouth_." The male Fool sighed. "Alright. Aigis, standard procedure. Wait outside until someone calls you, and separate us if you sense any form of dangerous behavior."

"That's a standard thing now? Wow, we really fail a lot." The other teen snickered.

"All your fault." Minato gave her a little smile. "Well then."

A single pill was all they took. Should be enough to test. Aigis walked away, and thus the Dark Hour started.

They just stared at each other intently.

"Is it working?" Hamuko asked.

"I don't know."

Seconds passed. Minato coughed.

"Is it working now?"

"I don't know, Hamuko."

A few more seconds passed.

"Is it working yet?"

"How the hell should I kn—"

Before he could end his phrase, Hamuko had already tackled him, making him lay reclined against the arm rest of the sofa, while she merrily kissed him in the lips.

Minato couldn't find the strength to push her away. Or maybe, he didn't actually want to. Kissing her… licking her tongue… feeling her curves and the scent of her hair… no 'Shinpai', no stupid banters, only the two of them. …Wasn't that just perfect?

As his thoughts got more and more derailed, the girl atop him finally pulled off, allowing both to recover some breath. What had Igor said the day before? Feeding and… reproduction? Would that actually bring any calm to them? But… in that state…

"…Want to continue this somewhere more private?"

"Hrm." Hamuko hesitated. "Alright…"

As she got off him and headed to the door, Minato discreetly reached into his pocket. Two pills. "Hamuko."

The girl turned around. A big, pleased smile appeared on her face when Minato motioned her to come closer with one finger. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to himself as he effortlessly made her part her lips.

"HMPH!" Fuck, she noticed the pills!

Minato quickly moved a hand to her head to keep her pressed to himself, pushing his tongue strongly against hers while trying to make her swallow the Suppressants. Two doses might or might not knock her out, but at least they'd leave her mellowed– half dead- enough not to make a scene out of getting rejected.

"Status report?" Aigis inquired from behind the door. He couldn't let her see that misleading scene, so she pressed Hamuko against the door as he kept kissing her forcefully. It was this or bludgeoning her, since he had no intentions of feeding them to her manually at risk of losing a finger or four with a bite of those hamster teeth.

"_Just swallow already, damn it_!"

They were both running out of air, which meant that she would be forced to either gulp and faint, or choke and faint. Unless Minato fainted first, which would be horrible in that situation. Speaking of horrible things, maybe making out when he had a cold wasn't the best idea. Maybe.

In any case, Hamuko actually ate the Suppressants and fell to the ground shortly after. She wasn't conscious, so Minato sat down next to her, reflecting silently on their bad luck for having shared such an intense moment in that situation.

A few minutes passed until Hamuko opened her eyes. She had a thoughtful expression, yet she looked a bit out of it, so Minato didn't expect her to say anything which made sense. "You were there, weren't you?"

"Huh?"

"In the Velvet Room. Yesterday." Her words were firm, yet a tad slurry. Guess he was wrong. "I didn't imagine it, did I?"

"..That's right." Minato nodded. "…You were in the Velvet Room yesterday too. Right behind the glass."

"So we were sharing a dream or something?"

That sounded so stupid that Minato outright decided to ignore it. "…Aren't you more surprised that our Velvet Rooms are contiguous and Igor duplicates?"

Hamuko gave him an empty stare. She then tilted her head to a side and yawned. "Maybe they're twins."

"…Twins named Igor who act the same and know the same things?"

"Sure, why not." She shrugged. "Maybe they've got telewhatever powers and share thoughts. Wouldn't put it past them. Oh. Oh. Maybe they're clones! Or one is a robot! Robot Igor would like Aigis don't you think?"

"…" Minato put a hand on her head. "I think you need some sleep."

"I won't be able to sleep… unless you gimme a goodnight—"

"…So they really only made you groggy, huh?" He sighed. "Aigis."

"Proceeding." The robot entered the room.

"Take her to her bedroom before she tries to do anything stupid again."

"Take her back at maximum speed." Aigis nodded. "Understood."

Minato couldn't avoid laughing at that.

* * *

><p>"Igor said…" Hamuko began mumbling something as they reached her room. "He said that you know something about all this… and that I had to ask you… so, Aigis… didn't wake me up, I'd been waiting all day for you to get up… so will you tell me?"<p>

"Igor's dropping his workload on me, huh?" He coughed and took a deep breath. "I will. Tomorrow."

The brunette gave him a meaningful look.

…He wouldn't be coughing if he had actually told her what she wanted when he said he would. "Err… I promise I will tell you tomorrow. I'd rather do it in private, though; since tomorrow is the school festival, we only have to wait until we're left alone. You'll have to call in sick again, so you won't be able to go out with Senpai tomorrow, sorry."

"That's alright." Hamuko nodded. She peeked out from behind the door. "…Was the soup tasty?"

"Huh?" What a random question. "Um, yes, it was delicious."

"Good." And with that, she closed the door.

Minato took a look at Aigis and sighed. He was glad of having such a loyal bodyguard, but he really needed to face Hamuko completely alone. Or pray that she would forget that night.

* * *

><p>The morning arrived. Minato and Hamuko didn't dare go downstairs, afraid that their plan might go wrong, but Minato heard the door of the dorm open and close several times. Someone also opened Minato's door; probably Aigis or Akihiko, checking if he was asleep.<p>

The last two people to leave were Junpei and Aigis, who was dragged to the festival by the former. A while later the door in front of Minato's room opened, and soon someone slammed the main door shut and locked it with key. That was Shinjiro going out as well.

Minato left his room, and after scouting the dorm for a few minutes to make sure no one was there to bother, he headed to Hamuko's room.

"You sure took your time, huh?" She opened the door before he knocked. "Everyone left a while ago. I was afraid you wouldn't show up."

"I was just making sure there was no one around." He apologized and then proceeded to get in the room. A mess as usual, but it looked slightly more ordered: the layer of items scattered on the ground was at least two inches thinner. Still far from tidy, though. Hell, it was still far from habitable.

"So what's with all this secrecy?" Hamuko asked as she plopped down on her bed. She signaled Minato to take a seat wherever he wanted, and he ended up sitting by her side.

"I needed some time alone with you."

"Didn't you have enough of that yesterday?" Ouch. She actually sounded more reproachful than angry, though. "…Sorry, I know you did it to stop me. Yanno, I prefer that to a bonk to the head. Not that another of those would make me much crazier, but…" She hit the top of her head with her fist weakly and made a funny face. Was Hamuko trying to make him feel at ease so he would speak calmly or something like that? Hah, that was surprisingly thoughtful of her. "…Alright, let's get serious. What have you found out 'bout our… condition?"

"Well um… what I'm about to tell you is what I deducted from Igor's words. He's a bastard. A cryptic bastard. Please, bear with the explanation and don't say anything until I have finished, okay?"

Hamuko nodded with a serious expression. Minato hesitated a few seconds. "Don't make the message easier to take." She warned him. "I wanna hear what you came up with word by word."

"…Well. Guess it can't be helped then." The boy ran a hand up his hair. "I asked Igor about our 'condition' after Shinjiro gave me the Suppressants a few days ago, and he told me something like we two run on instincts and that brings us trouble. I don't know what he meant, I only got that he said something like we are like sand for thirst to each other. That is, bad."

Hamuko rose an eyebrow silently, probably at his little obvious explanation, but nodded to Minato to continue.

"But, I think we're not detrimental for each other; quite the opposite. We've done nothing but grow since we met each other."

"I'd be worried if we'd shrunk."

"…" Minato gave her a wry smile. "Anyway, he also mentioned that those instincts are three things that make a being 'alive'. Feeding, reproduction and adaptation, by his words. I believe he hinted that those times we have fought each other over Social Links are caused by the adaptation part, since he claims Personas are the way we adapt to life."

"I… see." She seemed to be having some trouble processing that, but she probably understood enough to keep on with the explanation. "Then, what 'bout the other two?"

"He said something like we only need to pay attention to either of the other two instincts. Doesn't make much sense to me, if you ask me." Having finished his explanation, Minato heaved a sigh. "Well?"

Hamuko pursed her lips and looked at him and rose her shoulders. "Maybe we should eat more?"

"I don't think having bigger rations than we already do would be too healthy."

"Then what does 'feeding' refer to?" She seemed to realize that he had no answer to that, and fell silent. She spoke again shortly after. "And you said the other was…?"

"R-reproduction." The bluenet answered in a low voice, rather shyly –or scared of received a slap. Maybe a bit of both. "He said that all this is happening… because we actually want this… so…"

Silence took over again. Minato's worried gaze locked on Hamuko's troubled one. "That… actually makes sense."

"_**What?**_"

"I've wanted to screw you since I met you."

Minato was torn between laughing because of the serious face she had when saying that and beginning to mumble unintelligibly. In the end he just stared blankly at her.

"Haven't you too?" She sounded almost offended.

"Y-yeah…"

"Wow. That's creepy." What.

She shuffled on her bed and sat on her knees to face Minato. "Then, neither of us would have a problem with that happening, right?"

Minato furrowed his eyebrows as he eyed the girl carefully. "…What are you getting at, Hamuko?"

"What if we… do it?"

…

…

Minato's mind was completely blown. He had to double check. "…Do what?"

"Assemble furniture together." She rolled her eyes at him. "You still remember the last time you put your thingy into a girl's you-know-what and you did it, or will I have to spell it out to you?"

"…" His mouth only hung open. "…Are you in your right mind?"

Hamuko let out a big sigh. "Think 'bout it. We used to be at each other's throats all the time back in April. When we got stronger, bam! That tension disappeared. Maybe that's what paying attention to adaptation means." Why did that explanation make sense? "Maybe if we do this now we'll both calm down and go on with our lives."

"But…"

"I mean, we both wanted this. I just can't see why we didn't start off this way. You just attacked me when we were supposed to be doing other things, and I attacked you… and I attacked you and um… I dunno. You stopped me." She shrugged like she was telling him the most casual thing in the world.

"Well that's right, but…" But what? "…Aren't you with Senpai now or something?"

"I'm not with anyone. And he doesn't need to know, anyway." Again with the shrugging. "This might be a solution, and unlike with the Suppressants, we've nothing to lose on this."

"I, uh…" Why was he even opposing, again? "Are you sure you want this?"

"I'm willing to risk for the chance." She nodded to reinforce her statement.

"That's not how my phrase went…"

Minato got up and stared at Hamuko. She smiled reassuringly. "If it's with you, it's okay."

"…Glad to see you trust me that much." Friendly trust. Not interesting romance. Screwing a friend from Hamuko's perspective. Or maybe not. He only had old reference for this kind of behavior.

"You knew there was a chance this would happen, didn't you?" She asked as she began taking out her clothes. "That's why you wanted us to be alone."

"I… guess." Minato awkwardly began working on taking out his shirt. It'd be even worse if they were to undress each other, so that was alright.

"This… means nothing, alright? We're just looking for a solution."

"Got it."

"So, uh…" Minato had already finished and watched amusedly as Hamuko tried to get rid of her trousers. She really wasn't used to wearing them. "Are we sure that we are being ourselves?"

"I'm being myself." Her very bare self. "You?"

"Uuuuuh…" He quickly turned around.

"Nosebleed?"

"I just have really high blood pressure, alright?" He yelled.

"You know that high blood pressure doesn't cause nosebleeds, don't you?" Hamuko smiled knowingly and then she shook her head laughing. "That's so like you." She probably was used to this kind of situations. Hamuko didn't seem to put any value to such an act, or else she was being really good at masking her true emotions. "Err… wait, second drawer to the left."

"Huh?" Minato opened said drawer. "…"

"They're sooo much better than pills." She cooed.

"…Should I think that you speak from experience?" Minato asked with a cocked up eyebrow.

"…I have had a couple awkward mornings, yes." She glanced away, somewhat blushed.

"And uh… how many guys did you expect to find in Iwatodai? I mean…"

"Shut up. Please." The unspoken cue was 'this is awkward enough as it is'.

Minato reluctantly walked to her. He didn't have any qualms about looking at her; after all, it's not like they hadn't seen each other like that a few many times.

"Look, um… really, don't get your hopes up. No feelings about this, okay?" It was easy to tell that she was liking the idea less and less. "Oh, I know! No kissing in the lips. That's totally not romantic, right?"

"Who are you, Vivian?"

"Who?"

"No one." Minato shook his head laughing. "You really don't want me to kiss you?"

Hamuko rose her shoulders so much that she seemed to be trying to hide her head in them. "I didn't say that."

Minato pulled her into an embrace, which was meant to be more soothing than anything else. The lack of clothes changed it a bit, though.

"No hard feelings, okay?" She asked sheepishly.

"I think you might be a little late for that…"

* * *

><p>It wasn't like they had imagined. Certainly, they'd both had had hopes for a romantic evening, having dinner somewhere nice, and ending up in their rooms, whispering love words to each other. But alas, that was not to be. They lowered the blinds to give atmosphere and pretend that it wasn't noon, as well as making it a bit easier for both. There wasn't much foreplay; they both knew what they were supposed to do.<p>

"I'll… try to make this as comfortable for you as I can, alright?" He whispered as he stroked her cheek. Hamuko was laying there, squirming a little between his arms, with her long hair all over the mattress and a confident look on her face… which sort of made her look like a kitten rather than a hamster, for once.

"…Just have fun."

* * *

><p>It was something really personal, so Minato would never say a word of what happened in that room. It was just like every other thing they did together. It felt natural. Like they had trained to achieve such a synchronization. They moved at the same time, they breathed at the same time, they… had different resistances, so not everything came together so well, but that was only for him to worry.<p>

* * *

><p>And then, it ended. Minato fell sideways on the bed, trying not to collapse atop Hamuko, and panted heavily for a few moments. As his body finally relaxed, he wrapped his arms around the exhausted girl and brought her closer to himself, kissing her forehead. Being so sweaty was pretty awful, but he didn't care. He felt so strange… "I… love you…" He muttered, giving her a weary smile.<p>

"…" Her mouth hung open, looking rather shocked. "That's… new."

"That's… the truth, sorry. I know I shouldn't have said that." Minato coughed into his hand. "Awesome, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Top ten for sure."

"…So you are that... loud with everyone?"

They cuddled silently against each other until exhaustion overtook them, and so they fell asleep uncaring of how dangerous it'd be for them to oversleep and be found.

* * *

><p>They woke up an hour or so later, yet stayed I bed a bit longer. There was a thick silence between them.<p>

"…How do you feel?" Minato finally dared ask, making Hamuko look up from his chest.

"I feel… horrible." She seemed to be talking to the wall, rather than him.

"…So do I."

They decided to remain embracing each other for a longer while; something was telling them that they'd messed up somehow, and they didn't want to face that by themselves.

* * *

><p><strong>Evil laugh goes here. And exposition. Lots of exposition. And sex. Sexposition.<strong>

**Pretty Woman, walking down the street~**


	71. Maybe

**Author note: Remember that the TVTropes article of The Fools' Tournament is totally awesome and every new trope brings a smile to my heart. And heart is an awesome power.**

**There's a week every month when I really shouldn't write, because every chapter I manage to write will begin with a depressed author note. Fortunately, I noticed this time and mended it! 8D;**

* * *

><p>"Dude, you don't know what ya missed! Kenji. Kazushi. Cross-dressing. Maids, dude. Maids.."<p>

"That's… nice. You got photos?"

"Err… my cam got wrecked after I took a pic of Yuka-tan." Junpei sighed. "Ah, poor Hamu-chan! Only you could get sick during the festival! I bet you were here in your bed all day, bored to death and with nothing to do!"

It was partially true. She'd been alone and bored, napping since Minato finally left her bed, mumbling something about being really sorry. Their… solution had somehow turned out to be the opposite. Hamuko felt all woozy. She didn't know what it was that she had, but it got worse when Junpei walked into her room carrying some food. Maybe Minato had managed to infect her with his cold, but it really didn't feel like it.

The hardest moment of the afternoon was doubtlessly keeping Junpei's mouth shut after he slipped because of a little foil laying on the ground. At least Hamuko had a new mission to keep herself busy and her mind away from the strange feeling building up inside her.

Despite her pleas– and threats-, Junpei talked to Minato, and invited, or rather dragged, him to Escapade to celebrate 'it had finally happened'. Minato ditched him as soon as they stepped into the club and headed to the VIP zone to talk to Mutatsu.

Having to endure being confused with his son for an hour was harder than usual, even getting Tower level 8. Mutatsu's face upon sobering up was nothing short of hilarious, but Minato couldn't even laugh at it by then.

* * *

><p>00:00. Initiating Dark Hour routine number 1100. Behavioral pattern acquired from Minato-san.<p>

"Minato-san? Status report?"

Aigis's voice resonates in the corridor as she increases its loudness, but it apparently does not reach Minato-san. Stealth lock pick skills activate. The door opens, bringing no further illumination to the murky room.

Minato-san is laying on his bed. He is partially covered by a blanket. The atmosphere of the room contains traces of ethanol. Its source is probably Minato-san's breath. Further testing required to check.

One second. Five seconds. Forty seconds. There was no sign of breathing, nor a heartbeat. Correction: his heart is beating at an abnormally slow speed. Shaking his shoulders proves ineffective. ALERT-! Priority conflict. Minato-san and Hamuko-san specifically forbade her from reporting anything to Mitsuru-san or any other dorm member. This could be part of 'anything' therefore she should not tell 'anyone'.

There is only one person she would be allowed to tell.

* * *

><p>"What did you do to the Velvet Room? Why isn't it moving as usual?"<p>

"It's not our doing, Minato-sama."

* * *

><p>The loyal robot runs upstairs, carrying Minato-san. "Hamuko-san! Hamuko-san!" She raps her metallic knuckles against her door, causing deep splintery marks in the wood. No answer, other than some complaints proceeding from other rooms. This door is not locked, so Aigis pushes the handle to open it.<p>

Hamuko-san is inside. She seems to be in the same state as Minato-san.

* * *

><p>"Huh? You saying it's the other Velvet Room's fault, Theo?"<p>

"I believe so. It certainly was not caused by anything in this one."

* * *

><p>Aigis planned to leave both in Hamuko-san's bedroom, but she knew they did not approve of sleeping in the same room, so she ran downstairs with them.<p>

* * *

><p>"Hamuko, can you hear me? What the hell have you done to this place?"<p>

"I haven't done anything, you idiot!"

"Who the fuck are you calling an idiot? I bet this was all your fault!"

"My ass! It was you! You're just lame like that! Can't do a fucking thing right!"

"Minato-sama, Hamuko-sama, could you please…?"

"That's not what you said this morning!"

Punch. The crystal in the back of the room, much thinner than Minato could remember, formed big ripples with the impact. The whole room shook and some kind of engine sound could be heard.

"You callin' me a thing?"

Kick. Yet another wave ran through the liquid glass. Followed by another strong smash. The ripples allowed them to see each other, and every time they hit it, the barrier got a bit thinner and their fury a bit stronger.

"Fools-sama." Igor spoke quietly and calmly. But he did nothing to stop them. Neither did Elisabeth or Theodore, who just looked at them from afar.

* * *

><p>Hamuko-san and Minato-san now rest together on the sofa. They still do not seem to breathe, but their hearts are beating exponentially faster. That should not be possible. What is this sensation? Aigis cannot feel pain, but she feels some kind of sting in her heart. Could it be corrosion? This alien sensation seems to derive from the possible nefarious outcome of her mission. If Minato-san… died…<p>

Corrupt file.

* * *

><p>They were in the Velvet Room, so it was impossible to tell how much time had gone by. No amount of hitting the wall would make it shatter, but the ripples seemed to be getting bigger and bigger every time. The Fools tried to reach each other in those moments of weakness.<p>

Time kept passing. Probably. They only realized this when Minato suddenly disappeared.

"What—"

* * *

><p>Hamuko coughed strongly as she felt a sting of pain in her chest. She half opened her eyes. …Too dark to see a thing. She wasn't in her bed.<p>

The dark mass in front of her moved, letting her fall softly against a comfy seat. A sofa. Was she being… hugged?

"You. Are. Fucking. Retarded." That voice… wasn't directed at her.

"How could I… have known?" That was Minato. Definitely.

"You run out of pills, you ask me for more!" Shinji.

"You didn't even tell me… how many we were supposed to take."

"Well shit. You take two a day to keep 'kay. You take them without alcohol to keep ALIVE." Whoa, they were yelling so much… "And you! You don't fucking take pills in doses of three and then have nothing the following day. It's fucking common sense, but you clowns ain't got that."

"The pills damaged their health?" Aigis. Hugging Minato. Wait, were they really being hugged?

A little thread of a red liquid rolling down her forehead told Hamuko that that might not quite be it. She tried to stand up while Shinjiro wiped off the blood on her face with the sleeve of his coat.

"Don't move." Why was Shinjiro saying that in such a scary way?

Hamuko tried to push him away. She noticed her hands as she did so. They were covered of something red, and they kind of hurt as well.

As her mind became clearer, she finally got a better hold of the situation. Shinjiro was pressing her against the sofa, not letting her move on purpose. She could only catch glimpses of Minato since he was being held down by Aigis, but she didn't miss his bloodstained shirt and hands.

"WHAT THE—"

Shinjiro didn't let her scream that. "Everyone's sleeping." He announced with a frown.

"Mh! Hmph!" Hamuko tried to yell, completely distressed, but Shinji seemed oddly calm about it.

"What's wrong now?"

"HNNN!" She nuzzled his hand trying to point to Minato.

"Oh." He loosened his grip on her. "No, it's not what you think."

"…?"

"Your dear robot threw a bucket of water on you when ya were out of it."

"I was in distress." Aigis explained. Oh… so they weren't bleeding to death… just, covered in blood. Auuugh.

"I arrived five minutes ago from work. If I hadn't done showed up she'd probably have ended up shooting at you or somethin' to make you wake up." Shinji growled.

"I would not have done such a thing. Their safety is my highest priority!" The blonde repeated for the bajillionth time since they knew her.

"Feoooow…" Hamuko sighed as she slipped down the sofa, searching a more comfortable position. This made Shinjiro move with her, so it didn't help. "I thought for a second that I had done that to Minato."

"Not that you didn't try."

"E-eh?"

Shinji explained everything rather quickly, as Minato already seemed to know what he was telling. He'd found them half dead when he arrived to the dorm, so he checked Minato's pockets to see if he had any Suppressants, and seeing that he didn't– whereas he had earlier in the evening, when he dropped by Escapade with Junpei- he force-fed him a pill. Seeing the results prompted him to do the same with Hamuko.

"Shinjiro-san was very d—"

"Honestly, how weak are you two? Anyone would be fine without having them for a day or two!" He yelled at them again. "And when you two wake up, you batshit nutjobs, the first thing you do is beat the crap out of each other! And then you faint again!"

"What…? But… but we weren't…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Not your fault and shit. I've given the blue head a new bag, so it'd better not happen again. Now, go to bed, or Kirijo will get mad with all of us. GO." As he said this, he began pushing Hamuko ahead, not letting her even check on Minato.

…What the hell?

* * *

><p>Hamuko couldn't sleep well. She spent the whole night feeling that she had forgotten something. She was probably still a bit put off after the previous day.<p>

So having sex with Minato hadn't changed anything after all, nor it was what made her feel different… That was pretty disappointing, considering that they'd known each other for five months. Nothing was mended, nothing was lost, if they ever felt like doing it again they could just do it. Nothing had changed. If only she'd known that 'love' had absolutely nothing to do with intimacy before...

* * *

><p>"Let's see… it's Monday… and vacations… and I'm bored and…"<p>

"Hey."

Hamuko looked up when she felt a hand on her head. It was Shinjiro's. "Oh hi, Shinpai." She rubbed the top of her head against his palm, seeing that he had no intentions of patting her.

He pressed his lips until they formed a line. "Who are you, Koro?"

"Who are you, Minato?"

Shinji moved his hand away. He probably hadn't liked that answer.

"I…"

"Let's go." He grabbed her hand and began walking towards the door.

"H-huh? Where are we going, Shinpai?"

"Dunno. You owe me a date."

"…" Hamuko's eyes lit up, as a big smile began forming on her face. "Let's go!"

They took the monorail to Port Island Station, and Hamuko led the way to the cinema, holding Shinjiro's hand all the time. He didn't seem to appreciate that.

* * *

><p>"…Repeat."<p>

"Are you deaf? We're watching the film festival!" She reinforced her statement with a stomp.

Shinjiro looked at her. Then at the ticket she had bought for him. "Films with cut—" He coughed. "Little weird animals?"

'The film doesn't matter, Shinpai', she wanted to say. She'd… told that to Minato not too long before. What was this feeling? "Err… don't look too much into it. You're the one who wanted a date, so if the films suck, it's your fault."

Shinji was bored out of his mind. He had his beanie over his face and was almost asleep if he wasn't already so. The film? Just another of those comedies with cute creatures that suddenly turn into dark deep dramas with even a little puppy drowning. It was disturbing.

* * *

><p>They finally got out of the cinema. Shinjiro's eyes were red and swollen, and he kept glancing down for some reason. Maybe the light of the projector hurt his eyes. "I-it was really boring, hey?" He asked.<p>

"Yeah, I guess."

"W-what a dumb date…" Whoa, he really sounded affected.

"I'm really sorry. I thought…"

"See, clown? There's nothing fun 'bout hanging out with me. It's a waste of time. Lesson learned. Let's never—"

"I like going out with you." Hamuko muttered, holding his big warm hand tightly. "You put up with me. You don't care that we are monsters." Monsters. Did that still apply to Minato and her? They'd finally… What was that feeling, again? "Thanks for putting up with me, Senpai. But, why do you…?"

Shinjiro just stared at her intently. He wanted to say something. He opened his mouth. 'Because you look like Miki', she feared he would say. 'Because you're pitiful like that'. His cheeks suddenly went red as he turned his face away. "I-it's not like I cared 'bout you or anythin'."

A silence, thick like Junpei's skull, ensued. An insurmountable silence.

"Can I call you…" Hamuko stood on the ball of her feet and tilted her head towards the older boy. "…Tsunpai?"

Shinjiro suddenly tripped. He got up quickly and clenched his fists. "That's not even close to my name!"

"…Shindere!" She ran away.

"Stop disgracing my name, you dipshit!" He yelled as he chased after her.

"You'll have to catch me first, Tsundere-san!" She laughed loudly as she ran in circles around the plaza of Port Island Station. "Hey, Tsun-san, are you really that…"

Hamuko slowed down to a halt, seeing that Shinjiro wasn't running after her anymore. He was on the ground, holding his weight with one hand while the other clutched his coat. He was coughing, as usual.

The brunette sat on her knees and wrapped her arms as well as she could around his shoulders, waiting until he could breath normally again.

"I really… shouldn't have asked you to..." That's all he managed to mutter before blood began coming out of his mouth.

"SENPAI!"

He brought a handkerchief quickly out of his pocket, making something fall to the ground at the same time. He extended his arms and propped himself on one knee as he tried to sit up. "I'm sorry you had to watch that." He said with a bitter smile. His teeth and lips were red with blood. "Shouldn't have invited you. After all, soon I'm gonna…"

"You're gonna get better, right? You just got your Suppressants mixed with a cold or something! You're gonna get well soon, right? …Right?" Hamuko was about to begin crying.

"We're… both wasting time dumbly. You should go have fun with someone else."

"I-I've already told you that I like being with you, Senpai!" The brunette held back her tears the best she could as she embraced him strongly. He hadn't answered her question. "I really like you! I wanna be with you all the time!" Yet the previous day, she'd… "So please, don't…"

"…If you're happy with me, then… I guess we can stay like this a bit longer…"

Remorse. That was probably the name.

"What an idiot." Despite his words, there was a smile on Shinjiro's face. "You're just as stubborn as…" He was interrupted again by a cough attack.

Once he got better, he got up and dusted his coat and his trousers. He didn't say anything, only motioned Hamuko to let him go. He crouched down once again, to pick something which had fallen. It was his pocket watch.

The glass cover seemed to have shattered a bit more, but the watch kept working. The hands seemed to twitch a bit every time they moved, though.

"Tough moron." He growled at the watch. "…You just won't give up, will you?"

"Senpai…?"

Shinjiro looked at her with an expression she couldn't quite determine. Sad? Lonely? He was easier to read than Minato, but his range of expressions only went from angry to mad. "I made a promise 'bout this watch. It'll never stop haunting me 'til it's finally so cracked and old that it breaks down."

"Haunting you…? I-is that watch cursed?"

Hamuko probably sounded too naïve with that question, but it brought a smile to his face for some reason. "It's a memento. Of several people." As he said this, he caressed the burnt red string attached to the watch with his thumb.

"A memento…?"

"It's kinda like an expensive memo pad. I hate people who need those. And I hate remembering people who left me. But… I don't hate this watch. I'd never do that." He was shrugging as he spoke, but his eyes, always hid by the shadow of his wool hat, were certainly telling a different story. "C'mon, we gotta go back now. Medicine time."

Hamuko held his hand as they walked towards the train platform.

"Will you leave me alone?"

Shinjiro stopped, but he didn't respond. He hesitated a moment before silently shaking his head, and then he kept walking ahead without even looking at her.

Hamuko let a little smile grow on her face, for she wouldn't allow herself to begin crying nor let a stupid card with a picture of the Moon distract her.

"…I will definitely stay by your side, then."

Minato had told Hamuko that she had no idea whatsoever of what love was. That even when they were together, she was just incapable to tell the difference by herself.

Maybe he was wrong after all.

_Maybe_.

* * *

><p>"Sorry 'bout yesterday, kid."<p>

Minato hadn't done much in the whole day. Aigis was making sure that he really was fine, and his friends didn't seem to like hanging out during vacations. That was alright, though. It'd given him time to think about things. Such as… why had he taken that pill even though he was pretty sure that they did nothing. Was he trying to prove an idea? Knock himself out? It probably was the former. No, it WAS the former. He'd got an idea. If Minato hadn't been able to sleep he'd taken some painkillers like normal people. Then again, he hadn't observed the fact that he was drunk. So maybe he would have to get drunk again to understand his logic.

"I'm sober today."

The old man was sober and Minato was hammered. This had to be a paradox of sorts.

"'Sh 'kay, Mutatsu-san." Minato slurred. "You were sad about your family 'n' stuff. It'sh cool with me. I've got all the time I neeeeed."

"Tsk, students. You kinda remind me of myself. Thinkin' that being a monk was easy… hah!" Mutatsu laughed so loud that he was giving Minato a headache. "Ah, kid, you've got so much to learn… just like me. You could learn a pair of things from me, though. For example, drinking at this age means you'll need some kid to remind you to go back to your home, HAH!" He cackled again. "What would I do without you, Minami?"

"Minami? Name'sh Minato Shirogane. Or Kitaro Arisato. Or wait, no, did I get that right? I'm not too sure now..." The bluenet yawned. "Sho, I dunno. Look for your family?"

"Look for my family…? Hah, kid, what are you…?" The monk fell silent. His cheeks trembled as he moved his lips around, apparently deep in thought. He looked like a bald bulldog. "Y'know, we never filed divorce, and we could all live in the temple. Hell, it's a pretty good idea. All I have to do is hire a detective so he finds them!"

"Detectives aren't cheap you know."

"I don't care how expensive it'll be! I'm gonna find them! I'm gonna find them and ask them to become a family again!" Mutatsu sounded really excited as he motivated himself. "I won't have to depend on a punk like you ever again!"

"Said the alcoholic, s-saggy-cheeked, unbelieving monk."

The monk didn't seem to mind this. He only joined Minato's laughter as the Tower Social Link reached level 9. "You really are something, kid. Makin' me throw my life and my money away like that…"

"I've got that effect on people." He laughed as they both got up from the leather sofa of the VIP zone.

"Well then. I'll call a detective first thing tomorrow. Guess this is a goodbye, kid."

"Let's hope it isn't." Minato smiled smugly while the old monk just shook his head mumbling something.

"Say bye to your girlfriend too." And with that he walked away. Welp, Minato was probably better off going to bed as well. And speaking of saying hi to Hamuko, he hadn't seen her in the whole day…

* * *

><p>Minato would never get used to being woken up by Elizabeth only to be informed about some person gone missing in Tartarus. Fortunately, he could hang up before she got to mention how much she'd like to hang out with him and Theodore again. It would have been too awkward. Time for a pill.<p>

* * *

><p>"Oh my God! It looks SO awesome! It seems to have come out of a photo!"<p>

"…It's just a pancake, you idiot."

Shinji and Hamuko being so happy in the kitchen… huh.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so glad that you're cooking for me…"

"Wha—wasn't this the breakfast for the whole dorm?"

"Um, Shinjiro-senpai, rationing works a bit differently for Minato-kun and Hamuko-chan." They even had Fuuka…

"A lot of energy is required to resist the difficulties brought about by such a high position as theirs." Even Aigis…?

"I'm such a busy person." Hamuko complained, patting her shoulder.

"…You're obviously not."

What a lively scene. "Hey, mind if I join you?"

Minato didn't even get to step into the kitchen. "We're full", Shinjiro had told him before pushing him out.

"I… see. I guess I'll go have breakfast elsewhere, then…"

Just then, he felt something nuzzling the back of his left leg. It was Koromaru, carrying his leash in his mouth.

"Or I can give him a walk or something…"

The bluenet couldn't know if Hamuko had even turned around to look at him –which would be a predictable reaction to his accepting to give Koromaru a walk- blocked by the taller boy as he was. He could only hear her merry 'have fun' as he walked away.

* * *

><p>"Woof, woof."<p>

"…"

"Arf!"

"…"

"Grrr."

"…" Minato let out a heavy sigh as the grey haired Shiba scratched his legs. "I'm not crazy enough to talk to you yet."

"Woof?"

"Yeah, I know that Aigis and Hamuko do it constantly, but they're out of the question."

"…" The dog nuzzled his leg.

"Come on, it's not like you ever liked me to begin with. You obviously love Senpai too." The boy extended his arms to pick Koromaru up from the sand of the playground. "Why are you trying to cheer me up?"

Koro began licking his nose, prompting a laugh from Minato.

"…Yeah. I guess she did the same to both of us. She rarely thinks about what she does. And that means she won't think of me, you know?" The bluenet looked up, his sight lost in the sky. "…Forget it." He sighed. "So, you want a truce so we both can have fun together?"

They grey dog tilted his head to the left side. "Arf?"

"…Me too. You're great conversation, even if I'm making up all you say."

"Woof!" He wagged his tail happily. Perhaps he was amused by Minato's desperate monologue.

"I think I can see why Hamuko used to get sad about things changing." The bluenet mused aloud as he brought out his mobile phone to kill some time while the dog frolicked around. Minato had never liked doing things like taking photos. That's why the last image he had with her was from August, and it featured her resting her head on his shoulder while they smiled at each other. If he remembered correctly, they were holding hands too, but the picture wasn't big enough to show that.

Minato truly enjoyed their time together. 'Just looking for a solution'? 'No hard feelings'? Really? He'd always thought he was the detached one, but being pushed away like that, due to her not wanting to hurt him, really hurt. It hurt a lot. With all that promising that he would never leave her alone, who would have thought that she'd be the one ignoring him?

Would things have been different if he hadn't come back? She would have felt alone. He would have felt horrible about not being able to do anything to help, but perhaps, she wouldn't have had to go though the same as him. Hamuko found Shinji, hadn't she? She'd been obviously attracted to him even before she and Minato gave the following step. It would have probably ended the same way, regardless of his being there or not. Or maybe both would have actually broke down. Who knew…?

"…_Shirogane Estate." _He knew. If there was anyone who could know, that was him. Why he was answering Naoto's mobile phone, he did not know. _"How can I help you, my boy?"_

"_How much do you know about me, Johei-san?"_

"_Why do you want to know?"_

"_Yesterday was Respect for the Aged day. Or something. Alright, I'm feeling lonely." _

"_Well, I am positive that there are lines specialized in making you feel—" _

"_Grandfather." _Minato felt a bit awkward calling him that, but it made the old man stop talking.

Johei hesitated a moment._ "…I know everything about you, as you know."_

"_**Everything?**"_

"_I know about that as well, yes."_

They needn't specify. Minato wouldn't dare ask how he knew. He sincerely wouldn't be surprised if the detective had the capability to wander around in the Dark Hour.

"_Do you have any idea of why that happens to us?"_

"_I do." _A simple, yet soul-shattering answer.

"_Will you tell me?"_

"_How much do you know?"_

"_I don't know what caused it, I don't know how to fight it, Igor only told me that I had to pay attention to some feeding, adapting, reproducing nonsense if I wanted Hamuko and me to get rid of it!"_

"_And this… Igor told you that…" _He let out a 'hmph'._ "So?"_

"_So."_

"_So?"_

"_Didn't you already know everything about me?"_

"_Why, yes."_

"_Will you really make me tell you that?"_

"_Tell me what, young boy?"_

"_You know it perfectly!"_

"_I know many things. You will have to specify."_

"_Why you…" _Minato gritted his teeth together._ "…I'M NOT GONNA TALK WITH MY GRANDFATHER ABOUT THAT!"_

"_Control your volume, young man. I am not hard of ear." _There was a tapping sound in the other end of the line. _"So if my guess is correct, you tried to go for the easiest of those three tasks."_

"…_I guess?"_

"…_I do not believe that was supposed to happen already." _Johei sounded even more thoughtful than usual. "So?"

"_I did something stupid hours later and I don't remember much more. My Senpai told me that we tried to fight, but I don't remember that."_

Silence. Complete silence at the other end._ "I do not approve of that kind of lewd behavior before marriage."_

"_Eh?"_

"_As a great man said once, 'no matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens.'"_

"…_Eh?"_

"_My boy, you are certainly stupid." _

"…_Can I talk to Naoto-kun, please?"_

"_Naoto-kun is busy making her suitcase. She received a rather well-paid offer early this morning."_

"_I see." _Minato sighed._ "Don't you have to pack too?"_

"_What a subtle way to ask for the end of this conversation." _He snorted._ "No, Naoto-kun will be traveling with Yakushiji-san this time."_

"_Oh."_

"'_Oh' indeed." _He echoed in a mocking way._ "Do you have any further business with me, other than being a hassle who thinks I am his wildcard, Minato-san?" _

"_You still haven't answered—" _

Beep beep beep. The phone call ended.

"Woof?"

"…Adults are useless, Koro-chan."

* * *

><p>Minato came back to the dorm way too late for breakfast. Once he got tired of mulling over Johei's senseless words and masticating cold pancakes, he decided it was time to go to Tartarus, to save the aforementioned missing people... or better yet, they'd do that the following day, he really wasn't in the mood to smash things.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>I hate ending chapters in cliffhangers, because that means I have to fit in three days in the following chapter which happened in this one. Tropes tropes tropes? ;w;<strong>


	72. Vescor

**Author note: sorry for being late(r than) as usual. I had a big cold thanks to my new boyfriend :I I should follow the advices my fic gives and not make out with sick people.**

**The more days going by the more I wish November arrives for some happy fun times and not sad depressing stuff. Until then, my Beta Reader told me the most interesting description of my portrayals of the characters I've ever heard: "they're really bad people who try to be good but /censored for spoilers/" **

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and for a segment of the battle scene. Try to tell which :B **

**You're in for a chapter with some SQUICK, which could make me rise the fic rating to M. If you guys consider it necessary. You have been warned.**

* * *

><p>"MIKI! MIKIII!"<p>

The young silver head can no longer recognize his voice, progressively silenced by the heavy presence of smoke.

The fire started with a big 'boom' somewhere nearby. Then there was a flash and the whole area was immolated. It was almost midnight, so, of course, most of the children were outside their beds, giving a headache to the older orphans supposed to care for them in the rooms. Aragaki (Gaki as the older ones called him, because he had a really cool watch) Shinjiro and he, of course, weren't an exception, but Akihiko had specifically forbade Miki from doing anything like that; she needed a lot of sleep to grow healthy and forget hunger after whole days eating the poor meals the cooks gave them.

"MIKI!"

Shinji was jumping flaming debris with him, trying to reach the top of the building, where the rooms were located. They found many children in the way, but if they stopped to help them, Aki and Gaki may not arrive on time to save her.

"AAAAH!"

There was a thump suddenly. Aki's vision was really blurry, but he could see someone flailing his arms and legs quickly with something burning atop him.

"GAKI!"

"R-RUN!"

Aki couldn't leave the other child like that, but if he stopped he wouldn't reach the girls' room in time! But.. but he was…

Aki could hear Miki's friend crying in agony as the burning girder carbonized his chest. Then he knew what to do.

"RAAAH!" He yelled and yelled as his hands got burnt as soon as they came in contact with the wood crushing the brunette. He tried to pull it up, but he achieved nothing but bring tears to his eyes as the pain became something so unbearable that Aki never thought such a thing could exist.

"SAVE HER!" Gaki insisted as his hand reached up to punch him, although it didn't connect. The flames were being slowed down by his thick clothes, but it wouldn't last long.

Weak. Fishbone. Aki had been mocked of his lack of strength since he and Miki arrived to the orphanage. They were all right. He couldn't do anything to save Aragaki. But, he couldn't…

Aki kept running upstairs, his hands stinging even worse than his eyes and lungs. The ground cracked under his feet, and embers fell from the ceiling as it began to collapse. But… he had arrived. There it was. The girls' room.

"MIKI! MIKIIII!" He called, unable to bring himself to open the door. "MIKI!"

No answer. There was no answer. "MIKIIII!" He insisted, banging the door once before yelling in pain and retreating. Akihiko kept calling out for her incessantly. He would never leave his sister. He promised he wouldn't leave her…

He knows this scene.

"He didn't leave her…"

The dream is coming to an end.

"…Until his last breath."

* * *

><p>Akihiko doesn't yell any longer when he woke up from his nightmares. They have been on repeat in his mind for too much time. That doesn't mean that he won't keep on waking up completely drenched in sweat, though, as if relieving the fire once and again.<p>

As usual, it's barely dawn, but that's okay. The boxer had learned to live with it long ago. Nowadays, nightmares only work as an alarm clock and an excellent reminder of why he gets up at 5 am every morning to run ten laps around the city.

Aki usually comes back at half past seven, barely tired at all. He's been thinking about increasing the amount of laps to twenty, but then he wouldn't arrive to school on time. Since he is still on vacations, he could actually run thirty laps this time and collapse as soon as he opened the door to the dorm. He needs some protein shakes.

After a quick breakfast, his watch beeps to signal that it's time to unlock the female leader's door… except, he doesn't lock it to begin with. In fact, he doesn't even bother knocking the door to wake her up anymore. She'll go downstairs whenever she feels like it, because it's painfully obvious that she's incapable- no matter what Mitsuru says- to do any such thing as what she was blamed for. It was that bastard. It was always that bastard's fault.

Sure, now Minato is playing innocent, remaining in his goddamn room until Aigis locks and unlocks it and all, but Akihiko isn't buying that twice. Thrice. His sister was just too kind and scared to tell the truth in Shirakawa and the Festival. Everyone had bought their lies then, but not him. And now they seem to be forgetting again! To think that even Shinji now talks to them both just like that… tsk.

Well, at least she will be safe as long as Shinji is with her. Aki doesn't have to worry about Shinji taking advantage of her; he knows that his sister is off limits and that Akihiko won't shy away from beating up someone bigger than him… ill and walking straight towards a young death or not. Damn it…! Now the silver head feels like running out again and punching something. Although, he can also do that to the punching bags of his room, so that's where he heads instead.

As he heads towards the stairs, Akihiko notices some rustling sounds coming from the kitchen. He takes a peek to see the aforementioned brunette looking for some cooking utensil while swearing in a low voice. Damn, where the hell had she learned that from?

Musing important matters as he was, he doesn't immediately notice her delving deeper into the cupboard, her backside rising in the air, making her checked skirt move to a side enough to let him s—

THUMP. The girl startles, hits the top of her head against the ceiling of the cupboard and springs out of it after hearing the loud noise that makes Aki's head when meeting the wall. How could he be thinking of her in such a way? That's awful! Argh, he spends too much time with Junpei!

"Hey, Senpai…" She mutters, giving him a weird look while rubbing her hair where she hit herself. That's the most she has interacted with him in quite a while, since… their little argument, right before the incident. She'd gotten so stupidly angry that he hadn't pressed the matter at all afterward, focused on letting her and Shinji get their friendship back- or… becoming friends with him for the first time- and protecting her. Making up for his previous lack of strength. He'll defeat his nightmares.

"That looked like it hurt." She states, now standing up. "Are you okay?"

She didn't notice that he was looking at her butt. Phew… w-wait no, no 'phew'. He's not supposed to think that way of his sister. Damn hormones. Damn Junpei again. Then again, sometimes it is easy to get his thoughts confused; she never was that curvy as a child. Well, he was rather surprised of seeing how c-cute Miki was when she finally got to take her bandages out after arriving to the orphanage, b-but he was a child and that wasn't-

The girl's staring at him intently. He hasn't responded yet. "I'm fine." It's true. That didn't hurt compared to the blows he received when boxing. She doesn't seem too convinced. "What were you looking for?"

She poorly hides a frying pan with her body. "Nothing."

"That doesn't look like nothing." Aki pointed at the item behind her back. "Are you cooking breakfast for us again?"

"That's not..." She shifts the weight between her legs. Is she getting ready to run?

"Oh, can we have pancakes again? I loved the ones from yesterday. Shinji helped you, right?"

"I-I…" She's trying to breath deeply and slowly now, but it's not going well.

"Yeah, you probably shouldn't do this alone. You could get burnt or something, and you'll probably make a mess too with the flour. Here, I'll give you a hand!"

"Screw this!" She stomps and storms off the kitchen, looking furious.

"Hey wait!"

…As it seems, things haven't changed a single bit. She's still just as stubborn as before. Aki was sure that if she became friends with Shinji…

"You scared her, huh?" Speaking of the devil. "You're only gonna manage to make her hate you like that."

"If that means she'll recover her memory, I'm fine with it." 'The end justifies the means', was it?

"…You still with that? Why don't you just… try to be her friend or something? You'd be better and that than me." Shinji sighs. "By the way, she was gonna make breakfast for me. _Thanks_, Aki."

"…" Making him breakfast? Why? Where they such good friends already? "I'm going back to my room. Gotta keep training." He still needed to protect her in Tartarus and from…

"Good morning."

Akihiko turns to look at Minato after his greeting. So does Shinji, but the latter walks off whereas the first simply turns his head away from him.

"Warm as usual…"

Aki doesn't bother answering. He has to go punch some things now, or Mitsuru will have him apologizing for days.

* * *

><p>Punch. Whack. Smash. Hitting the punch bag is rather relaxing.<p>

Someone begins knocking on the door suddenly. It's a quick sound, which indicates the other person is nervous. And the door opens to reveal no one other than… her.

"H-hey."

No sooner she says this, she pushes a book into his hands.

"Shin…jiro-senpai told me that you were trying to be nice so I thought that I might have to maybekindasometimes apologize. So I brought you this."

Aki looks down at the book. "…Keigo for Dummies?"

She takes a moment to compose her thoughts, before blushing deeply and snatching the book from him. A couple of minutes later, she is back at his door holding a different book.

"One Hundred Useful Techniques to Socialize."

"I used to read it a lot back when I was a child." She rubs the back of her head as she speaks, smiling coyly all the while. Akihiko knows that. The Miki he knew was unable to talk to strangers. "I think it kinda helped set the bases until Minato taught me how to deal with people a bit better. I mean, I remember you telling me that you were a bit awkward at this kind of things, so I guess it's okay for you to have it."

"Thanks." He nods curtly.

"…" She smiles, showing that overbite of hers– one of the first things to arouse his suspicions, right after the red eyes. "Well then, you can keep on training."

She bows and runs towards Shinji, who is waiting by his door. Aki discreetly observes until both head downstairs.

…Aki won't fall so low as to read that kind of book, but it was a nice present. Now, back to punching things.

* * *

><p>"The exams will take place soon, have you been up to date with studying?" That's all Mitsuru asks about.<p>

"I'm busy with training. I'll study later." He answers calmly, slumping on the sofa after a tiring day working out– punching books too. "I need it to keep fit. Wouldn't want to repeat what happened in April, right?"

"If you don't take care of your studying habits, your brain will decay like your muscles. Study." The red head gives a single, haughty snort and then sneers at him. How she manages he will never know, but she looks majestic ordering people around.

"So has Amada said anything out of the ordinary lately?"

Akihiko gives her a headshake in response. "He talks about his mum sometimes, but he seems to be keeping a distance from everyone."

"Seikatsu seems to maintain an awfully close relationship with both him and Shinjiro. Do you believe she knows anything?" She says as subtly as she can, nodding his head slightly toward the aforementioned teens. They're having lunch together. Mitsuru can't understand why that'd happen, of course…

* * *

><p>The day advances slowly while S.E.E.S. watches TV together, save for Yukari, Fuuka and the bastard, who are nowhere to be seen. Akihiko is being passively-aggressively forced to read the second-hand book he was given, so he can't pay attention either.<p>

The blue head comes back at some point in the evening. He begins talking to Ken about hanging out with, if he heard well, Mamoru Hayase (an old acquaintance of his, they used to run together a lot as children, since he lived near the orphanage) and saying something about admiring how he was such a good athlete despite having to care for his family and lacking a father. Ken seems impressed too.

That's actually nothing new; the only person around who seems to have both parents back at home is Fuuka, and she never talks about them. Sometimes he can't help but think that it's extremely convenient that they all are orphans in some way or another, so no one will get in the way when fighting dangerous monsters every night. Then again, instead of wondering about conspiracy theories, Aki is happy with just being allowed to fight. He barely remembered his parents at all; his most vivid memories start with the orphanage… much to his chagrin.

For some reason, since Minato arrived, Shinji has gotten awfully close to their leader. It's like Shinji doesn't want him to look at her. …He knows the feeling.

* * *

><p>Minato has organized a trip to Tartarus, saying something about suspecting there was people roaming there again. But, how could a Persona tell them if the leaders haven't been alone in a room (the implications behind that phrase are something Aki doesn't want to know) in quite a while?<p>

* * *

><p>Tartarus. The leader for the night, Shinji, Koromaru and Junpei are gone. A team with weapons which could be good to disperse masses of shadows without needing to stop, as they were only there to explore, and a dog to track and bring people back safely. No healer, but they have enough people to go around safely. Namely Shinjiro and Koromaru.<p>

The other members are idle, killing time the best they can. Ken and Yukari are chatting, Mitsuru is observing how Fuuka works with her Persona, and the other guy is zoned out near the stairs as it isn't his turn to lead.

He looks sometimes in Aki's direction, having the usual inexpressive look in his face, except a bit sleepier. What, is he making eyes at him or something?

They keep staring at each other for a while. It's enervating. Akihiko just wants to get up and punch him, but Mitsuru will execute him if he does. So he's just there, eying Minato threateningly. It's a good way of passing time and to bottle up frustration which he will steam teaching the punching bag who's boss. …That made him sound more aggressive than he really is. It's all that damn tension filling the air.

The Dark Hour passes slowly as usual. Akihiko and Minato dropped their staring contest as soon as Yukari raised a silent objection to it by simply joining it. It probably looked infuriatingly homoerotic from afar. Damn depraved emo thing.

* * *

><p>"<em>HOLY SHIT, WHAT'S THAT THING<em>?"

Junpei's shocked voice resonates through the first floor. It's followed by a few barks and…

"_**RUN**__!_"

Fuuka desperately tries to contact with them, but all that's heard through Mitsuru's amplifying device are pants and diverse epithets which make Yukari discreetly move Ken a few meters away.

"I sense Death!" Fuuka finally manages to say, only receiving gulping and panting in response from the group. She's way too late for that, as they have already contacted The Reaper.

"_**What?**_" Minato suddenly jumps to his feet, grabbing the katana laying next to him at the same time.

Aki remembers that encounter perfectly. They'd run, and run, and then it managed to knock him out, so that was all he knew. The leaders fortunately managed to escape, injured, but alive.

"_Guys, go take him back! I'll distract The Reaper_!"

"_Like hell—_"

"_I have already done this once!_" She speaks with her trademark suicidal overconfidence. "_It's an order_!"

There are no more words. Just a deep silence occasionally broken by a gunshot... and eventually a cry of pain.

"_Shinjiro-san_!"

They don't get any further notice from him until Koromaru suddenly materializes through the teleporter, closely followed by two other green lights- those of Junpei, carrying the missing man, and Shinji. The latter is gritting his teeth together and clutching his shoulder as strongly as he can to staunch the bleeding; he's not achieving much, so Mitsuru immediately offers her help.

"No!" Minato yells as she's about to summon her Persona. "If you cast a Dia spell the pain will subside, but the skin will grow above the bullet. He's lucky that it didn't hit anywhere more critical, but the bullet has probably damaged the joint, so don't make it any more difficult for the doctors to mend that bloody mess. Head to the hospital so you can enter as soon as the Dark Hour is over, otherwise he'll bleed to death! GO."

He seems to have made himself clear enough that neither Mitsuru nor Shinjiro will raise any objection. If Akihiko had to recognize something in the boy, this would be it: he has balls when it's necessary.

"…" He sits down again and observes Fuuka, whose expression is one of utter preoccupation. "Ask Hamuko where she is."

"_Hiding. Guys, I'd never realized this place is so fucking scary_." Mumbling to people kilometers below the floor where she was while being chased by Death… was just as frightening as it sounded. "_I haven't seen The Reaper in a while… maybe it's gotten tired and quit?_"

"Tell her to shut up and think things through. No one would give up on chasing the ones who stabbed them, much less a monster who got a katana sunk in its eye. The Reaper is probably up to something."

Fuuka transmits this information the best she can.

Bang. Bang. Boom. An explosion sound which brings Aki bad memories and makes everyone in the room flinch.

"Tell her to go straight to the teleporter."

A sharp gasp breaks Minato's concentration.

"_T-The teleporter is broken! IT WAS A T-_"

Bang.

"_Hamuko-chan! Hamuko! I've lost mental connection with her!_" Fuuka yells desperately.

Akihiko doesn't need to hear anything else. He runs to the teleporter, even knowing that he won't appear directly where she is.

Minato quickly runs past him and into the teleporter as well; Mitsuru's not here, so of course she can't tell him that it's forbidden. Aki can't either because he's unable to think right now.

* * *

><p>They don't share a word as they run past everything in their way from the 135th floor of Tziah to The Reaper. They merely slash and zap anything coming near them. It's an exhausting race, which both can only keep up because of their great training, but they eventually reach where Miki and the broken teleporter are.<p>

* * *

><p>Her shirt has been completely torn up by the pellets and the explosive force of the shot, so Minato doesn't shy away from sliding the few remains up to fully see her situation; neither does Aki. He's seen her naked, after all.<p>

There's a big, bloody hole a few inches below her heart. She's been shot at point blank, as the burnt skin around the shot proves. There's blood splattered everywhere nearby. Miki… is…

"No no no no no…" Akihiko backs away from the body. This is not happening. It's just a bad dream. It doesn't exist. No… no…"

Minato is sitting on his knees, embracing her body closely against his. But Aki doesn't care any more about that. He can feel the tears welling up in his eyes. No, this isn't… this can't…

The blue head isn't moving. He's just staring at her, at the wound in her body. He brings his right hand, which was resting on the ground, up, completely covered in blood- most likely from the dead girl, since the enormous bullet went right through her- and then sniffs it while bringing his tongue to his palm and licking it tentatively. He exhales slowly after this, with a nauseating tingle of pleasure.

"Feeding." He mutters darkly with a low voice which Akihiko had never heard before. "I understand."

Chains can be heard in the distance as Minato leaves her carefully on the ground, facing up.

"I am sorry."

Akihiko doesn't give credit to his eyes any more. Minato is licking the blood covering the girl's torso desperately. He wants to kill the boy. He would blow his head up, Reaper or not, but he can't find the strength to move.

The Reaper has finally arrived. There's a big slit on its eye which wasn't there when they first met it. It only makes it look all the more chilling, but no one cares. A sense of sadistic pleasure radiates from the monstrous Shadow as it reaches underneath the bandages covering its face, producing a tarnished silver coin from where its mouth should be.

Displaying the coin for all to see, the Reaper dragged one side of it through the spreading pool of Hamuko's blood, turning it to point the bloody side at Hamuko, then the clean at Minato. He flicked the coin high up in the air, snatching it as it descended.

Akihiko stood, transfixed by horror at the Reaper's sadism, and at Minato's complete lack of attention to the situation. The young leader remained glued to the mangled body of his sister. Perhaps it was his inattention that led to the outcome.

The Reaper opened his palm, displaying the unbloodied face of the silver coin. His other arm extended, revolver in hand, pointed directly at Minato. As he hears the click of the hammer of the gun being pulled, Minato separates his mouth from Miki's body.

He gets up slowly, blood dripping down his face and covering his clothes. He turns around and locks his eyes on the Reaper.

They're glowing a pale blue. Or perhaps Akihiko is imagining it.

Minato stands still, slightly slouching back, with his hands falling limply at his sides.

Then, he smiles at The Reaper.

The sound of bones, muscles and blood splattering everywhere is something Akihiko won't be able to take out of his mind if he gets out of this one, but Minato doesn't seem to care about having just lost a chunk of his left forearm. He just goes on walking, grinning at the Reaper all the while.

He's moving his mouth. For some reason, the monster is slowly floating back, while Minato just keeps on saying something with a happy look. He extends his arm at both sides of his body, as if gesturing the creature to shoot at him more.

His feet make splashing sounds as they stomp on the blood covering the room, partially his own, partially Miki's. Maybe it's not even blood, as every time that liquid coming out of his arm drips onto the one on the floor, it turns black. Like the ichor shadows leave behind.

The Reaper keeps moving back. Its hands and chains shudder as Minato suddenly stops moving. The ground is trembling for some reason. Mahamaon?

No. Just a spectral silence that finally allows Akihiko to hear the bluenet's words.

"_**Only I am allowed to kill her**_."

No sooner he says this, a black mass of some indefinable thing emerges from behind him. Akihiko has already seen this Persona before; it saved them once. Twice. And just like then, Minato looks positively radiant at his creation.

As the unfinished-looking creature wrestles The Reaper, Minato shuffles back to the dead girl.

He crouches down and mutters something in her ear, before stepping back. He clenches his head as another Persona manifests above him. A grey-faced, white-haired woman decorated in ornaments looking like commas. A radiant burst of healing light engulfs Hamuko, the edges of the wound beginning to writhe.

Chains rattle nervously, soon becoming nothing but an echo The Reaper runs away, shrieking, and the weird Persona which came to their aid melts again as mysteriously as it arrived.

Meanwhile, both Minato and Akihiko are staring silently at the girl.

After a few seconds, she coughs strongly and screams like she was being killed as the hole begins closing up, from the insides to the skin. It's every bit as awful as it sounds.

"Ah…" She… She's opened her eyes! Miki's alive! She…

Minato smiles warmly at her as she props herself up on her forearms. They share an intense look, needless of words. Is that the power of their feelings?

There was a chance that might have convinced Akihiko, but it didn't last more than a second.

Their gazes change, this time to pure lust, as the brunette bites and licks the visible bone of Minato's forearm while he kisses her neck gently and strokes her hair with his working arm. Aki has to cover his mouth not to begin throwing up at the sight. What… what the hell are they? What the fuck was that?

* * *

><p>Aigis finally arrives to their place, apparently having had a hard time avoiding The Reaper. She separates them without hesitation before they can hurt each other any more.<p>

It's only now that he can register Fuuka's voice somewhere in the corner of his mind. She was apparently trying to contact the leaders too, but for naught, as now they lay bloody and unconscious, but both with a sadistic smile plastered on their faces.

Aki is the one in charge of carrying both to the hospital, for he won't allow others to see Minato and Hamuko in that state; however, they all see them no matter his and Aigis's efforts. Those… those two…

Shinji was right all along. There is no way she can be his sister.

Miki was not a monster.

* * *

><p>Minato and Hamuko only became aware of their wounds when the Dark Hour ended. They both had to be strongly sedated in the hospital to stop their cries of agony, as the wounds they received shouldn't be survivable. They received continuous Dia treatment during the night, but it wouldn't cover up their newly acquired scars.<p>

* * *

><p>Hamuko had some problems registering what the hell was going on when she woke up in the hospital. She could remember having had to be healed, but…<p>

Images of the previous night filled her mind all of a sudden. She got up as quickly as she could and ran to the toilet of her hospital room, nausea overtaking her.

After getting rid of what once was her dinner and cleaning the mess the best she could, she let herself rest on the sink, in necessity of thinking things through. Minato… she…

She drank and spit as much water as she could, wishing for once in her life she had a toothbrush at hand. She'd bitten Minato's arm, and she could remember its flavor and how it felt, good God! Not only that, but having her stomach so revolted made her feel horribly weird, and the more she thought about it, the sicker she felt.

A high-pitched boy voice and knocking attracted her attention.

"Hamuko-san?" Ken asked through the door.

Hamuko smiled wryly to herself as she dragged her feet to the door. Nice timing, but, for a moment, she'd confused his voice with someone else's. What a weird moment to think of Pharos.

"H-Hamuko-san!" The boy bowed deeply while holding something up. It was a tray with food, which was awesome… except that she wasn't hungry at all.

"Morning, Ken." She motioned him to go into the hospital room, which he did reluctantly. "Shouldn't you be in school, young man?"

"Um, yes but… Mitsuru-san and the others haven't gone either, so I thought that it was okay to skip too, sorry…"

"Hey, don't worry. I'd never say no to having lunch with a handsome boy." Hamuko laughed as convincingly as she could. Doing so made her stomach hurt again, but she kept silent about it. "You didn't bring any food for yourself, did you? Let's share it."

Ken looked rather embarrassed about eating from the same dish as her, but Hamuko really needed the company.

"Have you visited the others?" A nod. "How are they doing?"

"Minato-san is still sleeping. The doctors put a thick bandage around his arm, so now it looks like one of Aigis's cannons! Err… sorry, I shouldn't be laughing about that." The young boy looked down. "I haven't looked for Shinjiro-san, sorry."

Ken had his food slowly and with a really troubled expression.

"What, you don't like hospital food?" Hamuko joked. She didn't need any more angst nearby right then. She had her troubles, but as a leader, one of her missions was to prevent that child from wallowing in self-pity because of his situation.

"No, it's… fine…" The boy looked even more depressed. "You… do you remember the manga series I told you about the other day? The one with the alien hero who fights bad guys?"

Hamuko couldn't remember much of anything right then. The only thing coming to her were those horrible memories of waking up when the flesh of her wound began growing to stitch it from inside.

Ken fortunately didn't wait for her to answer. "I threw them all away."

"Aww I… wanted to read them." She smiled sympathetically.

"No! Someone like you shouldn't…" He mumbled. "I really loved it when the bad guys died… it got me all excited…" That was an image Hamuko really needn't right then. "That can't be good…" He looked about to cry. "And then you all got hurt yesterday and… and… I felt…"

"H-hey, that's alright! We all love badass heroes kicking bad guys' asses! It's nothing to worry about, really!" Hamuko patted his head. "I've heard that action manga becomes less cool when you're an adult, so don't worry."

"T-that's not the problem. Fighting isn't good, but I…" He sniffed. "I do wish I was an adult…. Maybe I wouldn't feel this way if I change…"

That was how he really felt? Was the boy so freaking depressed?

"Why would you ever change? You're a really cute, mature and kind boy. You've already achieved more than I have. So don't ever change." She planted a little kiss on his cheek. "If you smiled and were a bit happier, though, I'd be totally asking you out now."

"H-Hamuko-san!" He was so flustered that Hamuko couldn't help but laugh. This would have definitely been a good way to forget about everything if it wasn't for that horrible feeling she got when receiving Justice Level 5. "I-I will change then!"

"Good. Try and see if you can change this hospital food into something less horrible, too…" Hamuko grinned warmly as the boy gave her a little embarrassed smile. There was suddenly a weird atmosphere between them. Had he just… said…?

The sound of someone knocking the door and then being opened changed everything.

"SHINJI!" Hamuko yelled as she got up from her bed, almost sending the tray flying, and jumped straight into his arms.

"Whoa there, careful with my shoulder!" He answered quickly as he spun her around a little not to receive the full tackle. "Shinji?"

"Err… sorry. Shinpai." She laughed, slightly bemused.

"Whatever. I'm here to tell you that Minato's awake now. Kirijo says that you two have to head straight for school." Shinjiro shook his head and sighed. "She and Aki want to talk to Minato and you when you're back, by the way. Did anything weird happen?"

"You'll… hafta ask them." She sighed. "Alright then… uh Ken—"

The boy was gone. Oh well.

* * *

><p>Minato was freed after days of hospital confinement. Or that's what his papers said.<p>

He arrived at school only in time to reach afternoon classes, and discovered they had been canceled to put down all the things belonging to the school festival he and Hamuko had missed. Apparently, he'd been assigned to the group tidying the laboratory, but they didn't let him participate because of his dysfunctional arm. Better for him, he could simply go home, or wander around to pander to the gods of madness and see if they could erase his memories.

"…Minato?" But that was not to be.

The blue head turned around. Hamuko. She'd probably managed to escape her group, or perhaps she was exempt of doing the dirty work because she belonged to the Student Council. Looking at her, Minato couldn't help but wonder about the scar below her shirt. She probably felt the same.

"Hey. I'm glad we found out what feeding meant." He informed her, without being asked. Cannibalism. A big source of power. That was one line Minato would not cross, as close as drinking blood was to that.

"…" Hamuko gave him a half nod. "Your arm…?"

"It's okay, don't worry. The doctor just thought I'd need an excuse for the enormous scar. You weren't the one to make that wound, if that's what you were thinking."

She backed away a bit. It was obvious that she was as terrified at the idea- and the plausibility of the scene- as him.

"'Feeding' is something way too sinister, and an experience I am not willing to repeat... good as it might have felt. So we're settling for 'reproduction' as the main focus of our research."

"That'd be fine with me, but..." Hamuko looked at Minato with an unreadable expression. She then lowered her head. "You were right, as always. I'm with Senpai, not you. It'll feel wrong if I do this behind his back."

"I... see?" Minato felt surprised and disappointed at first, but then he let a little smile grow on his face. He walked toward Hamuko and put his right hand on her head, patting it slowly. "I'm really proud of you."

"It's all thanks to you." She had a wide grin as she looked up to him. "I can't help you, but I'm counting on you to come up with something."

"Alright. Knock yourself out with pills if you feel like biting my arm again, until then."

"Will do!" She put her fists close to her chest and then raised them in the air. "Let's do our best!"

…Seeing her running down the corridor so pumped up made it a tad hard to believe that she had been brooding deeply merely thirty seconds prior. Either Minato made a great therapist or that was some serious bipolarity right there- had to be the latter, since there were no therapists as far as S.E.E.S. was concerned. In any case, her usual cheeriness was contagious; it was good to see that she had forgotten all about it and was back to her usual behavior.

"HUH? Saori-chan? What are you punks gossiping 'bout? Leave Saori-chan alone!" Punching noises. She was definitely back to being herself.

* * *

><p>"Oh, Minato-kun!" …Good God, was anyone in the school really helping with the festival decorations at all? Well, not that he'd complain about having to deal with Keisuke. "I'd heard you were hurt, are you okay?"<p>

Of course, Minato couldn't forget about things as easily as the brown haired birdbrain. He just had to be constantly reminded by everyone. "Just a fracture." More like his radius was turned into splinters and then rebuilt magically with a painful process throughout the night and the help of surgery and more magic and lots of morphine all the while. But, he probably shouldn't say that.

"Whoa, this looks so professional…" ...Whatever. "Well, it's been a while since we last talked! W-wait, didn't I have to tell you something…? Oh that's right! I won the contest! Did you know that I won the music contest? My piece was played by a professional and everything!" Euphoric wasn't enough to describe him. "And the best of all, I got a grant to study abroad!"

"Oh!" Oh. "Congratulations, Senpai. Does this mean your father will allow you to study music, then?"

His happy expression vanished. "…That's right, he PROMISED!"

Going home having to hear Keisuke ranting about how he'd make his father understand him was quite a truly mind-blowing experience. Arriving to the dorm and seeing that for once Aki wasn't turning his face at him, but flinching, was yet another. Seeing him do that to Hamuko too almost made his head explode like his forearm. ...Ugh, fuck.

* * *

><p>Fortunately for the Fools, there was no interrogation that night because, apparently, Hamuko had got in trouble with the teachers and Student Council for hijacking the broadcast system of the school with that Saori-chan girl (it wasn't difficult for Mitsuru to determine who was the bad influence) to defend her innocence about some of the latest gossips around, and the Chairman hadn't arrived yet. As usual, however, they were assured they weren't off the hook.<p>

* * *

><p>Writing a report for Miss Toriumi, being lectured and getting kicked out of the Student Council probably wasn't half as bad as having to endure a talk about the greatness of peeping toms as clients from the boss of a big fraud of a teleshopping company.<p>

* * *

><p>Minato had nightmares that night. Fortunately not about undressing filters for cameras.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Have you folks already noticed that this is NOT a happy fairytale, or will I have to hammer it more into your minds?<strong>

**They aren't vampires. Go away Magical Witch Detective fangirls.**

**My theory is that both Fools have short-term memory loss. Like Dory.**


	73. Raison d'être

**Author note: Sometimes switching POVs is good to now more about other characters, and sometimes it's good to know more about the main characters. Just a thought.**

**Guys you seriously make me angry. Wishing for Shinji to suffer whatever just because Hamu is happy with him? I believe you can see what's wrong with that statement without me pointing it out :I**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading, and to Grant and gadeel for expanding the TV Tropes article!**

* * *

><p>After the typhoon and the school festival, the lessons had finally returned to normal. Going back to the routine was something awful, but the first class they had on Friday was P.E. so it was not all bad.<p>

Yukari and Hamuko got to the gym rather late because the former insisted on staying outside school a bit longer to try to find out about the situation of the people affected by the Apathy Syndrome.

Hamuko and Yukari had been on relatively good terms for quite a while, but Hamuko has been acting rather weird for a few weeks. Any mention of this issue only made her shake her head and laugh cheerfully, but something was obviously wrong. For instance, as soon as she'd stepped into the lockers that day, she discreetly slid into the bathroom to change clothes, under the pretext that it was kinda cramped in there. Well, that was true, so Yukari didn't mention it.

Doing the warm up exercises with her as a partner was impossible, since she wouldn't take them seriously. So was running, as every time she had to run a bit faster than usual she'd begin whining about it. Of course, that wasn't so unusual, and the teacher scolded her for letting a bit of stomach pain stop her from doing exercises– and from helping everyone clean up the previous day, apparently. She might have spent the day in the hospital getting a check-up, but that was just lazy.

She refused to cooperate even in doing simple tasks such as throwing balls at each other, opting instead to act dumb and pretend she was a seal by hitting the balls with her head.

The teacher finally kicked her out of the lesson, ordering her to run ten laps around the track field once the others were gone. Hamuko shrugged it off and headed to the fence separating the baseball field from the track one instead, to watch the boys play. That unworried and… slutty behavior still annoyed Yukari, but now they were friends she wouldn't comment on it. Didn't Hamuko tell her life had been _soooo_ much worse? Pft, yeah right.

* * *

><p>Yukari was the last one to walk out of the showers, as usual, because she wasn't willing to shower with cold water, so she always ended up alone in the lockers. Not her fault, cold water is better for the skin, but that didn't mean…<p>

Apparently, she wasn't alone this time, though. "Hey, Hamu…" Yukari's words trailed off slowly, seeing that the auburn hared girl wasn't going to listen to her.

Hamuko was resting her hands on the sink, the expression on her face being probably the most emotionless Yukari had ever seen her; not sad, not angry, just neutral, maybe melancholic. Most definitely not embarrassed about only wearing some panties though, which Yukari didn't appreciate. She was staring glumly at her reflection on the mirror, blurred by the steam of the showers. What was in her mind?

Yukari gasped audibly as her eyes laid atop her figure. She knew that Hamuko was hurt in the battle against a monster they called The Reaper a few days ago, but she didn't know the full force of it. An ugly, puckered scar stood out against her otherwise smooth skin just below her breast, like she had been stabbed, or shot. In any case, no Dia spell could ever heal those scars, so there was no way she could ever wear a swimsuit or anything which let her back be seen with such a mark on her skin. Yukari would truly be affected by such a thing.

The moment she noticed her presence, Hamuko opened her mouth slightly in surprise. Immediately after, she changed her expression to a big smile and discreetly covered the scar in front with a hand. "Oh hey, Yukari!" She said with her ever annoying cheery voice. "What are you looking at? …Oh! Could it be you finally gave some thought to my… _proposition_?" She raised her eyebrows and smiled in satisfaction. "I'm sorry, but that'll have to wait, I'm already in—"

"T-That's not it!" With Hamuko, it was better to leave certain… matters clear. Seriously. It wouldn't be the first time she asked about going to her room, jokingly or else. "I was wondering about those scars…"

Hamuko opened her eyes, blinked and looked down. "Oh, **these**…" She sounded really surprised. Huh? Wasn't she thinking about them while looking at the mirror? "Well… you know what they say! Chicks dig scars! And it's true because I love them! And no, I'm not gonna let you heal these this time, no matter how much you ask for it!" The brunette began laughing merrily, in a rather convincing way. "Well then, I don't care about arriving late to class, but you probably do, so as good as seeing you in a towel is…!" She pushed Yukari to go away while she ran to get her own clothing, and pretended nothing had happened afterward.

…Genki girl, huh?

* * *

><p>The most popular and the most infamous brunettes of 2-F were having lunch together, although what the latter was doing was more like gobbling rice. Geez, was she afraid someone would steal it?<p>

"Greetings."

The robotic voice startled Yukari. Aigis's presence _**always**_ meant that Minato was near. Not this time, apparently.

"Oh, hey! Do you want some of Shinji's onigiri, Aigis?"

"Shinji?" Both girls turn to look at Hamuko, but for different reasons.

"Shinpai. Err, Shinji-senpai. Shinjiro-san?" Hamuko bit her knuckle while mumbling something. "…Onigiri, yes, no?"

"You ate it all, Hamuko." Yukari pointed out reproachfully.

"Well then, Aigis can probably steal some of Minato's food." She sentenced ceremoniously. "So where's he?"

"Minato-san has gone to the bathroom. He asked me to remind Hamuko-san that she needs to have her medicine as well."

"…Medicine?"

Hamuko quickly shook her hands in front of her face. "M-medicine? Aigis, probably misunderstood that! But I could really use some… crab bread! I'll be back in a minute!" With that, she grabbed her school blazer and ran out of the class.

"Perhaps 'crab bread' and 'medicine' are code names for ancient techniques."

Yukari decided to take Aigis's words with a grain of salt from that conclusion onwards.

Minato got into the class through the door which Hamuko hadn't used. He headed to his desk, holding his arm up like a cannon with the other because the bandages he was wearing were probably rather heavy. "Hrngh…" He grunted as he brought his chair out from the desk with only one hand, accidentally hitting his pencil case with the damaged one, throwing its contents all over the ground.

Yukari didn't mean to have any contact with the boy, but… whatever the situation it'd be rather uncool to ignore a guy trying to reach the pencils on the ground with a broken arm, so she crouched down to give him a hand.

"Huh? Oh Yukari-chan, it's okay, I can pick them up alone!" He put his left arm on the ground, only to realize he couldn't actually close his fingers around them with much dexterity. "I… guess I might need some help after all. Thanks."

"I can't let you do this alone… I'm the medic of the group after all, aren't I?" She obviously didn't mean those words, and she knew Minato knew it; however, he only gave her a heartfelt smile and yet another 'thanks'. Why was it that even knowing what kind of person he was, and how he'd dealt with her in the past… she still couldn't help her feelings towards him? "W-What for?"

"For being my friend. Thanks for caring for me."

Yukari couldn't fight back the blood rushing to her cheeks. "I-it's not like that, geez…" She'd heard different things around the dorm. They'd broken up, by- surprise- Aigis's words, they were 'closer than ever' by Junpei's, they hadn't been helping her cook as of late by Fuuka's… "You're a jerk. You're nice to me now, but all you wanna do is play with my feelings… as usual…" She snorted, shaking her head as she carefully dropped the pencils on his desk. "I bet you even let this fall on purpose so I would do this, because you know that… I… still..."

Minato looked downward, his eyes locked on the table. "Not too long ago, I probably would have done just that, if only to gain your favor." A bitter grin appeared on his face. "But I have changed. I'm not as I used to be, I'm a better person, yet no one appreciates that. Things went better for me when I simply thought of people as tools, you know?" He inhaled deeply. "I know I have hurt you many times, so, in case I ever fall into bad habits again, let me leave something clear: there are only two women in my heart. One is a child. The other acts like one. And perhaps the third is a robot."

Well, that was an interesting way of saying what she had known for months.

"So please, just be my friend. I'd really appreciate it if someone noticed my efforts. I want to be dependable too."

His friend, huh? …Funny. She'd been thinking about looking for a boyfriend, so, now she would have a boy-friend. Well, they all knew where the others were coming from, so maybe a good friendship would work. And furthermore, she knew what it was like to seek some sympathy…

"Minato-kun…" It'd be okay to rely on someone just for once. Loving him as a very special person, but nothing more. "…Alright, but you'll have to deal with my whining for being such a jerk in the past."

"Sounds about fair." He chuckled in a low voice as he closed his eyes and smiled with a triumphant expression.

"HSSSSSSS!" A sudden noise interrupted the conversation.

Both teens turned around to see Aigis holding Hamuko's hand. The brunette was hissing like a cat… for… some reason Yukari probably didn't want to know.

Minato stood up from his chair and glared at Hamuko. "Grrrr."

Aigis let go of Hamuko, and she just leaned over their table to keep hissing at Minato while he growled menacingly at her.

"What?" Yukari finally dared ask.

"Oh! Oh! That's a dog right? My turn! Try to guess what's this animal! Raaaawr!" And that was Junpei roaring.

"Hmmm…" Aigis tilted her head to the left. "Perhaps we are witnessing the ninja mating rituals. Truly a force of nature."

Whatever.

* * *

><p>Yukari spent the afternoon together with Fuuka and Minato (since Aigis had dragged Hamuko away claiming that she was breaking the sound pollution regulations of school with that hissing), pondering Minato's words about friends. Yes, she too wanted someone to be there for her when she needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to share a laugh with…<p>

She had a revelation while mustering courage to try the stew Fuuka had prepared. Yukari had actually found many people in the dorm, who shared her situation. Sure, they all came in different levels of craziness and not everyone could understand her, but she had made some good friends. Sure, she'd always had many friends, being popular and all, but not like these ones. Fuuka, Minato, Hamuko, Akihiko, Koromaru, Ken… Junpei… Aigis?... _Shinjiro_? …_**Mitsuru**_? Well, _most _of them were special for her. Wacky, good friends whom she loved and were there for her, not in the way she wanted, but they were there when she needed them nonetheless.

"So how's the smoked salmon?" …And, when she didn't need them too.

"_Just swallow, smile, and pray it'll be quick, Yukari-chan_." But that was what real friends were about, she guessed.

* * *

><p>That evening in the dorm…<p>

"Hey, Junpei." Yukari stopped him as he was walking towards the door. "Want me to go to the hospital to visit Chidori with you?"

"…" He gaped. "Yuka-tan, are you alright? ANSWER ME! WHERE'S THE BITCH I—"

Only a good friend or a smart boy could receive a face-breaking high kick like that and not complain afterward. So Stupei was an awesome friend.

* * *

><p>Saturday was a slow day as usual, even more since Hamuko was looking forward the end of the school day. She'd met up with Shinji to go to Paulownia that afternoon. He'd go pick her up and everything!<p>

Shinji, Shinji, Shin…pai? Eh. Shinji was a good name, she'd met lots of Shinjis. Why hadn't she begun calling him that sooner? It sounded less stupid than Shinpai.

She's not the only one excited. Minato has been smiling slightly the whole morning. That was like beaming for him. That was good, it was great to see him smiling after spending half of the previous day hissing at each other for the stolen Social Link. Ugh, it'd been a while they last felt any tension for that reason; certainly, not a feeling one ever gets to miss. It eventually wore down, so it was 'nothing to worry about' in the end, mostly thanks to Junpei being Junpei.

* * *

><p>The morning classes finally ended. This was possibly the first time Minato had managed to run out of class before Hamuko. He certainly looked happy. And Minato never pretended to be happy unless he was happy, so he probably was really really happy. That was good. Happiness would do him good.<p>

Hanging out with her senpai had become an increasingly rare event. Hamuko wouldn't dare wake him up from his usual long naps, afraid that he might get up with a cough attack which would be less than pretty for either of them. Now he couldn't shake him to let him know that she was there because she might hurt his shoulder, which was a bit delicate now. She'd tried to sleep by him, but, remembering Minato's reactions, she decided that jumping in a startle out of the sofa wouldn't be too smart.

Today, he had to work, so he forced himself to get up and head to Port Island Station.

* * *

><p>"This… is not what I had in mind when you said you'd go shopping with me."<p>

The brunet looked at her and shrugged. "We need better weapons. And better armor. I don't wanna repeat what happened the other day, do ya?"

"Well yeah, but…" Her words began trailing off as they reached the armory. "Is. That. A. Butler. Outfit?" She ran towards the clothes. "Of your size, no less!"

"No." Shinji grabbed her collar and dragged her away while she struggled to grab the tuxedo. "Aren't you and Minato indebted to Kirijo or something, anyway?"

"Well, duh, we're less than hundred thousand yens away from giving the money back. And if I don't waste the money I've saved here, it's gonna go to Escapade."

"…Couldn't you do something less stupid with your money? There are people out there who really need it, y'know?" Shinjiro sighed. "Look, here's a deal. I'll let you buy that thing if you do something for me."

"Anything you want, Shin…pai." Hamuko grinned sultrily as she grabbed the butler clothes. It was actually supposed to be a friendly smile, but her words were just too suggestive to miss the chance. She swore she heard some muttering about "bitches and whores" from nearby, but didn't bother looking around.

"Tell Kirijo and Aki that you were the one to attack Minato."

Hamuko stared at him for a few seconds. Then she put the hanger back where it was. "I can't do that."

His glare became stronger than usual. "Why?"

"That'd be like… recognizing my defeat." She glanced away. "I'll tell them. Eventually. When I'm capable of controlling myself again."

"If you have to tell them eventually, why not do it already? They'll know that neither of you can control what you're doing to each other."

Te brunette took a deep breath and looked at him. "Aki told you what happened in Tartarus, didn't he?"

Shinjiro gave her a half nod. Hamuko gritted her teeth together. "…See? We're nauseating. I don't care what you did in the past, but you shouldn't compare yourself to us…"

"I—"

Before he could say whatever was on his mind, a really young-looking black haired policeman, probably a trainee, carrying a coffee cup, got in the room. He gasped audibly and shifted his gaze between the two.

"H-HEY! Who are you kids? What are you doing in—"

"Adachi." Kurosawa sneaked up to him and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Sir, what are they-?"

"These teenagers are huge contributors to keeping the peace in this city. Thus, they have access to weapons. And you haven't seen any of this." The officer sentenced darkly.

"…Whoa, you guys are like anime heroes or something? I mean, you're just in high-school, how cool is-!"

Adachi and his coffee were dragged away, leaving both teens with a weird feeling of restlessness because of the interruption. They exchanged glances.

"Come with me." Shinjiro said all of a sudden, grabbing her hand. "I need to show you something."

They walked out of Paulownia in a complete silence and went through Port Island Station, where Hamuko saw Minato talking to some boy with a nice hat, about half his size, and slowly crept into the perpetually dark alleys of the station.

* * *

><p>Hamuko had to admit being scared as Shinjiro apparently dragged her aimlessly around the suburbs, but, she decided to trust his judgment and that he wouldn't lead her astray. In a few long minutes, turned slightly longer because Hamuko wouldn't stop making 'd'awww' noises at an overfed cat, they stopped at the docks area. The zone was full of ruins of demolished houses and the occasional vagabond sleeping to sober up. The strong salty smell of the sea mixed with alcohol and several other indefinable odors filled their nostrils, and it certainly wasn't pleasant.<p>

"This didn't use to be such a bad area, y'know?" Shinjiro explained calmly, as if ignoring the place where they were. "It's always been a poor zone, but there weren't any punks around. Then again, I don't know if punk was even a thing when I was a kid."

Hamuko nodded silently and followed him closely as she observed the remains of the walks, covered by debris.

"I don't remember much of anything before coming to the orphanage. My mother gave me that pocket watch when she left me there. I was a toddler, and she probably had her reasons for cursing me, so I've never held it against her."

The sound of the waves, moving restlessly in the sea nearby composed a relaxing background music for Shinjiro's narration.

"I was a bully. I became one because I often had to fight others because they'd try to steal my watch. It was the last reminder of my family, curse or not, so I protected it with my life. I couldn't make any friends because everyone saw me as big and scary, or hated me because of my watch, but…"

His smile was always so beautiful, sad as it was…

"Aki has always been too brave to care about what others think. Even when he was a meek. The bastard had quite the strong left hook for those girly arms, y'know? But, fist battles make everlasting friendships or something, so that's how we became friends. Our fights also made Miki cry more than usual, and that was a lot, believe me. Actually, the two of them were such crybabies…"

Shinjiro laughed in a carefree way, which brought a funny contrast to the sinister look of the outskirts of Port Island.

"One day, those jealous older fuckers ganged up on me, gave me a beating, and stole my watch. I tried to get it back, but they claimed they'd lost it. Man, was I angry. I went on a rage fit and broke their leader's nose!"

Another chuckle.

"I got the watch back a few days later. It had a few deep scratches and the gold chain had been stolen, but, I didn't care. It came back to me with this." He carefully pulled the pocket watch up, to show the burnt red cloth. "It made the watch much more valuable than it ever was. It would dispel any curse and disease, or at least I think that was the original plan."

Shinji walked through seemingly random streets, but his steps began slowing down to a halt as the music coming from the bars became fairly audible.

"You're probably wondering why I'm tellin' ya all this bullshit."

He stopped. They were back to the bars zone of the alleys.

"This is where my life changed for the second time."

Hamuko glanced around. There was nothing to be seen but the bars.

"There used to be a house here."

His voice was gruff and cold.

Hamuko needed a second to understand what he was trying to say. She let out a small gasp as she realized the implication of his words. She hesitated a moment too long to speak.

"I thought I had everything under control, y'know? I thought I wouldn't have to think about anything anymore… but your face keeps popping up in my head. And that makes me realize that I can't leave some things unfinished."

"Shinji?"

"I promised Minato that I'd help as long as I could." He mumbled nonsensically. "I can't have any doubts or regrets when the moment comes…"

"What are you even…?"

"Otherwise I won't be able to rest in peace…"

Hamuko didn't know what that meant, nor did she want to know. She just jumped into his arms, making him wince slightly because of his injured shoulder, and buried her face into his chest, as her arms weren't long enough to give him a proper hug.

"I don't care what you do or what you did or what you'll do, but I don't want you to leave!" She cried. "I won't forgive you if you do! I'll… I'll be mad if you leave me… _**us**_ alone, Shinji!"

Shinjiro began laughing bathetically, making Hamuko look up at him, confused, with teary red eyes. "You're… the second person to tell me that." His laugh ceased and turned into a wry smile as he patted her head silently. "You're still an idiot." He wrapped her arms around her. "And I don't like repeating things."

The brunette didn't have a clue of what he was saying, but she was sure that she had become closer to him. The card in her mind informing her of how she'd obtained Moon Level 8 was quite the mood breaker, so she did her best to ignore it and focus on the embrace.

He finally let go of her, and Hamuko stepped back to recompose her thoughts. Her gaze locked on Shinji's again. She put her hands on his shoulders and glanced down as she slowly stood on the ball of her feet to try and reach his fa—

"_**Awww**_," an endlessly sarcastic voice echoed somewhere around, "will you look at that?"

"Seems that Shinjiro got a girlfriend." Another punk snickered. "What a pity, cutie; we're 'bout to break his face!"

"Yeah! We told ya to stay outta our territory ya damn punk!"

Shinjiro sighed. Apparently he was used to this. "Go home, alright? I'll go back as soon as I'm done working."

"…Take care." She hopped to give him a kiss on the cheek and sprinted off. She knew that when it came to fighting punks face to face she was only a hindrance, but… "Senpai!" she yelled to the phone. She couldn't leave Shinji alone to face all those punks with an injured shoulder. Akihiko didn't answer his phone.

Junpei? About as useful as her in those situations. Yukari? Definitely no. Aigis! Did she even have a phone?

Minato's phone popped into her mind. The boy was certainly good at fighting with his fists. She phoned his number, and soon Burn my Dread began blaring out of someone's mobile phone. And… that was Minato having an ice cream with the… Junior Detective.

"Oh, hey." Minato greeted her. The little guy simply nodded at her. "Going to Paulownia?"

"No. Yes. Maybe. Whyareyouhavingicecreamwith-" Argh, no, it's not the moment for that! Fan-girl side repressed for the time being. "Shinji is in trouble! He needs help!"

"Have you called the police?"

Hamuko fell silent. She shook her head quickly. "They'll take him in too for looking like a punk, and you know it."

Minato sighed. "Alright." He got up from the bench where they were sitting and wolfed down his ice cream cone. "You coming, Naoto-kun?"

The detective gave a sharp nod and ran after them.

* * *

><p>There were no punks left when they arrived. Only Shinji rubbing his forehead awkwardly after giving one too many headbutts, standing in front of the bar where he was supposed to act as a doorkeeper for the night. They decided to go back.<p>

"Well, uh…" Hamuko rubbed her chin thoughtfully. Then she turned to Minato and Naoto. "HOLY CRAP, you ARE the Junior Detective!"

"I told you she'd eventually do that."

"I never doubted your word, Minato-san." Naoto cocked an eyebrow up. "So will you two introduce us?"

"Oh my God, the Junior Detective wants to meet meeeee?" She squealed and then kept rambling.

"Err, her name's Hamuko Seikatsu. She's a great fan of yours, as I told you."

"I can see that." Naoto extended her hand. "Naoto Shirogane. I'm carrying out an investigation in the zone, and I asked Minato-san if it'd be alright for me to visit the dorm where you live, and analyze why it'd be preferable to the comforts of the Shirogane Estate. If that is fine with all of you, of course."

Hamuko's high pitched squeal was taken as a yes. And thus, they took a train.

* * *

><p>"<em>Ohmygosh, Imetacelebrity, ohmygosh…<em>" Hamuko muttered to herself while the two siblings ignored her.

"Seikatsu-san?"

She adopted a straight position and did a military greeting. "Sir, yes, sir?"

"Was my deduction correct?"

"Your… deduction?" Hamuko tried to reminiscence a bit. Naoto had guessed that she wanted Minato's heart without meeting her. "…It _was_." Now perhaps it'd be more correct in a literal sense. Oh goddamn it, she didn't need that image while riding a train.

"Oh?"

"We uh… have a very complex relationship, Naoto-kun." Minato patted his sister's hat. "We're… partners now."

"Huh? So is it over? And you rejected us for her?" _**Ouch.**_ Way to make Hamuko feel horribly guilty.

"I… left you for everyone." Minato explained with a smile. "It was my own decision and I regret nothing. I'm sure one day you'll find someone that'll make you feel the same as us."

"Like Risette!" Hamuko exclaimed, earning a weird look from the Shirogane siblings. "Unless you're not into girls. Which would be cool with me as well. Oh, oh, do you want a beard?"

"…?"

"T-that's enough, Hamuko." He patted her shoulder. "My brother is too young for those things."

"Huh? Too young, how? …He's older than Ken, isn't he?"

The rest of the train ride went by in a spectral silence.

* * *

><p>"So this is where you live, hm?" Naoto inspected the building closely from outside. "I'm surprised that a dorm financed by the Kirijo group itself is placed so far from the campus, and from other dorms as well. Then again, the communication with Port Island is excellent thanks to the monorail, so..."<p>

"Err, would you care to go inside, Naoto-kun?" Minato offered with a smile.

"Huh? B-but… your friends will be there, right Minato-san?"

"Yes, but don't worry, they're not like Hamuko here."

"Hey! I resent that!" Hamuko exclaimed, feigning offence. "And why don't you two call each other brother? That'd be so cute! I mean you're already cute but…"

"Here, this is Koromaru." The bluenet ignored his female friend completely. "He's extremely intelligent."

"Ah, a Shiba. Good boy." Naoto scratched his ears, earning a delighted bark from the dog.

"Koromaru-san asks 'who is this female human'?"

Both siblings froze at Aigis's question. Hamuko just began laughing. "Male, Aigis! Ma-le! Naoto-kun is a male!"

"Hmm, my detectors might be working poorly…" Aigis pondered aloud.

"Naoto-kun, this is Aigis. She's… an android. She was developed by the Kirijo Group and sent to us as part of a… social experiment. Aigis learns from adaptation."

"I am also cut for long range combat and stealth."

"What she said."

"…" The sleuth's eyes were glimmering, but she lowered her cap and pretended not to be excited about it. "…Fascinating." Whoa, she sounded just like Ken. "I have heard many things about the Kirijo Group, and not many of them were good. C-could I test Aigis's capabilities?"

"Aigis is very capable of everything." Hamuko announced like a proud mother. "Seriously, tell her to do anything."

"Oh, is that so?" Naoto's voice sounded challenging. "Does she have a great memory capacity too?"

"I do not possess—"

"Sure she does!" The brunette smirked.

"Well then!" Naoto mimicked her. "How long would she take to learn a whole page of that book on the table?"

"Heh. Aigis, read!"

Aigis grabbed a book at Hamuko's command.

Five minutes. "She's probably heating her processor."

Ten minutes. Minato continued to show Naoto around the house.

"She's just tired, alright? She'll finish in no time!"

Twenty minutes. They all gathered again. Hamuko's temperament exploded.

"What the hell, Aigis, aren't you done yet? What kind of super robot are you?"

"Hamuko-san, I do not possess a bigger memory than that of a human." The robot offered calmly.

"What? C'mon, even I can do it!" She stomped her way to the book and began reading silently, her eyes moving quickly as she scanned the page. In a few minutes, she threw the book at Minato and began reciting the page.

"…" Minato raised a single, unbelieving eyebrow. "Well, _that_ was unexpected."

"Tsk." She gritted her teeth together and glanced away as she got up from the sofa. "I know I'm slow. You don't have to rub it in."

"…Whatever." He shook his head and turned to his sister. "At least Aigis hasn't said anything about ninjas."

"…Interesting."

* * *

><p>Showing Naoto around wasn't the same without Hamuko cheerfully explaining everything, and Mitsuru plainly refused to let a stranger go to the bedrooms area at night, nor sleep there, probably in fear of being discovered. However, Naoto was adamant on investigating the place.<p>

* * *

><p>Saying that sneaking Naoto into his brother's bedroom was difficult- and horribly awkward- would be an understatement.<p>

Overall when she showed how much she trusted him by sleeping under the bed. …Whatever.

* * *

><p><strong>This was a shitty ending. <strong>

_Beta note: I am at fault for the delay. Send all hatemail into my inbox; I will be sure to respond to each one thoughtfully and with proper remorse._

_TL Note: "Remorse" means "Apathy", and "Thoughtfully" means "Not at all"._

**What he said.**


	74. Big surprise

**Author note: Note the subtle sarcasm of the tile.**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading!**

* * *

><p>The morning started…<p>

Earlier than Minato expected.

"INTRUDER, INTRUDER!"

"W-Wait Aigis! No, don't!"

Minato jumped out of his bed to grab Aigis's hands before she could begin shooting at the body under his bed.

"Move away, Minato-san! There is a ninja under your bed! EXTERMINATE!"

"No, no, Aigis! That's not a ninja!"

"That is precisely what they want you to believe! That is how they bend your thoughts to their liking!"

"Aigis, shut up! That's just Naoto!"

The sleuth peeked out from beneath the bed.

"Naoto-san is… a ninja?" Aigis tilted her head.

"No, Aigis," Minato sighed, "Naoto-kun is a detective."

"Detective?" She echoed.

"We, uh… follow people to obtain information amongst several other services." Naoto explained as calmly as she could.

"…" The robot blinked, and then readied her cannons. "Ninja."

"Argh…" Minato slammed his bandaged hand against his face. He then smiled and slowly patted her hands. "Yes, Aigis, Naoto-kun is a detective, that is, a modern ninja. But, she's on our side, so we'd lose our advantaged position if you exterminated her. So, refrain from doing so."

"Naoto-san is a friendly ninja. I understand." She gave a sharp nod and lowered her hands. "A pity. I wanted to capture and dissect a ninja to prove their continued existence to Hamuko-san and Junpei-san." She sounded really disappointed.

"…!" Minato rose a finger in the air and opened his mouth. "On a second thought, I don't want to know about it."

"…So why is a 'social experiment' armed with hand cannons which could get all her developers in jail?" Naoto asked as she stood up and dusted herself, afraid of remaining down there.

"Um, for protection because… she's really… pretty?"

"Actually—"

Before Aigis got to reveal anything which could have put Minato in a really awkward situation, someone began banging the door.

"Hey, dude! All fine in there?"

For some reason Minato couldn't quite fathom, nobody waited for him to give them permission to enter his room. Junpei of course, wasn't an exception.

"…Why is Aigis… no scratch that, who and why is that guy in your…"

"H-He's Naoto! He's my sister I mean she's my brother I mean—"

Minato decided to slam the door shut, lock it from inside and head back to bed, too tired to deal with Junpei.

"Is dawn always this… lively in the dorm?" Naoto asked as she sat down on the ground, pressing her hat against her chest like it was the only clothing she had.

"Quite often." Aigis answered simply.

"_H-Hey, man, don't worry! I saw nothing_!" Junpei's voice sounded muffled through the door after a while of silence. "_I mean, I've always known you were a bit… Ahaha… uh… um… I-I won't tell Hamu-chan if you s-stay away from me, alright?_"

Sigh.

* * *

><p>Minato woke up to the noise of explosions and several other action-related sound effects, all too familiar for him. He opened his eyes slightly and let the corner of his lips curl into a smile at the sight of Aigis and Naoto watching Phoenix Ranger together.<p>

"Good morning," he yawned, "enjoying the episode?"

The remote control almost flew out of Naoto's hands as she tried to turn the TV off in a rush.

"Haha, don't worry, I love sentai too."

"You… still do?"

The bluenet got up and led his sister and the robot to the lounge. As expected, Hamuko, Junpei and Ken were watching the show together, with Hamuko regretting having missed a lot of episodes.

Minato, Naoto and Aigis were greeted by everyone, save for Junpei, who moved 'discreetly' away, almost throwing the tray he and Hamuko were sharing –was that… caramel syrup in their glasses?

They took the sofa opposite to the TV, since the others were on the ground or the armchairs. Shinjiro was also there, sleeping in front of them. That was the activity he repeated the most throughout the day. The fact that he could continue doing so while Hamuko squealed about watching TV with the Junior Detective was admirable.

Minato stared at the TV disinterestedly, rather focused on the child by his side. "Naoto-kun," he called softly, "we used to do this a lot when we were children, didn't we?"

"Indeed." She nodded. "And grandfather never approved of it. He has always claimed that these shows portray the reality of heroes in a frivolous way."

"Ah, yeah… He stole my Black Condor's mask and gave me a Raidou Kuzonoha one instead." Egocentric that man was not.

"Hah… Life certainly would be easier if real secret heroes existed." Naoto let out a single haughty chuckle. "Until then, it's my job to be a private hero."

"Can you really call yourself a hero when all you do is get paid to act as a spy for a few hours and then take your leave, though?" Junpei remarked, earning a knowing smirk from the others... except Ken and Aigis. And Naoto, of course.

"Huh? Excuse me?" The sleuth jumped to her feet and rose the volume of her voice, offended. "Should I suppose you spend hours studying cases, wield fire arms, and collaborate with the police when they simply are too simple to handle cases too?"

"Affirmative."

Naoto's mouth hung open for a moment before she snorted and sat down again, obviously mad.

"Junpei!" Minato got up as well and stomped towards him. "Stop messing with my si—b-brother! Otherwise…"

"Otherwise…?"

The bluenet pursed his lips, crouched down between Junpei and Hamuko, and leaned towards the boy with the cap.

"ACK! STAY AWAY! I'LL SAY NO MORE, I PROMISE!" Junpei crawled away like a bug and hid behind an arm chair.

"Junpei-san, what's wrong?" Ken asked meekly.

Minato directed a deadly glare towards Junpei.

"Eh, he probably had too much sugar. Right Minato?" Hamuko smiled slyly at the bluenet. She'd probably seen his threat. "Better save him from that torture!" She gulped down Junpei's glass of syrup and then proceeded to drink her own.

"Hey, that was _**my**_ breakfast!" Junpei cried from a corner.

"They all are incredibly immature for being teenagers." Naoto commented as she observed the dorm members running around the lounge for several reasons. "Amada-san, I believe you are the one acting the most responsibly."

"Well, um…" Ken blushed. "I… try."

"If only those acted according to their ages…"

"I believe Mitsuru-san once defined them as a 'pack of imbeciles'." Aigis pointed out.

"That sounds rather accurate." Naoto snorted.

"Perhaps imbeciles thrive in this climatic zone." The robot nodded to herself, while Naoto decided not to put any opposition to that conclusion.

"I guess this place is actually…" She hid her face with the brim of her cap. "Amusing."

The only noise in the dorm came from the teens messing around. It was rather peaceful in its own, bizarre, moronic way.

"Naoto-san."

"Yes, Aigis?"

"If you are Minato-san's sibling, does that make Minato-san a ninja?"

"Um… I-I suppose so." The bluenette grinned defensively.

"Minato-san and Hamuko-san are both ninjas. That is why they were claimed our leaders." The robot muttered to herself. "…What would happen if they were to follow each other? Would space suffer a paradox?"

"…" Naoto hesitated to speak.

Ken shifted his gaze between the two females. He held his mug of coffee firmly and hid his face in it. "…Pirates are better."

* * *

><p>The discussion probably wouldn't have stopped if Shinjiro hadn't yelled at everyone to stop making noise, consequently bringing Mitsuru's attention over Naoto. Fortunately, she wasn't too harsh- by her standards- after Minato informed her about who Naoto was. She said something about her reports about him, and let them go freely as soon as Naoto questioned why would she need reports about Minato.<p>

* * *

><p>"Shinji. Shinji." Hamuko shook the older boy's arm softly. "C'mon Shinji… It's time to get up…"<p>

"It ain't." Shinjiro grumbled, shaking her hand off.

"It is. Aren't you hungry? It's Sunday, man! Get up, and we'll go grab a bite at Hagakure!"

"Not interested."

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows. "Well, alright, nothing wrong with spending a day in the dorm. We could stay here watching TV together or just sharing a blanket or…"

"Too tired." He yawned.

"…" She sighed. "I… guess I'll take a nap with you for a while then, but I begged Minato to let me meet up with the Junior Detective later. I don't have a watch, so can you wake me up in an hour?"

"I don't have a watch either."

Hamuko blinked in surprise. "Huh? You lost it?"

"…Yeah."

"Oh, crap, where? Wait, don't tell me—it was those thugs' fault, wasn't it?"

"I guess." Shinji answered simply. For some reason, that didn't sound like the truth, but Hamuko knew he loved that watch.

"We have to retrieve it!" The red eyed girl stated, determined. "…Will you get up if I give it back? That'll make you feel better, won't it?"

For a moment, just for a moment, Shinjiro looked up from under his beanie with a disconcerted expression. He quickly shook his head to lower the hat again. "Tsk. If you're so bored, go do something productive instead of strutting your ass around the alleys to get a stupid old watch, dipshit."

"…Won't you ever stop calling me names?"

Seeing that the boy had gone back into sleep mode again, and didn't seem in the mood to deal with her, Hamuko headed to the Beef Bowl Shop, where she was supposed to meet the blue haired siblings. After having an appetizer in Hagakure, that's it.

* * *

><p>"He—ey?" Hamuko stepped into the restaurant only to find a rather bizarre scene. Naoto and Minato were standing by a rather chubby guy with short black hair, who looked certainly familiar.<p>

"It is quite a pleasure to meet you, Junior Detective. I guess you've come this far to find out the secrets of my gourmet skills! Well, well, I shall not disappoint a fellow celebrity!" He cackled.

"Excuse me, I didn't catch your name…" Naoto rose an eyebrow under her hat.

"Huh? Oh, of course. I guess I should buy a name tag." The boy chuckled haughtily. "I am the Gourmet King!"

"Who…?"

"…OH!" Minato exclaimed all of a sudden. "It's been ages since we last talked!"

"…Do I know you?" Nozomi- that was his name, if Hamuko could recall correctly- puffed up his saggy cheeks. "Oh, that's right! You're that idiot who never showed up to my invitation to share a lunch. How dare you speak to me?"

"He is coming with me, Gourmet King-san." Naoto announced all of a sudden.

"What—is that so?" The boy asked, impressed. "…Well then, allow me to pay dinner for you and your guest."

"And that'd be me, right?" Hamuko stepped in with a cheerful demeanor.

Minato leaped towards her, stopping right under the doorframe.

"_He. Is. Mine_." He growled in her ear. "_You try and mess with my Link again, I rip your head off._"

To say Hamuko was freaked out at those words would be a bit of an understatement. Well, she had prevented Minato from making friends with the obese boy in the past, but, that clearly wasn't him talking.

She decided that having lunch with the famous detective wasn't worth the risk unless a Social Link she could actually possess was involved, clearly a sign that she was thinking right but Minato wasn't… She'd have to discuss that later with him, to see if he had come up with anything. Or run very fast if their 'condition' acted up.

The brunette returned to the dorm, only to find Shinji still sleeping and refusing to get up. She needed to retrieve his watch. However, wandering aimlessly around such a place would make finding the watch rather difficult…

* * *

><p>"Koro-chan, please!" Hamuko kneeled down and rested her face on the ground. "Please, please, please! It's important, I need your help!"<p>

"…Grr." The dog glared at her.

"Alright! Alright! I recognize that I've ignored you lately, but this isn't about me! It's 'bout Shinji! You do like Shinji, don't you?" She rubbed the back of her head. "Look, I needa find his watch. You only have to track his smell until wherever he left it. Please… That'd surely make him feel better… as 'better' as a terminal boy can feel…"

As she muttered the last part, Akinari popped up in her mind, making her flinch unconsciously. "Then again… you're in your right of ignoring me. You were right when you said I replaced you. I keep replacing everyone." She looked down. "Minato might think of people as tools, but I'm always leaving my friends for the latest person to get in my life. It's not that I'm bored of you, it's just…" It's just that she was in a competition to get power. She might have been actually acting under that premise all along, without even realizing it... But then again, she never kept contact with any of her previous friends either…

The dog walked away, so Hamuko took this as her cue to leave, alone. However, as she opened the door, the dog reappeared carrying his leash on his mouth.

"Koro-chan…" Hamuko picked up the dog in her arms and gave him a hug. "Thank you… so much…"

"Woof…"

"I promise that I'll care for you every day, and brush your air and wash you and hug you and love you a lot!" She spun around, rising the dog in the air. "We all will be the best owners you've ever had, I swear!"

"Grr…"

"Partners? Not owners? …But, you're late to saying that! Mitsuru-senpai already owns all our asses…" Her joke was wasted on a dog. But the feeling was there. Koromaru didn't want any replacements for his owner. He was happy with them, and hadn't abandoned Hamuko like a… dog. And that was respectable enough to grant a Strength Level 9. "Well then, let's—"

Hamuko and Koromaru rushed away as soon as the former noticed the amount of people who'd been staring at her during her little monologue.

* * *

><p>The two S.E.E.S. members entered the alleys of Port Island Station as discreetly as they could. The sun was still up in the sky when they entered, so Hamuko decided to begin the search at the almost empty bars zone.<p>

Shinji used to frequent the place, so his smell was everywhere, which made it impossible for Koromaru to track anything. Questioning the few punks around proved to be equally useless as they all claimed not to know anything. Such nice punks.

"Guess we'll have to go deeper in." Hamuko announced without much energy. "Yay."

Hamuko didn't have half a clue of where they were going. She just followed random paths, chased Koromaru any time he tried to move around on his own, and ended up in the docks several times. The hours passed slowly, without Hamuko achieving anything other than running into dead ends, almost falling into the sea a couple times.

"Did Shinji even go through here…?" She asked to herself, spinning around to look back. "…This street seems familiar."

The whole zone looked pretty much the same, no matter what direction she followed, so Hamuko decided to try and trust that distant feeling she got.

They walked through the narrow and poorly designed streets, full of demolished old houses and huts which gave Hamuko a feeling of incongruity. She recognized the place, but she could almost swear those weren't the streets she walked through with Shinjiro.

The sun was already fairly low in the horizon, and Koromaru was exhausted after the long walk, but Hamuko didn't stop. The further she walked the stronger the feeling of recognition got. She'd been there. She'd definitely been there.

* * *

><p>It was well after dusk when Hamuko stopped, not her search but her feet. Koromaru took the chance to sit down and pant. He then looked at Hamuko, and shortly after followed the line of her sight. They were standing at the foot of a bunch of carbonized remains of what once was a building.<p>

Hamuko walked slowly towards the pile of debris and corroded metal structures. She ran her hand along one of the few remaining pieces of the western wall, seeing the blackened bricks crumple and tumble down under her hands. She moved them away and proceeded with hesitating steps towards the uncared playground, now turned into a wild savanna full of grass breaking through the black concrete which once covered the ground.

Koromaru gave a little bark as she knelt down and began pulling the weed out, desperately looking for something.

* * *

><p>"Mutatsu-san. Of course. I should have known it."<p>

Minato was really surprised when he heard that Naoto wanted to go to Escapade that evening, but now it all made sense. The old monk was her commissioner. The reason why she was there. Funny, how Mutatsu was the one looking for his family, yet he'd been the one to reunite Minato with his; apparently, the drunkard monk had starred the altercation which brought the Shirogane's attention to Iwatodai. And now he'd brought her back again.

…Hadn't he promised not to show up to the bar again, though?

"Your son is married to a waitress, with whom she's been working for eleven months; however, she stopped working three months ago. She's pregnant."

"What? I'm gonna be a grandfather?" The old monk exclaimed, surprised.

"An old drunkard like you becoming a grandfather? No shit?" Minato teased.

"Haven't seen ya sober very often either, ya know?" The other man answered, rolling his cigar around with an amused expression as Naoto glared at her not-legally-old-enough-to-drink-yet brother. "It's really difficult to believe though…" Mutatsu answered with a dreamy voice.

"So what are you going to do?"

"…I'm gonna go get them, of course!" He nodded to himself. "I'll beg for it! I'll let my son hit me if it's necessary!" He really sounded convinced. "And if my wife refuses… I'll tell her that I want to recite sutras with her by my side for the rest of my life!"

"What."

"She'll cry as soon as she hears that!" Mutatsu kept ranting to himself. "…Anyway kid. I'm pretty surprised to hear you're this guy's brother. I guess it must be fate after all. You make me stop drinking, find my family… maybe Buddha sent you to help me…" A little, amused smile formed in his wrinkled face. "I owe ya, kid, I owe ya a big one…"

As the old man got up from his old leather sofa he slipped a paper into Minato's pocket. The bluenet reached out for it and took a look at it. It was some cocktail recipe. XYZ.

"...When you mix Cointreau with white rum, lemon juice, and ice... you get a cocktail called 'XYZ'." The monk explained calmly. "Movies and manga often use the initials 'XYZ' to symbolize the end of something. I don't dare say this is the last I'll hear of you, but… XYZ is the best cocktail, so I'll be prayin' that your future is XYZ..." He took a deep breath and nodded to the blue haired siblings.

Minato heard a familiar voice he usually blocked out of his thoughts. "Thou art I... And I am thou... The bond thou hast nurtured hath finally matured. The innermost power of the Tower Arcana hath been set free. We bestow upon thee the ability to create Chi You, the ultimate form of the Tower Arcana..."

"...So long, kid." With that, Mutatsu headed downstairs and never looked back.

Minato allowed himself to snort in amusement as soon as the monk was out of sight, earning a weird look from his sister. "I'll miss that old man."

"Hmm…" Naoto gave him a half nod. "So how often do you drink, may I ask?"

* * *

><p>The farewell wasn't tragic or painful. Both siblings just stood at each side of the doors of the train.<p>

"Let's have something other than ice-cream next time, shall we?" Minato offered with a smile.

"Hmm… What about sushi?" Naoto replied without much thought.

"I know a place which makes some awesome California rolls."

"…I'll be looking forward your invitation." She mimicked his expression. "Until then, I hope your arm gets better. And your teenage alcoholism as well."

The standard message resonated all over the station, informing that the train was about to leave.

"You have some rather interesting friends."

"Interesting is a way too nice word." Minato laughed as he patted her hat, then pulled the brim up. "I hope you'll make some equally bizarre friends."

"I'd rather not—"

Minato pulled her into a strong hug, earning a few disbelieving glances from several bystanders. Fortunately not Junpei.

"I'll um…" Naoto stammered, her face red like a tomato, as she pulled away .

"I'll um you too." The bluenet gave his sister a big toothy grin. "Have a safe journey and say hi to Johei-san from me!"

The train slowly turned into a point fading in the cover of darkness of the night.

* * *

><p>"Good evening?" Minato opened slowly Hamuko's door without knocking. He didn't get any answer from the female, so he asked Aigis to wait outside as he got in the room.<p>

Hamuko was there, sitting on her bed in complete darkness, staring at something on her hands while Koromaru slept calmly by her side.

"Sorry for what happened this afternoon and for not coming earlier. I've just read your e-mail. Have you changed your mind about helping me or…?"

The bluenet made his way through the forever untidy room, feeling some apprehension as he tried not to reminiscence on what he did last time he was there. He bent his legs slightly and snapped his fingers in front of Hamuko's face. "Hey."

"H-Huh?" Hamuko finally seemed to be back to Earth. That only lasted for a few seconds. "That's right, I wanted to talk about something… I… I guess I've forgotten that…" She mumbled with a voice lacking the usual cheeriness he'd learned to bear way back. "I'm kinda forgetful, y-yanno?"

Minato crouched down fully to look at her face, or at what he guessed was her face, seeing that it was simply to dark to see anything. "Are you okay, Hamuko?"

"…" He could only hear her breathing and her clothes ruffling as her shoulders perked up slightly. "Say my name."

"…Hamuko."

She exhaled slowly. "…Again." She whimpered. "Please."

"Hamuko." Minato whispered slowly.

"That's right. Hamuko." She made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a choked cry, and then ran a hand quickly up her hair. "S-Sorry about that… I-I must have eaten something weird, ahaha… Oh! We need to talk, don't we?"

"…You're in no condition to talk."

"I just forgot, haha. I forget a lot. See? This is why I don't study, I'm always forgetting things, hahaha. I-I guess I forgot too that you shouldn't be in my room at this hour, y-you probably need to sleep and so d-do I because there's school tomorrow and I'd forgotten that too and… ahaha."

Her laugh and incessant rambling were the same as usual. That made Minato get up and look for a switch turn the lights on.

Hamuko was sitting on her bed with Koromaru by her side, now awake. She was wearing the same skirt and shirt with which she left that morning, but now her stockings were torn up and her white skirt stained with dust, even. Her hair was free of her usual ponytail, and even the barrettes she hadn't taken out even during their most private moment. Her hands were full of soil as well, with red and callous palms holding a shabby old-looking pocket watch matching the brown of her hands and skirt. Her nails were broken and some were bleeding slightly. The bluenet had to muster some will power to move away from her.

* * *

><p>Minato walked back to the girl, now with an opened bottle of methyl alcohol which was laying by some first aid supplies for Tartarus- albeit probably once thought drinkable, rather than normally used- and knelt down next to her. He took the bandages off his left arm, briefly exposing the irreparably scarred tissues covering it before they were hid again by his pajama shirt, and then brought the fabric to his mouth and broke it in two parts, to cover her damaged hands. She didn't do much other than flinch at the stingy pain of the alcohol on a fresh wound.<p>

The brunette only looked up slightly to face Minato once he'd finished working. Her eyes were red and swollen, making her red irises look endlessly more sinister than usual. She'd probably had been crying the whole afternoon. Minato had to banish from his mind the bitter thought of 'why hadn't she just gone crying to her dear Senpai as usual' to focus on the situation. He had to know what happened. The worst thoughts crossed his mind, however, Minato didn't get a chance to voice them.

The lights went off and Koromaru barked lazily as the colors of the room faded to green. Minato grimaced as his theory about Hamuko crying for a long time was proved right by the tears turned into blood on her lap.

The usual dizziness hit both as a little boy materialized in the room, after which Koromaru's barks increased in loudness.

"I guess I don't need to tell you, but… there's only one week left." Pharos said simply, sitting by Hamuko's side. "…Are you sad?"

"H-hah? Me? Why'd I be?" Hamuko asked with her usual smile. "I'm happy. There's no reason to be sad. See?"

"…" Pharos hung his head low. "I'm mad at both of you. I'm really, **really** angry, but, I don't remember why…" He furrowed his eyebrows and sighed, proceeding to kick a few items laying around. "I don't want to be mad at my friends…"

"Then, don't!" The brunette answered cheerfully. "It's better if you've forgotten why you were mad or sad! You don't needa remember! Remembering hurts, haha"

Minato only stared at both silently in response until Pharos finally vanished as it was usual of him. He understood.

"Hamu—"

The male Fool's eyes wandered towards Hamuko's torn stockings, taking in much of the revealed, scrapped skin as he could, then slowly wandered up.

Koromaru's barks alerted him that his body was already on motion towards hers. Minato reached out for his left arm, and clutched it strongly to gain some more focus with the pain. His scream also served Aigis to get in the room and quickly take him out of there.

"My name's Kitaro!" Minato yelled to the girl as he instinctively resisted against Aigis. "My name's Kitaro Shirogane!"

Hamuko's smile dropped that very instant. She stared at Minato with an indefinable expression, tilting her head slightly. "…Kitaro." She echoed. "But, if you're Kitaro, then I'm…"

"I am Minato Arisato, though!" He suddenly exclaimed, probably waking up the whole vicinity. "I am Minato no matter what my name was!"

"…" The brunette opened her mouth yet said nothing as Aigis suddenly closed the door and ran away carrying Minato.

* * *

><p>Hamuko barely registered the morning. Class with Miss Miyahara. Being reminded that she had been kicked out of the Student Council by being taken there with Minato and informed that by Chihiro's recommendation and default choice he was to have her place. She didn't even get half a word of what Hidetoshi said after dragging her up to the rooftop. Something about a love confession and the power of truth, who knew.<p>

She'd been thinking. About a lot of things. Thinking hard. And she probably wouldn't have achieved any resolution if it hadn't been a normal Monday, in which she had to wear her school uniform.

* * *

><p>"Shinji."<p>

The boy opened a single eye. "Tsk. What do you want now?"

Hamuko said nothing. She just reached into the pocket of her jacket and produced a watch out of it.

"…You bring me a watch as well?" Shinjiro took it with an expression of complete shock adorning his face. He looked at Hamuko and then at the watch. "How…?"

"I found it the last time too, didn't I?"

His face was nothing short of amusing.

"I had to deal with all those bullies by myself, so Aki got really mad and yelled at me when I went to him crying because one of them had actually hit me… the one whose nose you broke."

Shinjiro just opened and closed his mouth, as if failing to form words.

"But, I stole your watch like you stole that doll for me…" Her lips curled into a smile. "Right, Shinji?"

The boy got up that very instant and urged Hamuko out of the house.

* * *

><p>"Visiting the orphanage… finding the playground… and… a symbolic grave for 'me'… It was all quite a strong hit. I suddenly remembered many things. So much that I just tried to convince myself that I was just imagining things… but… you had a memento…"<p>

Shinjiro didn't say a single word, so Hamuko kept on talking.

"I remembered a lot from the orphanage days. Aki, you, me… All together like a family, since the day you stayed with me. You… you really scared me, you know? And I got scared when you left that day, saying that you didn't care for me and those scary things… and then came back with that doll… which wasn't scary…. Oh God, Aki's reaction was so scary too…"

She laughed cheerfully, remembering how her brother had got in a fight with the biggest boy around.

"I… had a big crush on you from that moment onwards, yanno? But, Aki woulda got mad at you if I'd said it aloud… he's not changed at all, after all."

The brunette chuckled, a nostalgic look in her eyes.

"So… I tied my ribbon around the hole left for the chain. I'd seen that in a book, in which two lovers had to be away from each other for a long time, and so they said something about being tied by the red ribbons of fate. Hell if I know what that was about, or what it does now, after all this time. I just knew that I liked Shinji and wanted him to be with me all the time."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "That much hasn't changed, apparently. And you, of course, didn't catch it. But that's what I meant when I said I'd be with you until the watch stopped working…"

Hamuko smiled to herself.

"Perhaps my… curse, if you want to call it so, really worked. I'm here, after all…" Her smile progressively decayed into a sour expression. "But, I've been denying this for so long… I shoulda known sooner… I'm sorry. I'm sorry I forgot. I still don't remember much. Only parts. Images. It's all so blurry…"

Shinjiro embraced her strongly all of a sudden. He pressed her against himself, almost scared of seeing her leave her again.

"I… I… Y-You're an idiot…! You've always been…! Why did you just have to appear in my life like that? I had all sorted out! You think it's funny? Are you a manic pixie or something?" He growled, sounding deeply enraged. "Why can't you just understand that I've got plans of my own? Just, forget me, and forgive everything which happened? Would it be that hard?"

Hamuko grinned deviously. "I already told you that I'd be by your side no matter what, but I renewed the promise."

Shinjiro took a look at his watch. Where there once was a carbonized red ribbon, now a new red Gekkoukan uniform ribbon was tied.

"I made sure you knew what the promise meant, this time, though. You can't leave me. Not until this watch stops working. And if that happens, I'll take it to a… clock shop and mend it!"

"Miki…"

Hamuko shook her head quickly. "I'm Hamuko." She chuckled awkwardly. "I know. I have to tell Aki who I really am. I don't wanna make him suffer any—"

"No."

The brunette stared at him, surprised. "…What do you mean 'no'?"

"Aki has to accept that the Miki he knew is gone. He was right all along. You were alive. I don't know how the hell you managed to do it, you crazy Houdini, but if you tell him, he'll learn nothing from it. Give it time. One day you'll be able to tell him."

"One day…" She echoed thoughtfully, yet sadly as well. "I can't tell my brother until then…? So, will you be there… with me?"

Shinjiro didn't answer. He merely patted her head as they kept their strong embrace. "I… like Hamuko better than Miki. She's a bit less of a crybaby. She's strong enough now."

"She is an ungrateful bitch, though." Hamuko muttered into his shirt, her thoughts focused on Minato, rather than on the card notifying her of Moon Level 9. "…Does this mean you'll stop calling me names?"

"Idiot…"

They stayed hugged like that until the sun set in the horizon.

* * *

><p>"So, do you have that manga collection, yes or not?" Minato asked from the doorframe of Hamuko's room.<p>

"Augh, wait a second! I know it was somewhere under here, I kicked it some days ago!" She yelled as she moved the garbage away the best she could with her bandaged hands. She let out a big sigh and walked towards Minato. "Can't find it, man. Sorry!"

"Eh, that's alright. I'll let her keep thinking that money doesn't bring happiness."

"Or you could buy her the actual collection with the hundreds of thousands of yen which we've got." She laughed heartedly, and then smiled quietly as he walked away. "Hey, Minato!"

"Yeah?" He turned back to her.

"…Miki." She beamed, extending her hand towards him.

"Kitaro." He shook it with an amused grin on his face.

"Thanks for yesterday. And for every day. You're the best friend I've ever had." She announced coyly, blushing slightly.

Minato gave heaved a tired sigh as he rubbed the back of his head, but then looked at her with a smile. "…Persona bros, I guess?"

"PERSONA BROS!" She exclaimed as she hit her fist with his. "But I'm still not gonna lose our tournament."

The bluenet snorted. "…I wouldn't want it any other way."

* * *

><p><strong>Hoo boy. 'Big' reveal :V<br>**

**Talking to dogs is less weird than spending hours feeding cats to increase your Expression ',:3**


	75. Blackmail

**Author note: Sorry for being SO late. I've had problems writing this chapter, I've had things to think about IRL, I've spent way too much time talking to my beta reader **_(who has been encouraging her to write. :I)_** and hanging out with my boyfriend, and I will have exams in two weeks. **

**Being a bro doesn't mean romantic involvement. Unless it's bromance and my readers are yaoi fan…people. _Just a thought_ ,':3**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta readin!**

* * *

><p>"…And then he put a hat on me and… suddenly I remembered a lot of things!"<p>

"Wow… that man sure sounds intense…"

The Fools were walking to school with Aigis, as usual. The only difference was that they had never had the chance to talk about their pasts like now. No one who could have ever understood them better.

"Yanno, Johei is Raidou's name in one of the prequel novels I read as a kid." Hamuko commented, a genuinely cheerful grin on her face as she talked about her childhood hero. "Man, the Junior Detective's brother, and Raidou Kuzonoha's grandson… Talk 'bout a badass bloodline!"

"Said the girl whose brother could knock out a bear…" Minato remarked with a hint of frustration. "Akihiko's sister… Seriously, what were the chances?"

"More than your case, I guess."

"I am rather improbable."

Both teens looked at Aigis. Hamuko then proceeded to begin laughing so hard that she fell to the ground, and kept her laughter down there mixed with little whimpers of pain.

Minato rose an eyebrow. "…I guess that was funny."

"Thank you." The robot bowed.

…

* * *

><p>The morning was calm. Neat. Uninteresting. Save for that one minute in the lunch break when Minato went to Yukari to ask if she wanted to have lunch with him, making Hamuko go on full aggressive kitten mode and snatch him away. Other than that, they were almost as brotherly as Hamuko and Junpei. That was both bad and good, mind you, for very different reasons, but Minato was okay with it. It was a temporary situation… and that was a horrible thought he'd rather forget he ever had.<p>

"Hey Minato." The aforementioned red eyed girl trotted towards his table when the school day was over. "I guess you probably have plans already, but… I need to see you in the Command Room tonight."

"_Need to_? What's wrong?" He asked without looking up as he clumsily finished putting his Physics book in his schoolbag with his left hand.

"I um…" Hamuko glanced around.

Too many people. Minato took his cue and got up, then followed her out of the school classroom.

"I'm gonna tell'em."

"Tell who what?"

Hamuko folded her arms and grimaced. "I'm gonna confess to our senpai that I attacked you."

Minato opened his eyes wide. "You… you will?" He shot her an incredulous look. "…Why the change of heart?"

"Um, err, I…" She took her hand to her collar, probably wanting to fidget with her ribbon, but it was nowhere to be seen, so she folded her arms again. "Shinji told me to do so…"

"_Oh_."

"…But I didn't listen to him." Wow. That was new. "I finally noticed all you've done for me, and I realized that just a 'thanks' wasn't enough for being there for me the other night after being such a bitch to you. So, I'm gonna tell'em what's wrong with us." Hamuko's gaze wandered progressively down to the ground as her cheeks became a nice pink. "…Can't leave my Bronato like that."

"Don't call me that, _Sismuko_." Minato gave her a really forced smile. He really didn't like that name since he was trying not to think too much about how he was being friend-zoned like Junpei once was long before. "…So what about all the other things I've done for you throughout the year? Not gonna pay for those?" He teased.

The brunette snorted. "I paid you those with a night of passion."

"A noon of passion." He corrected.

"There you go, I don't usually do those things during the day." She shrugged. "Actually, I kinda have to thank you for that, I was kinda outta practice 'cause it'd been like a year since I last—"

"I'll be there tonight, see you later."

Minato headed to the shoe lockers, not willing to hear any more details, while Hamuko just wandered off somewhere else.

"Augh!" A pained cry and a big 'thump!' grabbed Minato's attention as he was about to leave.

"Kaz, are you okay?" A familiar voice asked.

The bluenet was about to turn his head and keep his march away from Yuko's voice, but alas…

"Here, let me help."

Kazushi and Yuko both gave Minato a surprised look. For different reasons, he supposed, as Yuko discreetly left.

"Hey man!" Kaz greeted him cheerfully from the ground as Minato helped him stand up. Apparently, he had tripped on the step as he rushed towards the exit. …Good job, Kaz. "It's been forever since we last talked!"

"Yep, we haven't talked much since I last helped you break your knee." He said half kidding half reproachfully.

"Yeah well, I'm fine now. Still a bit clumsy."

"'A bit clumsy' is enough to make me take you to the infirmary. Just to be sure that you're clumsy, that is."

The tanned sportsman chuckled, but then he got suddenly serious. "What about YOU, man? You haven't showed up to the track team since the meet in summer!" Kaz elbowed Minato's ribs painfully. "You'd better have a good excuse ready, or else I'm gonna kick your ass to the moon!"

There was clearly only one way out of this (alive, that is): Minato rolled up his left sleeve.

"Holy crud, man." Kazushi muttered, surprised. As Aigis would say, elimination complete. "And I thought I had it bad… when did that happen? Did the post-operation hurt too much?"

"Hey, your thing is probably worse. I uh… got bitten by a female dog. In summer. Late summer. Nothing too worrying. Quick surgery. Only some mobility lost, that's all." Minato wiggled his fingers with some difficulty. Perhaps it was due to his becoming used to being franker, but Minato found coming up with excuses somewhat more difficult. "So, how is rehab working out for your nephew?"

"Whoa! You remember about him?" Kaz beamed and Minato mimicked him. "He's doing great! Just a few months more, and he'll be fine and able to walk again, I'm sure of it!"

They stepped into the infirmary, only to find Saori helping Hamuko with her bandaged hands. Kazushi greeted the grey haired student without much eagerness, but Hamuko's content smile showed she was happy with this polite gesture for whatever reason.

Minato and Kazushi left, kindly talking about being great friends after Minato became unfocused for a moment after he gave the blunet some sports tape. Huh.

* * *

><p>The hours passed slowly, but Hamuko and Saori had fun working together now that people didn't avoid the latter.<p>

Miss Ounishi eventually showed up. She praised the girls for working so hard and encouraged them to keep on being like that… but there was a sad look on her face.

The two girls walked together out of school, at Saori's request. However, for some reason, she stopped as they crossed the gates, right in front of a taxi.

"My ride's here, so I'm going that way." She said, nodding her head towards the car. "This is where we say... farewell."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then!" Hamuko answered with a smile.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible… This is my last day here at Gekkoukan. I'm leaving for a private school tonight."

The female Fool's jaw felt broken all of a sudden. "WHAT? Why… why the hell would you do such a thing? Now that things were getting better here, you…!"

There was a patient smile on Saori's face. "I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you... But I didn't want you to be sad."

"But… won't you be?"

"Of course I'm going to be sad!" She defended herself. "I will really miss you, but I think this is a turning point for me. I'm going to try to start over and try to stand up on my own. I'll help myself this time, without needing to depend on anyone."

Hamuko didn't know what to say at first. Eventually, an indulgent expression appeared on her face, and she immediately jumped towards Saori, startling her with a strong hug. "I had a lot of fun with you, but don't let anyone convince you to hijack a broadcast system ever again, okay?" She whispered in her ear. "I'll be cheering out for you."

"Thanks." She muttered, returned the hug with the same energy. "I will never forget about you…" With that, she pulled away. "I've always been told... to not have any opinions for myself. That is was an easier way to live. I can make anything someone else's fault... Deep down, I always believed that everything that happened to me was the result of somebody else's doing."

Hamuko couldn't help but blink in surprise at those words. Her friend was speaking metaphorically, but it was bizarre nonetheless.

"But this is my life, and what I do happens to me. No one can take my place, and I have no one to blame but myself for what I let happen to me. That's why I need to stand on my own." Saori said with a surprisingly strong resolve, which suddenly turned into a merry laugh. "I need to have my own voice... I was too scared to accept that, until I met you. You pushed me forward, along with all the fears I had."

"Saori-chan…" Hamuko was deeply touched.

The grey haired girl reached into her jacket pocket and produced a cell phone out of it. After messing a bit with it, a familiar message began blaring out. Saori's speech from a few days prior. Apparently, she recorded it while being on air.

"Whenever I feel scared or discouraged, I'm going to listen to it. I was brave and spoke my own mind, and you helped me find that courage... I'm sure that this will give me strength if I ever need it. I want you to remember this, too." She offered, sending the recording to Hamuko. "Please remember that it's because of you that I was able to do my best. You saved me."

Hermit Max Social Link. Hamuko was still too speechless.

"Remember that article we had to write? Well, I came up with something. Problems with your first love. Mine… was my uncle." She muttered, as she walked into the taxi. "Good thing first loves never come true."

* * *

><p>Hamuko ran after the taxi for as long as she could, wishing Saori the best in her new life, and asking what the hell that meant. She'd never know, she guessed, as her legs finally stopped responding. Nonetheless, Saori would always be in her heart. Like that one little girl.<p>

After this emotive moment, Hamuko awaited the voice announcing which her ultimate Persona would be after the little Max Social Link speech which she'd been ignoring for a while. She never got said Persona. "_What…_? _WHAT?_"

* * *

><p>The brunette stomped her way to the dorm, opening the door with a slam. "MINA-!"<p>

Minato was nowhere to be seen. She awkwardly apologized to the people gathered in the lounge and headed upstairs. She knocked slowly on Minato's door. She could swear she heard an 'oh God, thanks!' from inside, but she decided not to think about it.

"Go ahead, it's opened!" Minato ordered from inside.

Hamuko stepped into the room, ready to begin interrogating Minato.

Next she knew, she was on the ground, with Minato shaking her shoulders by her side.

"…Are you calmer now?" He asked as she opened her eyes. "Two Suppressants can still 'mellow' you, it seems." Suppressants, of course. What a way to knock people out. Hamuko could only hope he hadn't fed them to her the uh… sexy way.

"Whawassai…?" She slurred.

"You came in yelling something about giving you Arahabaki and then began sniffing me and my room. I think you were looking for its Persona card." Minato explained calmly.

"Ara-ara-buh-who?" Hamuko asked as she tried to sit up without much result.

"Exactly." The bluenet gave her a cold look. "It's _my_ ultimate Persona, from the Hermit Social Link, Maya, who didn't seem to be of interest to you and which I completed back in August. And I don't think I've ever used in front of you." He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "_How_ did you know about it?"

"Wait… Hermit Social Link? Saori is my Hermit Social Link! Why the hell did you have…?"

They stared at each other in silence as the realization hit them.

"How many links have you maxed out?"

"Let's see, um…" Minato sat down next to Hamuko as he counted with his fingers. He suddenly seemed to change his mind. "Probably more than you have."

"So you also have all that Arcana stuff, huh? …Not sharing some people doesn't mean we're free of trying to rip each others' guts for power, I guess?" She hit the back of her head softly against a wall. "The Universe's against our brotherness and stuff."

"Brotherliness." He corrected immediately. "And yes, it's a shame." He heaved a big sigh. "I didn't need any more pressure."

"…I still want my ultimate Persona, yanno?" Hamuko growled as she slowly got up. "Ah, sorry, I'd better get outta here before I try to do something stupid again."

"I'm kind of surprised you tried to attack me outside the Dark Hour." Minato commented. "…Perhaps it's been too long since we last killed some Shadows. There are only five days left, right?"

"Yeah, let's kick some massive ass… we'll make some _mass_ destruction!" The brunette laughed as she stumbled towards the door and exited Minato's room.

Just as Hamuko was coming out of the room, Aki walked into the boy's corridor. He appeared startled at first, but his expression turned into one of anger. Before Minato could even begin fearing for his life, the silver head looked at both of them with extreme disdain and then turned his face away as he got in his own room.

"He finds us awful, doesn't he…? My brother… thinks…" Hamuko looked extremely pained about this development. One might as well call it karma, for it used to be the other way around. "I'll… see you later in the Command Room..."

* * *

><p>The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with Koromaru, Aigis and Junpei, for as soon as Minato approached any of the girls, their heated nonsensical arguments began, and without Shinjiro's help, there was no stop to them. Especially since all Mitsuru did about them was stare from afar like a scientist of sorts. Was that how other people felt when Minato did the same some months prior?<p>

Before leaving to go to work, Shinjiro gathered the third years and the Fools in the Command Room, and forced Akihiko to stay after he claimed he wanted to know nothing.

The interrogation that ensued after Hamuko's concise 'I attacked him' was painfully long. Questions, and more questions, some of which made the Fools have to do some ret-conning on previous answers, and inventing parts they weren't even sure of, for refraining to answer was not an option.

* * *

><p>"So, if I understood correctly," Mitsuru spoke after she seemed to have got tired of asking questions, "Seikatsu cowardly put the blame on you, Arisato, yet you had indeed done something similar in the past." She hid her face with a hand. "And that's the sanest part of it all. Your previous claims of having been given information by a powerful Persona were fake, and have been changed to 'a ghost told us'. You claim that every outburst of violence… of any kind, was provoked by some unknown force which takes control of you, and the smell of blood… arouses, this?" She gave them the hardest glare they'd ever seen. "People have been sent to asylums for quite more logical derailments."<p>

"Both of you are mental." Akihiko spluttered, getting up from his chair with a jump. "Why do we have to put up with their bullshit? They do nothing but lie and put everyone in danger with their awful games!"

"True as that might be, my conception of 'possible' has broadened quite a bit since I met them." Mitsuru spoke calmly as she crossed her legs, quite lady-like. "You are a danger to yourselves and all of us, and no matter how we try to separate you for your safety, you tend to reunite, no matter what the last horrible thing you did was." Her voice had a distant hint of fear. "And cannibalism certainly is crossing the last frontier in the horizon of moral despair, be it willingly or… possessed, as you referred to it."

"Just gimme back the position as leader. We don't need anything of these two." The silver head yelled, enraged. "Send them away so they can become circus freaks or something."

"Aki…" Hamuko muttered, tears welling up in her eyes. Minato knew from experience that the encountered feelings from memory recover were quite difficult to deal with, and Hamuko's response to that kind of mental stimuli, while faced to her brother, would not be the most mature.

Akihiko just gave her a deadly glare, apparently repulsed from hearing his name from her.

"This is not even worth discussing. Mr. Chairman would never allow us to fire them. They're indispensable for the team. However…" Her eyes shone dangerously. "There is something they _**could**_ do to repay us for our kindness in allowing them to remain here. Perhaps, you could improve your capabilities and even learn more about the concept of Persona..."

Minato took a little step back, unable to decide whether to grab Hamuko's hand and run away or just listen to what she had to say.

"By being the subject of our experiments."

The Fools startled at hearing such a request. Even Akihiko seemed put off.

"A-and, what if we refuse?" Hamuko asked boldly. She then looked at Minato and got a nod in response. "Minato is already researching things by himself, he needn't—"

"Oh, of course, this is just a suggestion. You have no obligation to accept it and are perfectly allowed to remain here since both of your current families are paying for your studies in Gekkoukan." She linked her hands under her nose, perhaps to hide a malicious grin. "I believe you do understand that we cannot allow ourselves to keep your… _condition_, as you called it, uncontrolled and secret from the others at the same time…" Mitsuru sighed, haughtily as everything she did. "If you refuse to let us _study_ your powers, we will be obliged to make your macabre adventures public. I must know what happens in my dorm, and so does everyone."

Blackmail. Of course. 'How very Kirijo', as Naoto told him a few days ago.

"…Isn't experimenting what your grandfather did, Mitsuru?" Akihiko spoke, most unexpectedly, in favor of the Fools. "Those two completely deserve being treated like lab rats, but what if something goes wrong and we get knee-deep in shit?"

"We are not playing with Shadows and trying to change time as he did." She growled. "We merely want to know more about Personae, following the orders of the Chairman. He wanted us to find out about their powers, remember?"

Akihiko didn't seem fully convinced, but he only shook his head and looked away from the Fools. His eyes had been previously on the little scarred tissue which could be seen partially where Minato's sleeve ended. "Do whatever you want."

"I can't… unless they give us permission."

Mitsuru looked so indifferent. Expectant eyes, hands still linked in front of her face, leaning slightly on the table. She was only lacking orange glasses and gloves to be officially scary.

The red head probably thought that they acted out of embarrassment, for she didn't know that compromising their relation with the others would mess completely their Social Links. She only smiled vaingloriously as they hung their head low in defeat and said 'yes' in a whisper.

"Marvelous." She got up from the sofa and motioned the others to do the same. "Thank you very much for your cooperation. We will be able to assist you much better if we—"

"Assist my ass."

Mitsuru blinked in surprise. "What was that, Arisato?"

"…" Minato glanced away. "Nothing."

"That's what I thought." She turned her head away and began walking towards the door. "Oh, one more thing." She… sneered? "The computer is broken again. I will send Aigis to make sure you two don't kill each other while repairing it. Meeting dismissed." And with that, she and Akihiko left.

Minato only watched intently as the door in front of them closed. He tilted his head to a side in direction of some sobs. "…Please, stop crying already."

Hamuko only whimpered something unintelligible about her brother in response.

The bluenet moved towards the computer and began looking around until he found the folder with the recordings. He kept searching the folder, moving the pointer from top to bottom in the screen.

"What are you looking for?" Hamuko asked meekly, after a few minutes.

Minato patted a chair by his side without taking his eyes off screen.

As soon as Aigis arrived, he sent her to guard the door like a dog.

And so they watched and laughed at Mitsuru rambling about her clothes and how not-cute they are while being clad in nothing but a towel. Why? Minato would like to say revenge, but it simply was amusing. And Hamuko fortunately didn't ask how he knew about such a thing. She was too busy thinking up ripostes to tell to the screen, since she'd never pronounce them in front of Mitsuru. At least she didn't ask him how did he know about this recording.

Once the recording was over, they decided not to be stupid for once and actually headed to their respective rooms before the Dark Hour began, not before Hamuko thanked him for cheering her up. Eh, that 'cheered him up' too.

* * *

><p>Nothing interest going on in the morning, except for that weird look they got from Mitsuru when they laughed at her face while she was trying to tell them when the experiments would begin. Not the best idea, probably.<p>

* * *

><p>That afternoon, however…<p>

"Hamuko-sama~!" The ever spry foreign blonde called from outside their room. It was like a mermaid chant inviting them to get out of the classroom.

"Oh, hey Bebe!" Hamuko exclaimed after checking there was no way to escape without being seen.

"Good afternoon, Bebe-san." Aigis greeted him curtly. Minato mimicked her with a simple nod.

"Oh, Aigis-sama! Minato-sama! You're 'ere as well!" Bebe clapped his hands in delight. "I bought more materials to keep ze production of ze kimono, Hamuko-sama! You come 'elp me make a great kimono so I can stay 'ere mo, too, Minato-sama, Aigis-sama!"

As soon as he pronounced those words, Hamuko turned towards Minato and gave him a ferocious look.

"Of course, I'd love to help you!" Minato smiled smugly. "Would that be alright with _you_, Hamuko?"

Minato had managed to frame her into accepting, since saying no would make her look like a jerk in front of Bebe.

"The more, the merrier…" She gave him a hilariously forced smile.

When Minato was walking past her in the way out of the room, she grabbed his arm strongly. She softened her clasp on it upon remembering what was under his sleeve.

"Temperance. Shared. Only one of us can get the max Social Link." She rose her eyebrows. "Bros before Tarots and all that, _**right**_?"

"My, Hamuko, weren't you the one who said you'd give it all, friends or not?"

The brunette said nothing other than doing an 'I'm watching you gesture'.

"Why is she pointing at her eyes and then at you?" Aigis asked from Minato's side. "Does Hamuko-san want to give you her eyes? Oh, I see…" She nodded to herself. "She's '_giving you the eye'_."

If Aigis said so.

* * *

><p>On the left corner, with SIX maxed Social Links and a lethal ball of yarn he doesn't really know how to use, <strong>Minato Arisato<strong>, the slightly emo detective wannabe!

On the right corner, with THREE maxed Social Links and armed with crochet sticks as blunt as… uh… something really blunt, **Hamuko Seikatsu**, the hamster master of stuffed animals!

There is only one way to obtain the honorable Temperance Level 8.

**BATTLE START-O**!

"Can you pass me ze yellow zread in ze centre of ze table?"

"Leave it to me!" Hamuko throws herself on the table to reach the thread spool, but her arms are too short!

Minato tries to stop her advance throwing _**ball of yarn**_ at her head, but she parries it! She counter-attacks with a menacing foot-stomp!

Hamuko uses _**crochet stick**_ to reach her objective, but she pushes it away! **Miss!**

Minato reaches out to retrieve the lost _**ball of yarn**_! He then remembers his objective!

Hamuko uses _**crotchet stick**_ to make Minato back off, but it's too blunt to scare him!

"Use this!" Aigis throws _**cardboard shuriken **_at Minato. He briefly wonders were she got it.

Hamuko goes for a stab! Minato blocks it with his bare hands and then throws the _**cardboard shuriken**_ at her! It hits her cheek!

Minato grabs a _**piece of fabric**_ and covers Hamuko with it!

Hamuko is unable to move!

Minato decides to jump for the reel now she's distracted!

However, there's no reel anymore.

"Eh?"

"Cool, sugoii!" Bebe applauded energetically as Aigis handed him the thread spool. "Is the battle already over? Wonderful! Arigato, Aigis-sama!"

"…Aigis defeated us."

"...Yeah."

**Mission failed.**

* * *

><p>So in the end, Hamuko won Bebe's affection because she began making a yellow scarf with Minato's yarn. What a dick.<p>

* * *

><p>Not much else happened that day. Minato talked to his favorite famous conman about the power of money and how easy it was to use people. Meanwhile, Hamuko was desperately seeking Shinji. Too bad, he was working. Or perhaps avoiding her. Nah.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Why do they keep going back to being friends (who try to kill each other on a regular basis)? Well, uh… no force could separate some fire forged friends! Search your feelings, you know it to be true!<strong>

**EVERYONE GO PLAY THE GAME REFERENCED IN THE MOCK BATTLE SCENE! AKA Little Busters.**

**Oi, gadeel. More like "They had sex and made up." Non-romatically. :y**


	76. Watchful Eye

**Author note: Evilshroom recognized this time my being late is his fault *w*/**

**Someone update the length of my fic in the Fanfic Recommendations thingamajigger, please! (and remember that any review there and adding your name to the list of recommenders feels like 1000 reviews here ;w; Editing the TVtropes articles feels like 250).**

**On another note, check out this neat new Fanfic, Sibling Troubles! By h3AdS1aMM3r. It's really adorable 8D And thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading!**

* * *

><p>Today is Thursday, the first day of October. That means that exams are getting closer, and that means that the Cooking Club will have to be closed for a while, since there aren't enough active members to keep it going near exams time. Hmmm, maybe if Minato or Shinjiro-senpai decided to join…<p>

Fuuka almost always goes to school with Yukari and Ken. Sometimes Junpei goes with them too, and Yukari begins calling him out for being a 'tag along kid', which then offends Ken, and Yukari has to apologize. They're all so funny! Now, if only they listened to her when she asks them to stop lest they'll be late…

Minato, Hamuko and Aigis, and her senpai go to school by themselves. Fuuka usually wonders why could that be. Maybe they have to stop somewhere else before going to school, and they don't want to make the others arrive late? Ah, that seems about right. All the S.E.E.S. members are so nice! Fuuka should have found them sooner, they're such good friends!

Oh, that's right! Today, Fuuka isn't going to school with the usual group, but… Shinjiro-senpai and Koro-chan!

Fuuka got up late, so the others had already left, but, instead of letting her go to school alone, Shinjiro-senpai said that he had to go buy something at Paulownia and grumbled that he'd go with her. That's only what he says, though; Fuuka knows that he's really only going to accompany her, since he's a really good boy who wants to look tough. Hamuko often says that he's like an enormous teddy bear with a longcoat, haha.

He doesn't say anything when they arrive to school, but he looks at the building with a curious expression. Maybe he misses school. In any case, he turns around and heads back to the gates.

"U-um Shinjiro-senpai!," Fuuka calls decidedly, "I-I wanna cook dinner tonight!"

He isn't a very talkative boy. But that's alright, because Fuuka knows that that nod means that he fully supports her.

* * *

><p>Fuuka helps Natsuki with English that morning. Apparently some students heard her and began whispering about how smart she is! Teehee…<p>

* * *

><p>"I'll make dinner tonight!" Fuuka announces during lunch break, when all the second years of S.E.E.S. are gathered in the roof. Everyone looks so surprised! They must have been impressed by Fuuka's determination, yup! "Leave some space for tonight, okay?"<p>

Minato, Hamuko and Yukari have already left their bentos aside. They'll be hungry like wolves tonight! Teehee, better make a bigger meal for them.

* * *

><p>As Fuuka walks out of class that afternoon, she sees Minato and Hamuko pushing each other with their shoulders, pinching each other's cheeks and yelling as they run through the corridors. It seems fun. Is it a new dance? Oh, wait, maybe they're playing kick the can to be even hungrier!<p>

Whatever it was, it ends with Hamuko crashing against a wall as Minato suddenly runs in the opposite direction, chased by a group of boys and a girl with glasses, with the former shouting that they want their money back. …O-okay.

* * *

><p>Fuuka lays all the ingredients in the kitchen bench, and takes a look around to make sure she knows where everything is. Tuna, rice, mentaiko, natto… And that's Shinjiro-senpai, watching intently.<p>

"You need help?"

She shakes her head quickly. "I'm going to do this alone. I only need to remember yours and Hamuko's advice!"

Shinjiro-senpai grunts something and then walks away.

* * *

><p>It's been a hard evening. Fuuka has had to use her best knife wielding, rice shaking, ingredients breaking, dinner making skills… but, sincerely, it's paid off. She can now hold the tray with pride and walk to the kitchen table, where everyone is waiting for her. Mitsuru and Akihiko are commenting something with Shinji while the others are quietly playing with Koro-chan. There's an expectant atmosphere.<p>

A deep silence ensues as Fuuka lays the tray on the table.

"R-rice balls for dinner?" Minato asks with his eyes fixed on the tray. Haha, nobody could have ever expected that!

"You did this alone, right Fuuka-chan? Y-You're good at rice balls, no?" Hamuko licks her lips. She looks at Shinjiro-senpai who's sitting in front of her, and then exchanges looks with Minato. "L-let's dig in."

The three reach out slowly for a triangular rice ball, and hold it tightly in front of their faces. The rest then follow and do the same. Maybe they're shy? Oh, wait, she forgot to tell them what's in!

"There's picked plum, mentaiko, natto, salmon, seaweed, tuna and wasabi!"

For some reason, they have startled as soon as Fuuka mentioned wasabi. Hmm.

"Russian roulette." Shinjiro mumbles under his breath.

Everyone takes a bite. No one speaks a word.

"H-How is it?" Fuuka asks meekly.

Minato swallows loudly. He then looks at her with wide eyes. "T-This is…"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Awesome!" Hamuko yells.

"…Delicious!" Yukari comments, impressed.

"This is really good, Fuuka-san!" Ken joins the praising, but promptly leaves his share on his plate, claiming he's not hungry.

"Rice balls are a truly bizarre choice for a dinner menu, but they're certainly good." Even Mitsuru-senpai…!

"HOT, _**HOOOOOOOOOOT**_!" Junpei yells at the top of his lungs. …Perhaps a wasabi rice ball wasn't such a _hot_ idea. …Haha.

* * *

><p>The mountain of rice balls Fuuka had prepared disappeared in five minutes, so now everyone's helping tidy the place.<p>

"Hey." Minato pokes her shoulder while gathering some strength to carry his pile of glasses. "All that practice sure paid off. Those were the best rice balls I've ever had." He smiles. "I'm glad of having seen you improve so much. I knew you had the potential; you only needed to put some effort."

H-Huh? H-He's glad of… Buh-buh-buhwhat?

Fuuka does her best not to blush while nodding quickly. "T-Thank you. I wanted to make you happy, and everyone else too, for supporting me…"

"Huff!" He finally manages to lift his pile, and begins stumbling towards the dishwasher. "…You really must love cooking."

"…What do you mean?"

"I've seen you do nothing but practice non-stop to improve since you joined S.E.E.S. You wouldn't do that if you weren't passionate about it, would you?"

Being passionate about cooking? Well um… Would it be okay to tell this to Minato-kun?

"I um… I only wanted to try something… try to be positive about it… when you all are around I don't think so…" The teal haired girl realizes she's mumbling, but she really can't stop herself.

Minato doesn't seem to mind. He smiles warmly and nods, in a way to seems to say that everything is going to be alright. He's so nice…

Then, suddenly a sponge flew across the room and right into Minato's face, effectively breaking his balance and sending him to the ground, making all the mugs and glasses fall.

He doesn't seem hurt, and none of the glasses has broken, but Fuuka'll have to pray for Hamuko's safety after that joke, since Shinjiro-senpai claims to be too busy to stop them.

* * *

><p>Later, that evening.<p>

It was official. Shinji was avoiding her. There was no other explanation to his silence towards Hamuko every single day and even refusing to protect her after initiating an attack against Minato –against her will… of course. That much she could understand, but still. He'd gone from working every once in a blue moon to being a workaholic.

Hamuko had supposed that sharing her memories with him would finally let him be at ease around her, perhaps bring him some peace, but he'd changed radically. Her brother, her Shinji... even Junpei had a girlfriend now, for crying out loud. And talking to Minato was a bad option right now. Wouldn't want to get a mug slammed against her face.

Ah, thinking about it wouldn't really do anything but depress her. She decided to pick up a book and plop down on the sofa, however…

That growling noise wouldn't let her chill out.

"Ken, are you hungry now?" Hamuko asked with her head almost glued to the book.

"N-no…" His stomach said otherwise.

"…I don't really feel like reading now." She turned the page and looked up. "Want me to cook something for you?"

"N-no! Don't worry! I'm not hungry!" He exclaimed.

Hamuko slammed her book shut and left it on the sofa. "You make people worry more when you say that." She crawled towards Ken's position and sat down. "There are LOTS of children out there dying of hunger! We have food! Didn't you want to grow big and strong? Then eat since you can!"

The brunette only realized that she'd been yelling after finishing her speech. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked down, trying not to meet Ken's shocked stare. "…I'm sorry. I barely had enough to eat when I was a child."

"So she stuffs herself now that she's somewhat less of a child, you see."

It was a shoe what almost hit Minato's face this time.

"So yeah." Hamuko coughed into her hand while Minato just went back to watching a documentary about wish-granting foxes after throwing the remote at her. "If you really want to be a worthy adult you have to eat well, remember? Tell me, what food do you like?"

"…" Ken looked down at his feet. "Omelette and fried rice…"

"Good. Come to the kitchen." The brunette grinned at him. "But first…"

Watching the Fools fight for a shoe had to be quite a show.

* * *

><p>"So, what's wrong?" Hamuko asked as she tried her best to make the omelette not jump onto her head while flipping it. "You always eat a lot. What's with the 'I'm not hungry' today?"<p>

"I uh…"

"Ken, mumbling ain't nice. You gotta speak up." She scolded him jokingly. "C'mon, tell me. I'll tell no one, I promise. Except Koro-chan. He's trustworthy."

Hamuko could hear him inhale deeply. "I just… don't feel well."

"Stomachache?" She asked without turning around.

"No… it hurts higher than that."

"Ah, gotcha. Heartburn." She laughed at her own joke, but he didn't seem to share the feeling. "Did something happen?"

"N-No..."

The female Fool left the omelette aside to look at Ken. He seemed to be on the verge of tears. "…You won't tell me, will you?"

"Hamuko-san, please…" He sobbed.

Being unable to see him like that, Hamuko couldn't help but run to him to give him a hug. It seemed to startle him more than anything, as he got pretty flushed, but she didn't know what else to do. "What? What's wrong?"

"I promised I would change, but I…" Ken was gritting his teeth so strongly that they must have hurt. "I can't do it… I don't have the strength to forgive…"

"…Forgive?" She blinked in surprise. "Forgive whom?"

"I'm not an adult yet… I can't…" He began crying silently.

"H-hey! I'm only six years older than you! I'm not an adult either! But I have the strength to forgive people when they do something bad, like when I get on fights with Minato? Hey?"

Ken mumbled something which Hamuko couldn't understand at all, but she didn't have the heart to tell him to speak up. Justice Level 6, and Ken excused himself, taking the dish to his room, obviously doing his best not to begin wailing like a baby. Kids are cruel, she guessed.

* * *

><p>"<em>Psst. Minato. Can you feel it?<em>"

Minato looked up from his textbook, only to see Hamuko looking out of the window while drumming her fingers frantically against the desk. He was doing his best to remain focused as well.

"_Yes, I know, the full moon is near. Now calm down and focus. There are only two weeks left until the midterm exams_."

"_Only two days until the full moon. Guess which worries me more_." She answered, continuing to tap the desk energetically.

Well, she was right to be worried, judging by their previous experiences with full moon operations. Particularly about the post-operations, now they were sure that it was not their fault.

He could feel the necessity to burn all that tension as well; however, Witch—err, Mitsuru had ordered them to stay away from Tartarus until the full moon operation. Apparently, she had plans of her own.

"_Hey Minato_." She insisted. "_You never told me what Arcanas you have completed_!"

"_I have the Arcana of pick-a-time, Hamuko! We can't discuss that now! This lesson is important_!"

"_Ow, c'mon! Who cares about a bunch of dead guys_?"

"_**I**_ care about a bunch of dead guys!"

"'**A bunch of dead guys**'?" A furious voice resonated at the other end of the classroom. Mr. Ono had heard them. "How dare you, you simple peasant, insult my ancestors with your youth slang! You dishonor me with your words! I, Ono no Kimi, banish you from this classroom! And your pesky sidekick too!"

"His wha—"

* * *

><p>Holding buckets outside the classroom, huh. It'd been a while since Minato last got in a punishment because of her. At least they got to burn some energy doing some- rather serious- sparring until they exhausted themselves and scared anyone who dared step into the corridors. Good thing the door to their classroom was closed.<p>

"Whew. We needed that." Hamuko sighed as she tried to brush some blood off her cheek. She tried to get up from the floor where they were resting, but she kept falling down. Minato tried to help her, but he had a similar problem with the strength of his arm. "…Maybe next time we should put some protection on our scars."

"Or, you know, try not to get them."

They happened upon a topic neither of them wanted to discuss, so they just went pick up their buckets and pretend they were actually reflecting on their bad actions. Boring.

"So did Senpai tell you what she's gonna make us do?"

"No." Minato shook his head. "She only told me that we'd have a free night tomorrow instead of the usual 'last chance exploration'. She probably wants us to be fully rested to test her crazy stuff on us."

"…Hmmm." Hamuko gave him an aside glance. "They are mad at us, but if something goes wrong, they'll help us, right? We don't have to worry anymore about hurting each other?"

"Yeah. They're some bastards, but they won't let us hurt ourselves." He snorted. "It was a fair trade, I guess. Their trust for our safety."

"Their trust for our bronieness."

"Brotherliness."

"Bucket bros!"

"Bucket tooth."

…Minato had forgotten how sensitive she was about that topic. Good thing they were exhausted, otherwise that key might have broken his arm. The healthy one.

* * *

><p>Bebe and Hamuko didn't do much that afternoon, other than sewing that is. Minato had told her something of taking profit of the arm she'd left in a poor state to get some weird medicine in the nursery… whatever that meant.<p>

The foreigner spent the whole afternoon talking about his love for Japan, while she had her mind in different issues. Before she even noticed, he was done with his kimono, and she had advanced a great deal of her scarf, somehow earning Temperance Level 9. So they proceeded to celebrate it in the Sweets Shop, of course.

* * *

><p>Hamuko finally arrived to the dorm. No Shinji in the lounge.<p>

She let out a small sigh and dragged her feet upstairs, to leave the nearly completed scarf in her room, where she probably wouldn't see it ever again, but, that didn't matter.

She heard a noise downstairs as she was walking out of her room. It could be anything, but she was willing to waste her time seeing who could be there.

Shinji. Shinji walking out of the lounge discreetly, looking rather suspicious. He was probably ready to run the hell out of the place so as to not see her that evening either…

"Shinji." But Hamuko wasn't going to let him.

"I gotta go to work."

"No. Tell me what's going on first."

The brunet gave her a weird look. He was systematically refusing to answer.

"You're working every night, you don't talk to me the few times I see you, and the rest of the time, you're sleeping. Not to talk 'bout the times you're coughing blood, of course. What's going on?"

"I can't…"

"…Oh. Oh wait I geddit." She smiled wryly. "It's 'cause I'm her, ain't it? Or was it the confession? Yeah, that sounds right. I freaked you out with that, didn't I? I ah… know how you are Shinji, so don't worry. Sorry for rambling and all…"

Hamuko bowed and moved in direction to the stairs. However, Shinji grabbed her by the sleeve.

"You're so fucking dramatic…" He sighed.

"It worked, didn't it? And, pot calls kettle back." She cocked up an eyebrow.

"…Huh. Wait for me in the shrine, I'll be there in a second. I'm not abandonin' you or anything, _**'kay**_?"

* * *

><p>Hamuko did as asked. Shinji took his time, but he eventually appeared, carrying a little box.<p>

"I was gonna give it to you tomorrow, but I guess it doesn't matter."

"A… gift?" She asked, taking the box.

After Shinjiro gave her a half nod, she opened the box carefully and peeked inside. "This is… for me?"

There was a beautiful, expensive-looking leather watch inside.

"I've been workin' to get enough money for that. Missed a few lunches in Hagakure, y'know?"

Hamuko pulled him into a bear hug- or the closest thing she could manage, since she just couldn't wrap her arms around her Senpai as she thanked him once and again. A sudden idea struck her and she pulled off, shifting her sight from the watch to the boy.

"Why… why a watch though?"

"'Cause…"

He had a little smile on his face. A smile of resignation.

"'Cause you don't have one, right?" He offered after a few seconds. "…You ain't buyin' it, are you?"

The brunette shook her head, so Shinjiro exhaled slowly and helped her climb the jungle gym.

"I want you to do me a favor." He didn't even wait for an answer. "Care for Aki."

"Huh? …What kinda favor is that?" She asked, surprised. "Yanno he doesn't like me anymore. He gave up on thinking I'm his sister too, right?" She casted her eyes down.

"I promised Minato something long ago." Shinji explained, out of the blue. "I didn't really do anything to make it true, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna end up making me do it after all. Miki… tsk." He ran a hand up his beanie. "Only you could manage to make something so stupid as your one-side promise true after ten years."

"Minato told me something about his lost brother and buying him ice cream." Hamuko commented, amused.

"Idiots. All of you. Now stop changin' the subject." The older boy snorted. "What I wanted to say is, Minato knew that you'd get over it. Aki will too. Just give that idiot some time. You'll be there for him until that happens. Then, one day, when all this is over, you can run to him yelling 'big bwooo' like you used to do, be awfully sappy together and become a family or whatever."

"And you'll be there, calling us names because you're secretly terribly clingy and want a hug too… from him, that is…" She teased.

"Take. That. Back." He growled, strangling her jokingly with the inside of his elbow.

After a few seconds, he let her free and gave her a stern look. "So, you promise?"

"Sure. I'll care for my brother too, but don't you go slacking now that you have my help, eh?" Hamuko gave him a big grin.

"Thanks, Hamuko." Shinji whispered, wrapping his arms around her.

The voices in her head told her an all-too-familiar message. "_Thou art I... And I am thou... The bond thou hast nurtured hath finally matured. The innermost power of the Moon Arcana hath been set free. We bestow upon thee the ability to create Sandalphon, the ultimate form of the Moon Arcana..._" …Moon Social Link, level 10. Hah, take that Minato!

"…Hey." She looked up slowly from his coat. "You… actually said my name."

"I—"

Shinji blushed furiously as Hamuko reached out for his cheek, and moved her face to his to meet his lips.

A familiar bark echoed in this distance at the same time Shinjiro pulled away. Minato and Koromaru just walking by.

"…Care for him, alright?" Shinjiro repeated before jumping to the ground, running a sleeve over his mouth.

Hamuko couldn't help thinking that there was something amiss as he headed to the station…

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter begins with October 3rd. RUHROH.<strong>


	77. Vendetta

**Author note: my fic has more than 100,000 hits and 150 favorites 8D Hi-five to everyone who's made this real *w*/ Mein readers, best readers.**

**You have your handkerchiefs ready, myes? **

**Thanks Evilshroom for beta reading and the battle scene! And to everyone who adds tropes *w*d**

* * *

><p>"Six, seven…"<p>

"Don't point at them, Junpei…"

Lost. Lost everywhere. No matter where you looked. Pale students. Zombies who'd suddenly lost their aim and did little more than just standing there. They also left some nice drool pools under their feet.

"We can only do our best to protect them." Aigis stated with determination.

"Yes, we'll save them in tomorrow's operation." Minato commented.

Mitsuru had allowed them to go around without Aigis's, but, Minato had begged her to allow Aigis to keep going with them every day. Or at least that's what Hamuko had told him. She also said something about 'not knowing that young man's intentions for my robot!'.

"Aw yeah! Oh, oh! I know! I'll go to the hospital tonight to ask Chidori for a good luck kiss, hey?"

"A good luck kiss. What a cute euphemism." The blue head snorted.

"…Eh?"

"I believe Minato-san is implying…"

A few giggles caught Shinjiro's attention.

"Aren't they full of energy?" Hamuko asked, eyeing him discreetly.

"Said the genki girl." Shinji remarked dryly.

Sure enough, having a robot on your ass all day at your own will is some fucked up creepy stuff. Turning up at 7 am while shouting it was time to go to school was just as crazy.

"Yanno, that uniform looks really good on you, Shinji. …You could have taken out your beanie, though. I mean, everyone here wears their uniforms how they want to, but…"

Then again, it was Saturday. Half a day in school wouldn't be that bad.

"C'mon, we're gonna be late!" The brunette yelled, excitedly. "From now on, I'm taking you school with me every day! You've played tormented loner long enough, lazy!"

Endure one last school day. Just to see that crybaby smile one more time.

* * *

><p>Shinjiro walked to his desk while Hamuko cheerfully told him farewell before heading to her own classroom. He could feel the flabbergasted looks fixed on his neck. Even that Ekoda bastard couldn't believe it.<p>

"A-Aragaki-san?"

"No, I'm his evil twin. Now shut it."

Woo, nap time.

* * *

><p>Lunch break on the roof. Shinji really missed that.<p>

The door leading to Shinji's personal shelter opened, but it wasn't who he was expecting.

"Whoa, so the rumors were true! You really are here!" Aki sounded way too amused. "What's up Shinji? Are you a good boy now?"

"Nah, I just felt like seeing your ugly face a few hours more a day." He snorted. "Now, beat it, I'm waiting for someone. Where's Kirijo? Shouldn't you be makin' out with her or something?"

"Wha—" Bull's eye. Aki turned red as a tomato. "S-she's not my girlfriend! A-And she's already gone home, you idiot!"

"Huh? Little miss President is skipping classes?"

"It's Saturday."

"…_Oh_."

"I knew you'd forget it. This is the first place I could think of when Mitsuru asked me to find you." The silver head smirked. "So _**what**_ brought you back?"

"Nothing. Maybe your idiocy. It must be rubbing off me. I'm leavin'."

Shinji got up slowly and opened the metal door without any effort.

"Take care, idiot."

"I always do." Said idiot answered proudly. "Wait, I don't have any match today, why are you…?"

Welp, let's head home.

* * *

><p>"<em>Zzz…<em>" That sounded like a snore.

"_Boo buhbuh bah buh boooboooo… zzz…_" And that sounded like a moron.

Shinji walked out of the school gates, and followed the distorted music and the babbling following it. There was a brown headed idiot with red headphones sleeping by the door. How could she be doing so when even he could hear the music was still a mystery.

The brunet had to restrain his first instinct to wake her up with a kick and crouched down instead to shake her shoulders.

She hit the ground with a loud thump and then began rolling around and whimpering, clutching her head in pain. …Déjà-vu?

"WHY would you ever do that? Ow, ow, ow…" She opened her eyes and stopped rolling around, deciding instead to lay facing him. Nice panties. "Oh! HEY SHINJI!"

"Wanna go deaf?" He took her headphones out. "You shouldn't sleep somewhere like here."

"Ah, that's right, only hobos like you are allowed to do that." She grinned devilishly. …That girl and her brother were sometimes eerily similar. "Anyway, I wasn't sleeping. I was reading." She reached out for a book with a picture of a general and a guy with a very characteristic hat. "I'm almost done with it!"

"...Isn't that the same book you were always reading as a kid?"

"No, it's a saga. It's a different one!" She explained excitedly. "They're the best detective and sci-fi books to ever have been created, and now I have money to buy them all! Oh, oh, and, guess what! Minato's the writer's grandson! He told me that the next issue would take place in San Diego in 2017 with the fifteenth Raidou Kuzunoha and…"

She kept on rambling like a nerd about the book while Shinji picked her up by the collar and began carrying her to the station.

* * *

><p>"…And that's where I stopped reading, because I fell asleep!" Hamuko took a deep breath as she finally ran out of words upon arriving to the dorm. "Augh. Sore throat. Water."<p>

"Ya'd be better off with an infusion. Or painkillers. A Spirit Drain spell?" Shinji shook his head disapprovingly. Really, that girl…

"Aw, no. I slept enough. I mean, I didn't sleep yesterday, and that's why I fell asleep and—"

"And why you barged into my room this morning?"

"Ah… yeah, that's one of the reasons…" She… she was blushing. "I… couldn't sleep yesterday because I thought that… maybe you were angry at me, that happened to me once, yanno? Someone got mad because I kissed him once… so I didn't want you to be angry because of what I did yesterday, so I wanted to check on you… and…" Her voice progressively trailed off.

Shinji wasn't angry. He really had to leave to go to work the previous day. However, maybe he was better off not telling her that. After all…

"Um, y-yanno, I've been meaning to tell you something for a while… m-my whole life more like… I-it d-d-doesn't matter who I am or w-who I was I-I've always, I-I-I-I…"

God, and now she's feeling moe.

"T-this is no good, I can't tell you here… Minato used to say that I shouldn't tell 'I love you' just like that…"

W-wha… "…Y-You just said it."

"…" She opened her eyes wide and pressed her lips together. "DAMN! Dammit dammit dammit! I'm always screwing things up! Just now that I had a perfect chance to ask to go to your room and—"

Awkward silence.

Of the impossibly awkward kind.

"You're _**NOT**_ going to my room. Impossible. Zero chance. I'm not letting you in there."

"B-But why? I mean, I've been waiting to be with you for so long, without even knowing it! S-so I just wanna—"

Aah, fuck, no. That couldn't be! Sure, she was hot and willing but—but… the next day… "W-What if you attack me, huh?"

"I will write you a note saying that I wanted to do this, in case I forget again!" She offered with a scary determination.

"I'm a bad guy! A delinquent! And you are—"

"The biggest slut of Gekkoukan High, pleased to meet you." W-What kind of answer is that? "My room or yours, then?"

"Tsk… What if I try to r-rape you or something when you're there, HUH? Haven't you thought of that?"

She looked up slowly and folded her arms. "So what if I let you?"

"Could you two stop manifesting your nefarious intentions towards each other in my presence?"

Hamuko kind of fainted as soon as Kirijo said that. Fortunately, she was talking to Yukari and Junpei, who were talking about kicking each other's heads off.

* * *

><p>It would be over tomorrow, and it was obvious that Hamuko was only pretending to be unconscious, but…<p>

"This room sure is tidy… and empty." Hamuko observed as she wandered around. "My room used to be tidy like this, but then I decided that this dorm was going to be my home, and messed it up badly."

"…Why?"

"Um… symbolism?" Laziness, he guessed.

Silence took over again. It was a rather common thing between them when Hamuko wasn't rambling.

"So, uh…" She glanced around. "Do you have a pen and some paper? I wouldn't want to take any risks."

"Don't want risks? Get outta here. It'll be the best for us."

Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows. "Is it because you don't like me? Or, are you really afraid of me? …Oh, you wanna remain a virgin until marriage?"

"_**Who**_ said I'm a virgin?"

Her expression lit up in a worrying way.

"Then, you don't want to do it with me, is that it?"

"…"

She only yelped a little as he pushed her onto the bed, crushing her with his body.

"You just do what you want, don't ya? Just like back then. You just cried until someone did what YOU wanted. What 'bout what _**I**_ want, Hamu? Ever thought of that?"

"Of course I have. I've been thinking about it for a long time." A grin. "And what I came up with is: you didn't leave me the day Aki gave you a beating. Why would you do so now?" She reached out for Shinji's face and stroked his cheek. "If you really don't want me here, then move. I'll get up and leave."

Silence.

Fucking silence.

Shinjiro could do little more than hope he hadn't broken her neck when he embraced her. "You're so fucking selfish. You ain't Miki at all. You ain't the girl who always made me eat all the vegetables. You don't share your lunch with cats anymore either, right?"

"Yeah. I'm myself now. You're just as scary as ever, though." She looked about to cry. "But, that's okay. Because I love you. I always have, alright? You can blame the moon, or call me crazy for needing to be with you so bad, even when I didn't know you, but I'm sure it's love. This has to be love."

"Hah…" She was messing everything up. Shinji had everything ready to leave. He didn't need all these stupid distractions. "For your own good. Leave. You gotta leave now. If you don't, I won't give you another chance."

"I'm not moving from here then." She stated with determination.

Shinjiro left her back on the bed and took a deep breath. "Idiot…"

He got on his knees, to see her better. "Promise me one thing. Don't cry. I hate it when you wail."

"But…" Hamuko gulped. "I-I can't help screaming, Shinji."

…Huh. "I don't mean now. Don't cry. Ever. And don't forgive me if I make you do so."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Seriously. Forgive everything. But not me."

"Shinjiro." She called softly as she linked her hands behind his neck. "Shut up."

He did, by biting her mouth, and making sure she wouldn't open it until he told her. He'd been holding back for a really long time.

The future could sincerely go fuck itself for all Shinji cared right then. There was no tomorrow for him.

Only a woman under his arms, not a girl.

"Aah… S-shin…"

Only a blouse to rip off.

A skirt to take out.

Underwear to tear away.

_Fill in the blanks_.

And when she was done trying to scream for her life, she sighed and looked at him. With tired, happy eyes. Like she wanted to say something.

Whatever, he was too happy to think about it.

…Encore.

* * *

><p>Sleeping was next to impossible the night before a mission for any Persona user. However, there he was, sleeping blissfully. Maybe it was because his body was too weak, because of the Suppressants. He did almost break the mood coughing a few times throughout the afternoon. Almost, thankfully.<p>

Hamuko sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. That'd been… a bit too rough, but man, for being so sick he sure had a lot of energy.

With half of her clothes torn up, in a way which only mattered to her now that she wanted to go to her room, she got up and grabbed his coat. He surely wouldn't mind if she borrowed it for a while, right?

The brunette walked silently out of the room after giving him a little goodnight kiss. She walked through the corridor, fully aware that everyone was awake and that it'd be a miracle if they hadn't heard the ruckus inside Shinji's room. However, there was someone who would find her even if she was completely silent. There was no trace of him in the boys corridor, though…

Deciding not to think much about it, she climbed the stairs, with the pile of rags in her hands and everything.

As she was about to get in her room, a door in the other side of the corridor opened. Hamuko was afraid it'd be Mitsuru, but, instead, Minato appeared, wearing headphones around his neck. They exchanged surprised looks, before chuckling awkwardly.

"We had the same idea, huh?" Hamuko asked, rather amused by the situation.

"One thing led to the other, and…I couldn't say no, once again. I'm sure she liked it, though. The evening I spent having cake with her, that's it." His eyes wandered up as he laughed, towards the torn up clothes she was carrying. "…Are you okay?"

"Yep! …I need a pill now, though."

"A Suppressant?"

"Uh, haha… yeah, a… Suppressant." She rubbed the back of her head, making half of the clothes fall in the process. "So wait, who's room where you in?"

"Oh, can't you guess?" A smirk broke forth in Minato's face. "Fuuka. Scathach feels like quite a cool Persona."

"WHAT? YOU BAS—" The other half of the pile fell when she rose her hands in the air. "Hrng… I don't have time to take revenge now, go do some loner junk somewhere else until tomorrow!"

"No, no, Hamu. Revenge is _**mine**_. It was about time you paid for the Hierophant Link." Minato messed her hair as she bent down to pick up her clothes.

"Why you little—" She growled, and before Minato could do anything, tackled him to the ground. "Now you're picking that up!"

"Hamuko. The coat."

Hamuko looked down at the opened long coat. "…This should be embarrassing right?"

"Hum, yeah…" He gulped. "But I'd be more worried about senpai coming out of their rooms, and—"

The brunette ran into her room immediately. A sigh and a couple of knocks followed suit.

"Your clothes. And the coat, please." Minato kicked the pile in. And…

Wait, was that a persimmon with a face?

"G'night."

"Ah, yeah… Good night!"

She closed the door slowly.

…The Dark Hour vanished.

"Minato!" Hamuko yelled after a few seconds. Upon attracting the bluenet's attention, embarrassment suddenly caught up to her. "He, um…" She needed a moment to finish the sentence. "He didn't say 'I love you'."

Minato didn't seem to know what to say.

"Ahaha um… sorry. Rest well."

* * *

><p>Sunday. Glorious Sunday.<p>

Except the Fools weren't allowed to get out of the dorm. Minato kind of wished he had Akinari's phone number… mainly because the day went by horribly slowly, with Mitsuru telling them every two seconds to sleep to gather energy.

And Hamuko wouldn't stop complaining about Shinjiro not being there. Well, sheesh. She didn't whine after they spent a long time together, why the different treatment?

The Dark Hour arrived eventually and the Chairman, once he recovered after a long run on his bicycle, gathered everyone in the Command Room. Everyone but Ken and Shinjiro, who were missing, much to everyone's chagrin, so Fuuka had to work even more to locate them. There was no result, though.

"The target is in the plaza in front of Iwatodai Station!" She exclaimed as Lucia vanished.

"This will be the 10th..." Ikutsuki muttered as he adjusted his glasses. "...Only a few left, but let's worry about them one at a time."

"...Assuming they come one at a time." Yukari giggled.

"...Yukari-chan, how did you know? I sense two of them!" Fuuka said, impressed.

"JIIIIIIIIINX!" Hamuko yelled

"Weren't you brooding or something?" Minato asked, his voice filled with bitterness he didn't mean to include.

"Nope! Fuuka-chan told me that Shinji told her to tell us that he'll meet us later! Or so I've been told." She stated cheerfully.

"Loner freak…" Aki spluttered, obviously mad at Shinji's deserting.

"Maybe he's got a date~" Junpei snickered.

"My, Jun-kun, could it be you talk from experience?" Hamuko growled. Ouch, jealousy. "Oh, that's right. You, a girl, and a lot of chains. You sure like it rough."

"H-Hey, it wasn't like that! Nothing weird happened that night!"

"Indeed." Minato didn't miss Hamuko coughing awkwardly by Fuuka's side.

"So, any news of Ken-kun?" Yukari glanced around. No answer. "Junpei, go look for him."

"What? Why?"

"You're like his brother." The bluenet affirmed. "Everyone's brother."

"Whaaa—" Junpei yelled. "Why don't you send Hamu-chan? She really is like his sister!"

"Are you REALLY sure you want to do that?" Minato asked reproachfully. They then nodded at each other with resignation.

"H-Hey what the hell does that mean?" Hamuko startled.

"Arisato and Seikatsu are not allowed to leave the group tonight.." Mitsuru spoke out of the blue. "We have no time to banter. Look for Amada, Iori. We'll determine the rest of our formation once we arrive."

After a few mumbles from Junpei about how Ken wasn't in his room and a cold glare from their senpai, everyone set off to Iwatodai Strip Mall.

* * *

><p>"There they are!" Yukari pointed to the shadows looming in the distance. "This is the way we go to school! We've gotta protect this place..."<p>

"...Where are Amada and Shinjiro?" Mitsuru growled. "Iori—"

"Senpai, we need to hurry... They look like they're about to make their move!" Fuuka warned.

"Alright. We will go on without them." Mitsuru agreed. "Time to decide a team. Arisato, Seikatsu?"

Minato shared a look filled with dread with Hamuko and sighed.

"The team will be Hamuko and I, Mitsuru-senpai..."

_"Like we have a choice," _he added mentally.

"...And, um..."

He cast about for a team member who might be sympathetic enough towards them to temper Mitsuru's undoubtedly merciless "testing".

"Akihiko would be a suitable choice," the redhead interjected, smiling calmly.

He gritted his teeth.

"Right. Akihiko-senpai, then. Everyone else, be on standby in case members of the main offensive force are incapacitated."

Hamuko groaned, knowing the combination of her two senpai would make for a horrible situation for the two of them. Crossing the street, and out of earshot of the rest of SEES, Mitsuru rounded on them, Akihiko looming behind.

"I'm interested in seeing just what your limitations regarding your abnormal powers really are. These 'Fusion Spells', for example. They've been most helpful in the past, and yet you use them so infrequently. Let's see just what you can do with them."

Minato clenched his fists.

"Mitsuru-senpai, while we agreed to help you with this... testing... I don't believe that the setting is conducive. It's vital that we take these things down. Shouldn't we do this some other time?"

She scoffed, flipping her hair back.

"As if normal Shadows in Tartarus would provide an ample challenge to bring out your maximum potential," she said with a superior smile. "Are you declining to participate?"

"No, but-!"

_"Minato-kun? Senpai? What are you arguing about? The Shadows are getting agitated..."_

"It's-"

"Nothing for you to worry about, Yamagishi," Mitsuru interjected. "It's business between Arisato, Seikatsu, and myself."

_"A-Alright..."_

"Enough talking," she declared. "Let's begin this mission."

The party stood before the two Shadows. Strength had the appearance of a robed woman hovering atop a bouquet of flowers, a scepter grasped in one hand. Fortune was a very thin, somewhat mechanical-looking quadruped, looking far less threatening than the looming Shadow beside it. Upon seeing their approach, Strength twirled its scepter, causing a floral shield to manifest around its counterpart.

_"I can't sense the Fortune Shadow!" _Fuuka reported. _"Focus on the one whose Arcana is Strength!"_

"Akihiko," Mitsuru said calmly, supremely unconcerned. "Test the shield."

"Right," he muttered, placing his Evoker against his temple. A bolt of lightning descended from the sky. When nearing Fortune, it curved off violently, lancing off to explode harmlessly against the bike rack nearby.

"A very formidable defense," Mitsuru mused, not taking note of the larger Shadow advancing menacingly toward them. "Arisato, Seikatsu. Your offensive capabilities outshine Akihiko's by far. Direct your first Fusion Spell toward Fortune."

The two Fools looked each other in the eye for a moment, bracing themselves.

"Thor!"

"Take-Mikazuchi!"

**"Thunder Call!"**

A bolt of lightning dwarfing Akihiko's Zionga split the air above the shielded Shadow. Though it screamed down with impressive force, it was diverted just the same.

"Attacking that one is useless," Mitsuru said dismissively. "Focus your attacks on Strength. Bring it down first."

As if on cue, the stronger of the two Shadows finally roared into action, swinging its scepter down at Hamuko. She rolled to the side while Minato prepared his Evoker.

"Siegfr-"

"Don't waste your energy on anything other than Fusion Spells, Arisato."

"What?" he said incredulously.

_"Mitsuru-senpai, this is a dangerous battle! Why are you limiting what they can do?"_

"As I said, Yamagishi, this is none of your concern. Arisato, you will comply. Akihiko and I will distract the Shadow so that you and Seikatsu can focus on your Fusion Spells."

A combined attack from the two seniors had Strength stumbling back from its onslaught against Hamuko. Minato stepped over to her.

"We're being limited to Fusion Spells only," he reported.

"Aw, come on..." she panted out. "Alright, fine. You wanna try that one we did against the table thingy?"

"That sounds suitable. Siegfried!"

"Ares!"

**"Scarlet Havoc!"**

The Shadow reeled from the powerful attack, redirecting its attention onto the Fools. It howled in some indecipherable way that set the Fortune to standing at attention. It stood upright, an odd pattern forming on the ground below it.

_"A roulette wheel?"_

The wheel, patterned with stars on blue and red fields, began spinning. After a brief spin, it began slowing to a stop, the pointer highlighting two stars on a red field. A pregnant pause filled the air. And then screaming did.

"What the hell was that?" Hamuko screamed, clutching at her chest.

"I suppose it was the Fortune Shadow's roulette game," muttered Minato, rubbing his tender arm. "Let's try not to let it hit a red slot again. Fuuka, could you try to figure out any patterns that thing has so... _that_ doesn't happen again?"

_"I'll try, Minato-kun!"_

"Back to the testing, Arisato."

"Alright, fine!" he snapped back, rapidly losing his temper with the redhead. "We need to take this thing out quickly anyway, even if this isn't the most efficient way."

"This one now, Minato! Black Frost!"

"King Frost!"

**"King and I!"**

Even as he bent over, gasping for breath, Minato recognized that the attacks were slowing Strength down significantly. Its assault on the seniors was lacking the speed and ferocity it once had. Hamuko grinned.

"Heh. Almost got that... son of a... oh man, I'm tired."

"I am as well," the other Fool admitted. "We've never used more than one of these before."

"What's taking you so long?" Mitsuru demanded. "Attack this thing already!"

_"Mitsuru-senpai, Minato-kun and Hamuko-chan seem to be getting exhausted. I don't know what the purpose of driving them so hard in a dangerous situation like this is, but you need to stop before-"_

"ENOUGH, Yamagishi," she snapped. "This is none of your concern whatsoever."

_"I'm sorry senpai, but it seems like you're putting everyone in- look out!"_

The roulette wheel started turning once more.

"Enough of this," Akihiko growled, taking a swing at the Shadow. It didn't pierce the shield, but it caused the wheel to begin slowing once more. The battle seemed to come to a halt as all eyes were on the wheel's pointer.

"Dammit, senpAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIII OW OW OW!"

All four nearly collapsed at the damage inflicted on their bodies.

_"Minato-kun! Hamuko-chan! Akihiko-senpai! Please, get up! I've discovered the pattern- it stopped on the exact opposite side it was pointing at when Akihiko-senpai triggered it to slow."_

"Minato, we gotta heal everybody..." Hamuko groaned out.

"Right. Narcissus..."

"Pixie..."

**"Frolic."**

The healing energy suffused them all, mending the wounds inflicted by Fortune. The Fools stumbled to their feet, a sharp contrast to Akihiko's nimble rise, or Mitsuru's graceful one.

"Is anyone Charmed, Fuuka?" Minato asked.

_"No, thank goodness! Are you feeling alright?"_

"I have been better," he admitted shakily.

_"Please, just fight normally! You're both going to get hurt like this!"_

"I am sorry. We don't have a choice here."

"Arisato! Seikatsu! Finish the Shadow quickly so that we may move on to the second!"

"We're kind of out of offensive Fusion Spells here, senpai," Hamuko said.

"You have no further compatible pairs that produce offensive spells?" Mitsuru asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just one," Minato replied. "But I have them both, and I don't want to even imagine the mechanics of summoning two Personae at once."

"Then hand one over to Seikatsu quickly, so that we can finish up here!"

"What?"

"Are you refusing to obey? Are these tests over now, Arisato? I don't think I've procured enough data yet. Your end of the bargain has not been upheld. Do you think mine will be?"

He grit his teeth, trying one last time to reason with her.

"I don't believe Hamuko is even capable of summoning a particular one of them."

"Then give her the other and quit wasting time!"

Minato's hand twitched towards his Evoker, a dark look filling his eyes. Mitsuru took no notice of it, continuing to assist Akihiko in holding the rampaging Shadow back.

"I will want him back," he muttered in Hamuko's direction, offering a card.

"Right, right. So who's the other one? New maximum Social Link Persona?"

"Yeah. Scathach!"

"Cu Chulainn!"

**"Shadow Hound!"**

...

...

Minato opened his eyes. Why was he laying face-down? Strength was nothing but a puddle now. Good. Hamuko? Ah, same state. Good thing they're done. No more Fusion Spells now...

_"Minato-kun! Hamuko-chan! Akihiko-senpai and Kirijo-senpai are having trouble with Fortune. Please, get up!"_

Fortune. Right. There was a second one. Moving would be a bit out of the question, though. He lifted his head slightly, trying to see the battle. Akihiko and Mitsuru were indeed getting a bit battered by the quadrupedal Shadow, who began actually attacking as well as mixing in roulette techniques when the shield fell. It was a bit difficult to see through Hamuko, who was laying pointed in his direction in front of him.

"Fuuka, get the others. We're about to be out of commission for a little while."

_"Minato-kun?"_

"Just bring them over here, please. Hamuko, wake up. We need to do one more in a second."

She groaned. "I don't think I can... I barely have the energy to lift my Evoker right now."

"I understand. I feel the same way," he muttered. "But Akihiko-senpai and Witchsuru are hurting pretty bad, and we aren't gonna be any help otherwise."

"Frolic again?"

"No, the other one. It will help everyone else out, too."

"Ah. Right," she sighed. "Your Orpheus or mine?"

"I've got the Apsaras..."

"Yeah, huh? Alright... Orpheus..."

"Apsaras..."

"Cadenza..."

"Cadenza..."

Bang. And then the world vanished.

The others raced across the street at Fuuka's behest just in time to see the Fools holding their Evokers forward shakily against the other's head. They mumbled something, and pulled the triggers. Instead of the usual burst of power from the other side of their head, a small amount, more like a trickle, emerged. No Personae came forth. The two did not move.

"Shit!" Junpei swore. "Are they gonna be alright?"

"We can check on them in a minute, Junpei!" Yukari snapped at him. "Let's help Mitsuru-senpai and _then_ worry about them when no one is getting attacked!"

"Right," he grumbled, charging off toward the Shadow, katana in hand. Yukari followed close behind, already nocking and firing off arrows. Aigis cast a forlorn look at the two unconscious Fools, and made her decision, running toward her charges.

Once they all arrived, they saw Mitsuru and Akihiko staring off against the Shadow, a roulette wheel spinning on the ground.

"Uh... you mind telling us why you're not attacking it?"

"We're trying to time it so we can inflict some sort of negative effect on it," Akihiko explained.

"Does the ghost symbol make it die?"

"Huh? I don't know, we've never seen this wheel bef- Junpei, stop!"

Grinning wildly, Junpei swung his sword at Fortune. The wheel began to slow.

Minato awoke with a gasp, and then began to choke on the liquid trickling down his throat.

"W-What? Hamuko? Aigis?"

"Your spiritual energy was dangerously low, Minato-sama," Aigis said. "I have taken the liberty of restoring some of it. I will now do the same for Hamuko-sama. Please, do not overexert yourself. The others have it under control for now."

"Very well, but... huh? Oh, well done, Junpei!"

The wheel stopped on the ghost symbol, outlined in blue. Fortune began to quiver, edging away pitifully from the group before it.

"It's afraid!" Yukari remarked.

"Well then, let's kick its ass and give it a reason to be!" Junpei crowed.

"I have this one under control."

Minato shambled up, looking thoroughly exhausted, with a dead look in his eyes. He smiled slightly.

"Mot! Ghastly Wail!"

The shadow shrieked as it turned into ichor and vanished.

"Good job, everyone." Mitsuru congratulated them with a hint of pride. She then turned to Minato and Hamuko, who were stumbling as they tried to calm down, and sneered. "It was not so difficult, right?"

"Y-you…" Hamuko roared, but Minato stopped her with his arm.

"My Persona."

"_**My**_ Persona." She bared her teeth. "You have the Priestess's. Mine."

"MINE."

"MINE."

Exhausted as they were, the Fools began attacking each other with the weapons they had at hand. The blades of his sword and her naginata collided once and again, giving place to sparks which vanished immediately.

"SEIKATSU! ARISATO!" Mitsuru yelled at the top of her lungs. "Stop that right now! What do you think you are doing?"

Their partners could only watch as Hamuko and Minato lunged at each other, and even ran on their hands to avoid. A few gashes were given, but they didn't seem to mind until Akihiko stepped in and grabbed both by their necks. Next, he slammed their heads together with such strength he left them on the verge of fainting.

"Why the hell are you fighting now, you fuckers?" His voice sounded all distorted in Minato's mind. "What the fuck's wrong with you… two… wait… what day is…"

Their faces hit the ground as Akihiko dropped them and suddenly sprinted away.

* * *

><p>October. Fucking. Fourth.<p>

Shinjiro had spent the whole day in the ruins of that house. The place where his life changed, as he'd told Hamuko.

"I'm surprised you abandoned the operation."

And here he was.

"Two years ago today... October 4th."

He was here, with that little spear of his and everything.

"That was the day my mom died here."

A little sigh escaped Shinjiro's lips.

"They called it an accident... but it wasn't. I saw the whole thing..."

Ken's voice was trembling, making it even more difficult to understand than usual.

"You murdered her!" But that was fucking clear. "...Since then, it's been one bad thing after another... And all I get from people is sympathy, no matter where I go. What's the point in living...? I even thought about killing myself... but Mom wouldn't have wanted that."

The boy thought about…

"...That's why I decided that I had to find her killer- YOU! I heard you when you said that you wanted to forget what happened on that day... So, when I found out it was a full moon today, I knew I had to confront you." Ken's cheeks were wet already. "...Today, Mom is watching over me. I'll make you remember what you did to her! I'm gonna kill you!"

Shinjiro stood up slowly from the debris where he was resting. He walked firmly towards the boy and looked at him from below his beanie.

"Do it."

* * *

><p>The Command Room. The fucking Command Room. Why? Because Mitsuru wanted to share her data with the Chairman, despite Fuuka's repeated pleas to follow Akihiko to see where he was heading off to. The Fools were being carried around by Aigis.<p>

"Huh? No one's here..." Yukari whispered as she opened the door to the Chairman's room.

"Maybe he's all fired up about October 4th too?" Junpei laughed. "I mean, man, what was up with him all of a sudden?"

Mitsuru suddenly turned around, an expression of pure shock in her face. "Did you say

October the fourth?" Her eyes widened. "I… I was so focused in testing them that I…" She stuttered. Mitsuru _**NEVER**_ stuttered. "This… this is the day Amada's mother was killed!"

"WHAT?" Hamuko suddenly snapped, almost falling off Aigis's shoulder. "Ken… Ken told me something about forgiving… could it be about his mother?"

"Huh? What does that have to do with anything?" Junpei asked, confused.

"Well, uh… Shinji said something like that too…"

"Yamagishi, I need you to find the two of them immediately!" Mitsuru yelled as she ran out of the door. "There's a good chance that they're together. Akihiko must have already realized that!"

"Umm... What's going on?" Yukari asked as she chased her senpai.

"Although her death was officially listed as an accident...", the red head explained as quickly as she could, trying not to trip and fall downstairs, "...we're the ones who killed Amada's mother."

There was no hint of regret in her voice.

"_**YOU WHAT**_?" Hamuko's voice control exploded that very second.

"It was two years ago, when we were pursuing an unusual Shadow that had escaped into the city..."

They were already heading to Port Island, at Hamuko's insistence.

"We were in a residential area, but the Shadow was all we were thinking about... Shinjiro was still new, and he momentarily lost control of his power... Unfortunately, there was a casualty: Amada's mother." Perhaps no one but Minato noticed this. Perhaps he was the only one who was calm enough to see the dim worry that shone in her eyes.

"That's… that's what they were…" Hamuko gritted her teeth together. She was probably mortifying herself for not noticing sooner.

"No way... Are you shittin' me?" Junpei yelled, shocked. "Aren't we heroes? How could you let something like that happen?"

"Ken's been living here all this time… knowing that?" Yukari's image of the boy had been probably destroyed forever.

"Amada volunteered to join us. He's—"

"CAN YOU ALL SHUT UP AND FOCUS ON RUNNING?" Hamuko yelled desperately, doing her best to keep her steps steady without Aigis's help. Minato felt sincerely too consumed to run.

Right now, lying on Aigis's shoulder, all he could do was wonder why he could see a switched on streetlamp in the distance.

* * *

><p>"...Do it." Shinjiro repeated, extending his arms at both sides of his body. "I won't stop you."<p>

It was his time. He knew it. Yet… it was more difficult than he expected.

"You're right... I wanted to forget. That's why I left the group, and tried to suppress my power... But, nothing I did could erase the memory... And now, I find myself here- the last place I want to be."

This was not up to him.

"It's my fault... This is what I deserve. But... let me give you one warning."

However, even if he left…

"Warning...?"

"If you decide to take my life, you'll end up like me. Just remember that..."

"Is that supposed to change my mind...?"

Change his mind. Tsk, Shinjiro would never dare try.

"Even if all you have now is hatred, one day you'll regret it."

"Shut up!" Ken yelled to the ground, rather than Shinji. "That's a load of crap!"

"...He is correct."

An unexpected guest joined their dialogue. It was that tattooed fucker with the big revolver who used to sell him Suppressants… Takaya. And he was alone this time.

"There is no reason for him to feel regret..." He whispered nonchalantly. "That is the nature of revenge. Is it not permissible to kill those who are themselves killers?"

"...Th-That's right." Ken agreed silently.

Shinji didn't mind dying that night. But there could be no surprises. "Whaddaya want?

"The loss of Chidori has posed a bit of a challenge for us..." The scruffy looking man said with a breathy voice. "But, we cannot simply ignore your meddling." He reached into his jeans to pick up his gun.

"You bastard..." Shinji growled.

"Do not fear. This life is but a stepping stone." He smirked. "Salvation shall be yours..."

Takaya pointed his revolver at Ken, and Shinjiro immediately stepped in between them.

"My..." Takaya chuckled. "Trying to protect your would-be murderer...? You cannot defy fate... Whether or not it comes at this boy's hand, you will die tonight."

Shinjiro's mouth opened slightly. Fuck, how could he…

Ken shifted his sight between the two older males. "What's he talking about?" He yelled.

"You've been taking those pills for some time now..." He smiled at Shinjiro. "You don't have much longer."

No. If Ken needed revenge, then he couldn't know that… "That's bullshit!" Shinji shouted.

"Listen to your body... You know it to be true."

Referencing films, at a moment like that. That man was fucked up in the head.

"What does he mean...?" Ken asked, completely shocked. "You're going to die...? ...No matter what I do?" He clenched his fists around his spear. "That's not fair! All this time! I've been waiting for this!" A tantrum. Hah.

"The cause of death is not of importance." The man shrugged. "Besides, the breath of life is faint in you as well, child. ...After killing him, you were planning to join him, were you not?"

Ken stood still, just staring at Takaya.

"Ken, don't…" No. Shinji couldn't allow him to die, because his death would be pointless then…

"Since you are both destined to perish, allow me to do the honors..." Takaya pulled down the hammer. "A slight change in timing shouldn't matter too much."

A gun directly pointed at him. His heart beating faster than it'd ever beaten before.

"Go to hell!" He yelled, running towards Takaya.

Bang. Shot at point blank. That was much more painful than any Shadow attack he'd ever received.

Shinjiro fell to his knees, unable to keep standing. His stomach… he'd bleed to death in some minutes, or die of pain if he moved, but…

"N-No..." Ken whispered, clutching his head. No… not again… he didn't need to see something like that again…

"Now then... With what life you have left, answer me this..." The pale man said, wiggling the gun. "There is one like Chidori among you, is there not? This has enabled you to locate and defeat those we wish to protect. Now tell me... Which one of you is it? If you don't expedite your answer, then this will hurt you more than it hurts me."

He laughed in an insane way as he kicked Shinjiro's wound. K-Ken…

"...What's the matter?" Takaya crouched down and grabbed Shinjiro's hair. "Cat got your tongue?"

Shinjiro mustered all the strength he had left. "Th-There's... no one..."

The man threw his feet back to prepare a kick. That would definitely end him.

"Wait!"

W-what…

"It-It's me!"

Ken, why…

"Is that true?" Takaya asked suspiciously.

"...Yes. That's the only reason they let me join."

"Ken..." Shinji wanted to yell, but… "No...!"

Another kick showed Shinji a world of pain.

"...Quiet. You had your chance." Takaya chided him with his gun.

"It doesn't matter anymore... I'll never have my revenge." Ken gritted his teeth. "...I have no reason to live..." Little… shit…

"...I see. So you have achieved resolution. How enviable." He echoed sardonically. "Then, you shall be first." He pulled down the hammer once again, and clenched the trigger. "Rest peacefully..."

Shinjiro could hear Ken whisper as Takaya aimed the gun at him. "Mom..."

He would never know how he did it. Where the strength came from.

A resolution? A spell? The power of his Persona?

Shinjiro would never know what gave him the strength to get up one more time.

* * *

><p>"What...? ...Huh...?"<p>

Shinjiro was standing in front of Ken, having taken two bullets to his chest as a result.

"What is the meaning of this? Why would you risk your life to save the child?"

"A...Ah... Shinjiro-san..."

"SHINJI!"

Hamuko could see Aki approaching the scene from the docks. He'd apparently just found that place.

"And now your comrades arrive. Is there any moment of joy they won't intrude upon...?" The weird looking man sighed, and discreetly walked away. "Perhaps another time, then..."

"Shinji! Shinji, hey!" Aki yelled once and again, pushing Ken away to have enough space to assist Shinjiro. Hamuko couldn't avoid following his steps. "Hang in there!"

"Shinjiro!" Mitsuru yelled.

"Senpai!" Yukari as well.

"Shinjiro-senpai!" Junpei and Minato yelled.

"No..." Fuuka held her hands tightly in front of her mouth.

"Ken..."

A voice suddenly called. Shinji… Shinji was…

"Heh... Why the long face? Isn't this... what you wanted?" He was… smiling… "It's alright... Give yourself time... Let your anger be your strength. You're still just a kid, Ken... You got your whole life ahead of ya..." He was fucking smiling, no, WHY? "So don't waste it... Make it your own... Okay?"

"But I... I...!"

"...Aki." Shinji tilted his head towards the silver head. Why… no… this... this only fucking happened in movies, he couldn't waste his energy like that! "Take care of 'im..."

"...I will." His friend answered coldly.

"How… _**HOW can you say such a thing**_?" Hamuko asked, her voice cracking like a prepubescent voice as tears began welling up in her eyes. "You're gonna be alright! We'll… we'll heal you up and you'll be fine! You'll see!"

"…Don't cry... Hamuko..." Again with the…

"DON'T FUCKING SAY THAT!" She sobbed desperately, hugging his head. "YOU'RE A LIAR! AND A BASTARD! I will kill you! I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU DIE! I-I! I…"

"This is… how it should… be…"

"IT'S NOT! You… you said you wouldn't leave me… YOU SAID—"

"The hospital!" Fuuka interrupted her. "W-We need to get him to the hospital..."

"Y-Yes, let's waste no time..." Realization suddenly hit Mitsuru. "It's the Dark Hour... until it ends, the doctors won't be..."

"No..." Yukari backed away. "Then is he not going to make it'"

"HE WILL! HE WILL!" Hamuko yelled, her eyes shut tightly.

"Ah... Ah..." Ken shook his head slowly. "AAAAAAAAAGH!"

Hamuko and Ken's strangled cries were the only noise breaking the perpetual silence of the darkest hour.

* * *

><p><strong>Omake by my beta reader, to lighten up the mood:<strong>

**"Man, I don't think we've seen these Personas in card form since like April."**

**"Yep, chapter 'whatever', with Jack Frost! I gave him to you, remember?"**

**"Chapter?"**

**"Hey, hey! What if we tried smashing these cards?"**

**"Hamuko, that's stupid as fuck."**

**Pimping my beta reader, best researcher:**

_Thunder Call = 15%_

_Scarlet Havoc = 15%_

_The King And I = 15%_

_Frolic = 10%_

_Shadow Hound = 20%_

_Cadenza = 25%_

_Wonder why they were so exhausted from using them all? :3c_


	78. Columns

**Author note: the Fanfic Recommendation entry of TFT in TVtropes hasn't been updated in three months, someone do it please!**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and gadeel for expanding the TVTropes article.**

* * *

><p>There was a time when it was all fun and games in the dorm. Sure, there was the whole being in constant danger and trying to kill each other, but the Fools were happy. That was a long time ago, though.<p>

Sometimes, Minato thought he imagined that happiness, what with all the depressing stuff happening everywhere he looked. But then, he'd meet Hamuko, right after trying to beat the hell out of each other, even. A single smile was enough to make him stop and think 'hey, it did happen'.

Then the previous day happened, and all that crumbled into pieces.

Today was a normal day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and there were students moaning here and there about how much they hated Mondays. Minato offered a smile when Kenji asked him what had he done to make Hamuko oversleep and arrive so late to school, and acted surprised like everyone when Mitsuru strolled into the classroom asking everyone to gather in the dorm that night.

Today was a horrible day. There were clouds in the distance which threatened with an incoming storm, the birds were beginning to get ready to take their leave for the winter, and students wouldn't shut up about their Mondays. Minato gritted his teeth together when Kenji asked him what had he done to make Hamuko cling to Shinjiro's bed until some doctors dragged her out of his room, and tried not to get up and punch Mitsuru's head off her neck when she strolled into the classroom, asking everyone to gather in the dorm that night.

He'd been roaming the corridors of the second floor, trying to calm down. He had things to do. People to talk to. However, his blood began boiling as he heard two girls talking about Akihiko going to the hospital, to visit a child who had suffered an accident, or maybe tell tales to little children. Oh, what a _hero_ he was, preventing the Fools from even knowing anything related to Shinjiro. Last he knew about him, they were healing over the wound in a desperate attempt to make him cling to life, after some metallic splinters coming from a watch he was carrying on his coat penetrated his chest, alongside the second bullet. The doctors probably had a hell of a time dealing with that… if they even bothered.

But, it wasn't the right time to dwell on the fate of their dear senpai and usual confidant... but of that of a young child… and theirs, _as usual_.

* * *

><p>Beep. Beep.<p>

Aki has seen many things in his life. He's lived through a lot of shit.

Beep. Beep.

But during all those times, he'd never seen Shinji looking so frail, and yet so happy, before.

Shinji is there, lying on a bed, deep in a dream from which the doctors say he'll never return… but he's smiling. Smiling, like everything was alright without him. Like he was just taking one of his long naps.

"Why… why are you such an idiot…?"

He is smiling. That… that means he knows what's going on. He just has the balls to pretend he's really hurt so that Aki gets worried. It… it wouldn't be the first time Aki's broken his jaw for something like that…

"C'mon Shinji, stop…"

It's just a prank, right? He'll open his eyes any second now and begin laughing his ass off, no?

"Goddamn it Shinji, this… this isn't funny…"

Why… why isn't he…?

"WHY DON'T YOU WAKE UP?"

Aki grabs the collar of his hospital nightgown and shakes him strongly, almost throwing the bag of serum connected to Shinji to the ground, effecting a slight change in the beeping of the machines.

"Why…?"

Akihiko can't help falling down to the ground, now aware that his friend won't open his eyes. He doesn't know what's that noise behind him, but he doesn't care either.

"First Miki and now you? Why do you do this to me?"

His pride won't allow him to cry. Never again. He will never allow himself to do so.

"You… you said you wouldn't leave me! We'd always fight together, so I could become strong. Remember that? How weak I was?" A little desperate laugh leaves Aki's mouth. "I thought that it was because I wasn't strong enough. I thought that if I had more power I could save others, but, I didn't know how much power was enough, so I became obsessed with it… J-just like Mitsuru… I… I really don't know what's wrong with her… you knew her, Shinji, she used to be a nice girl… then again, you never liked her, did you?"

Aki's throat hurt as he tries to hold back sobs. There is no answer from Shinji…

"It doesn't really matter, does it? How strong I am? It served for nothing… I failed to read the signs…"

Biting his lip to calm down isn't really helping.

"I… I was just trying to get away from... them. I helped Mitsuru because I thought that was the right thing to do, but… maybe they're also in the same boat as us. They're some fucked up freaks, but they're also trying to protect everyone… didn't you too, though? Loner freak…"

His words turn slowly into few more than a strained laugh.

"Power serves for nothing if I'm alone… you've been there for me all along, proving that to me, but I realized too late… you were right, I'm such an idiot…"

There it goes. Wet eyes again.

"And now I'll be alone for real, serves me right, huh? I should have seen it sooner… I… I… Shinji! Don't leave me behind! I need—"

There's an spectral silence as someone rests their hand on Aki's shoulder.

"You're not alone."

That sounds like Hamuko.

"I know you hate us, and you think we're horrible, but… I… I wanna be there for you. You were trying to protect everyone, from us, and from the Shadows too, and you've been doing a great job. You didn't do anything wrong, Aki…hiko-senpai."

She takes a deep breath and steps away, lifting her hand from his shoulder.

"Shinji… wouldn't have wanted to see you like that, would he? I promised him I wouldn't cry… and if you cry, I bet he'll just shake his head at you for being a wimp…"

Who was she calling a…

"Crying won't wake him up, will it?"

She sounds horribly cold, but…

"You've got a lot of things to do…"

Hamuko extends her hand towards him.

"Crying will do nothing…" Akihiko echoes, clenching his fists. "I've got too many things to do to be dwelling on the past forever. Life goes on, huh?"

She nods. "We have to move on. For everyone's sakes."

Akihiko stands up and walks towards the door with a steady path. His eyes cross hers briefly, and, in spite of the repulsion he still feels towards her, he holds his head high, with a budding resolve in the bottom of his heart.

"Things must be pretty messy at the dorm." He turns around. "You coming with me?"

Hamuko looks towards Shinji's bed and then back to Aki. She nods and walks after him.

* * *

><p>The atmosphere is truly oppressing in the dorm, or, anywhere more than two members of S.E.E.S. have been today. Fuuka isn't an exception; she's devastated about Shinjiro-senpai's current condition, but, that can't be really helped. Instead…<p>

"He's only ten, he surely..."

There's a heated discussion going on in the lounge.

"Yukari-chan, he knew perfectly what he was doing. He's only a child, but…" Minato sighs. Fuuka knows that her best friend is as affected as the others, but he won't let it show, for their sakes, as he told her a couple of days before, while sharing some cake.

"He was willing to assassinate Shinjiro." Mitsuru speaks up, casting a harsh glare over all the students. "He had been plotting revenge for two years, and awaited the perfect moment to attack, then planned to commit suicide to avoid responsibility. He might have the body of a child, but he is to be judged as an adult. Aigis, bring Amada down here."

"Understood."

"Mitsuru-senpai, please," Fuuka speaks timidly. "Ken was desperate! Y-You took his mother from him when he was eight, and he'd been told that her mother was an accident, no one believed him! If you punish him now, you'll be a hy—"

"Yamagishi." She fixes her threatening gaze on the younger girl. "Are you, by any chance, implying this situation was our fault?"

"I-I…"

"This was how Shinji wanted it. He accepted his death; we shouldn't be questioning why, now." Akihiko-senpai replies, sounding really convinced. Mitsuru seems suspicious, though.

Just then, Aigis runs downstairs to meet them. "Allow me to report! Amada-san is not in his room!"

"What?" Junpei startles at the news.

"There are indications that the window has been pried open." She explains.

"We have to find him!" Fuuka exclaims as she heads upstairs to grab a coat.

"If we leave him alone, he might do something horrible," Yukari states, grabbing her hand, "but where are you going to look?"

"I don't know …" Fuuka casts her eyes down. "He must feel so alone…"

"We have to get him before he tries something stupid." Hamuko states, getting up from the sofa. "Perhaps Koromaru will be able to track him."

"You really think that'll work?" Yukari asks, desperate.

"We won't know until we try!" Fuuka yells. "You of all people should understand—"

Seeing Yukari's shocked face, Fuuka quiets down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Yamagishi, summon Lucia." Mitsuru commands. "We have no time to lose. Enough of that was lost yesterday thanks to their lack of efficiency."

Minato and Hamuko both look in her direction. "What are you implying, Mitsuru-senpai?" Minato asks.

"Oh please, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." She snorts. "There is no way your power is so limited. I've seen you do incredible things; yesterday's performance was miles away from those acts. I'm sure you were just pretending when you fainted, _**as usual**_."

"Senpai, have you ever done a Fusion Spell?" Hamuko asks calmly. "You ain't got a clue 'bout how exhausting they are."

"It might be so." She admits easily. "However, if you two weren't compulsive liars we'd already know your limits, and how to act according to them. Yours is the responsibility for the bad results of yesterday's mission."

Minato is the one to speak now. "Are you placing the blame on us now?"

"Am I?" A sneer appears on Mitsuru's face. "Consider this an… encouragement, rather than an accusation. Could it be you have any _objection_?"

The teal haired girl gasps, having been rendered speechless after the show Mitsuru-senpai has put up and the incapability of her friends to do anything about it! She… she can't act like nothing happened…

A sudden feeling she's unused to begins welling up inside her. Anger?

"Well, if you had listened to me none of this would have happened, Senpai!"

The ado suddenly stops. All the eyes are on Fuuka.

"Yamagishi, what are you—"

"If you had listened to me a _single_ time, the battle would have finished much earlier! We would have arrived on time to save Shinjiro-senpai!" She exclaims, clenching her fists.

"H-huh?" Mitsuru looks at her wide-eyed. She's truly been taken by surprise. "Are you one to speak? You were unable to locate Amada and Shinjiro! Yesterday's situation could have been avoided if you knew how to properly use your powers." She claims, defensively. "Locating people is something _**basic**_ which even my less adequate Persona can do."

"Maybe you would have been able to locate them all by yourself if you hadn't been so busy testing Minato and Hamuko, and nearly getting them and all of us killed, Senpai!" Fuuka begins breathing raggedly. "It was my own fault too for not being suspicious when Shinjiro told me he'd meet us later, and not being able to find them, but if you're so perfect you should have known when to stop!"

The rush of courage suddenly leaves Fuuka as she finishes her speech. She feels much better, but now she's terrified of the look Mitsuru is giving her.

"…I'm always amazed of how easy it is for people in this dorm to place the blame of their actions on others, but I sincerely did not expect such foolishness from you, Yamagishi. We'll—"

"She's right, Mitsuru. If anyone was to blame, it'd be you." Akihiko-senpai…? "You crossed the line this time. You did it with good intentions, but learn to pick a time. We were lucky there was only one casualty."

"What… what kind of nonsensical uprising is this?" Mitsuru backs away a couple steps. "I only did what I had to do!" She grits her teeth together. "Y-Yamagishi, try and locate Ken already!"

"Don't bother." Akihiko shakes his head. "What good would come from bringing him here now? He'd still be depressed, and would try to escape again."

"But—" The redheaded senpai furrows her eyebrows.

"If he's to be judged as an adult like you said, let him have time to reflect on what he did. He needs to learn a lesson about life…" The other sentences. "And the same goes for all of us."

Mitsuru doesn't seem willing to argue anymore. She takes a glance around and mutters something along the lines of 'do whatever you want' before retreating to the stairs.

Fuuka really feels like collapsing on a sofa now. She probably would have done it if it wasn't for Minato suddenly getting up to give her a tight hug. Hamuko hesitates a bit at first, but she joins for a group hug.

"Thanks."

Fuuka smiles warmly as her two best friends crush her ribs.

* * *

><p>The next morning went by as fast as the previous. Lessons? There might have been a few of those. Hamuko would never know.<p>

At some point in the afternoon, someone began shaking her shoulder softly to let her know that classes were over.

"Hamuko, I'm going to the shrine with Fuuka." Oh. It's Yukari. "We're going to pray for his health."

Hamuko stared distantly at her, still a bit groggy from the long nap, and nodded. She hadn't slept at all that night, pondering over Ken, and still didn't feel like making friends.

As they walked out of the classroom, Hamuko saw Minato talking to Chihiro. The girl seemed eerily mad as Minato tried to explain that he had other plans that day. Her face when he stopped talking to her to greet Yukari and Hamuko was even creepier.

* * *

><p>It'd been months since Hamuko last prayed for something. Teaching Elisabeth and Theo how to do it had been really fun. She never thought one day she'd drop her praying for money and good marks antics to wish for someone else's recovery. Then again, if there were any deities around, they had proved to hate S.E.E.S. more than once, so she decided she would keep her thoughts quiet and let the two girls with better karmic history do the wishing.<p>

* * *

><p>Going back to the dorm, they met Minato again, in front of the Beef Bowl Shop. This time he was running around with a guy in a tracksuit who looked surprisingly similar to Aki… um, Mamoru?<p>

Yukari and Fuuka gave him a troubled glance. They'd probably invited him to go to the Shrine too, and rejected them to hang out with his Social Link. That was… laudable. Only two days had passed since the full moon mission, but he was already actively trying to restore his normal life. He was so strong… so much stronger than she was. But, she was trying to be strong for everyone this time, and stop being a load every time she was sentimental. Maybe she should have wished for that… strength to face everything. To support everyone.

An incoming call from a private number. Theo. And a message from… Akihiko.

* * *

><p>Why was he still here, why was he still alive? Ken was starving, but, he had no rights to complain! He was a coward! Sitting on the bloodstained ground by the ruins of his house, hugging his knees with one arm and clutching his spear with the other. He didn't dare do it. He was a worthless coward. He didn't deserve being alive…<p>

"You look half dead."

Ken didn't dare look up. He knew who was there. Akihiko-san. He was there to finish what he didn't dare do himself…

"What are you doing here?"

He… he wasn't there to kill him? Then why? Maybe… maybe he really wanted to hear him out?

Ken took a deep breath. Might as well tell him before dying.

"When Mom died protecting me, no one would believe the real reason for her death... To this day, it's still on file as an unexplained accident." He looked down. "That's why I wanted to make it clear... I thought that's what she would have wanted... Maybe then she'd finally be at peace..."

"Did you think your mother would like to see you become a murderer?"

Ken didn't dare answer that. He felt too much shame. "They say he was the victim of some violent crime, right?" He finally looked up to Akihiko. "No one knows the truth. ...Just like with Mom." And now that he'd revealed his plans… "And once again, I'll be left behind..." His existence had no meaning, once again…

"You've been left behind twice... Did you ever think there might be some meaning in that?"

Ken opened his mouth, but he could form no word.

"I'm not here to drag you back... You can stay in this place until you die, if that's what you want." Akihiko said, turning around. "...But, if you still have the will to fight, then come back and stand on your own two feet. Make up for what you did. We'll be waiting for you." With that, he walked away.

The child remained in place, unable to move as Akihiko left him as well. "He's… right."

"I've known it all along; I've just been lying to myself..." Ken dropped his spear and looked at his hands. "I was consumed by hatred... I couldn't face the thought of being alone... But... that's exactly what happened..."

He got up and balled his hand into a fist, proceeding to punch the remains of a brick wall behind him.

"All this time, I've just been running away..." Why… why hadn't he thought of this sooner? "I've made up my mind... I won't run away... I swear... that I won't run anymore." He took a deep breath. "Shinjiro-san... I'll see it through to the end. So you don't need to worry."

Ken felt different. He felt like a different person… like a heavy weight had been lifted from his heart now he had a resolution.

"I'll be okay now, Mom..." He looked up to the darkening sky and then smiled. "Goodbye..." With that, he began walking towards the dorm.

* * *

><p>"...I can't wait any longer! I'm going right now to—"<p>

Fuuka's voice and a couple of barks from Koromaru were the first things to greet Ken when he opened the front door. Everyone was gathered in the lounge zone, save for Akihiko.

The silence as he stood outside felt like knives, but no one dared to break it.

"…Ken-kun?" Yukari-san was the first to speak.

Fuuka-san ran towards him and crouched down to look at him in the eyes. "Thank goodness... I was so worried..."

What… they…? "You were?" Ken asked, shocked. He only received a nod in response.

"Amada..." Mitsuru-san's voice sounded hesitant. "Are you able to fight?"

"Yes." Ken nodded sharply. "...I won't run off again."

"You sure?" Junpei asked.

"Yes."

Fuuka put a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright... We can trust him..."

"...Geez, don't make us worry like that, okay?" Yukari smiled.

"We've missed you." Minato grinned as well. Why… why was it like nobody cared about what he did? Had they really forgiven him already?

Ken's gaze wandered to Hamuko. She seemed to notice it and casted her eyes down. She…

Hamuko approached him with slow steps and stopped right in front of him. She looked down at him from her bangs.

"I'm… glad you're back." She patted his head and then walked back to her sofa.

"...Alright." Mitsuru sighed. "I'll talk to the Chairman." She turned to Ken. "...Get some rest."

"Yes."

* * *

><p>Before going to bed that night, Aigis stopped the Fools.<p>

"I have detected a change in Akihiko-san and Amada-san. Their Personae seem to be different." She explained.

Minato smiled. "You don't need to be able to detect Personas to see that, Aigis."

Profound.

* * *

><p>The door to Minato's room opened quietly, imperceptibly, in a way which wouldn't have awakened Minato if he hadn't been expecting that event for two nights.<p>

Hamuko's figure loomed shyly under the doorframe as she took a look inside. She seemed a child who's just waken up from a nightmare. It was only then when she remembered to knock on the door.

"It's opened." Minato stated the obvious.

The brunette startled at first, but she soon nodded and walked in, taking a seat on Minato's bed, by his side. The Dark Hour was yet to arrive, so it was okay.

She bounced a couple times on the mattress, probably reminiscing times when she spent her nights sneaking in and laying by his side only to scare him.

When she stopped, she linked her hands and rested them on her lap. "Minato." She called softly. "Did I… do it right?"

It didn't matter whether they were rivals, friends, or archenemies. They were each other's nemesis. They couldn't care less about the enormous amount of friends they had.

"Yes, you did a very good job supporting the others." He patted her head slowly. "You can rest now."

"Thanks." Hamuko gave him a little grin as she nodded. She then proceeded to clutch his shoulders and bury her face in his chest, sobbing as she kept trying to cling to her emotionless mask. "I… I promised not to… cry..." She confessed. "But, living connected to a machine, sleeping for the rest of his life… he might as well be dead, no? What… what kind of horrible fate is that…?" She couldn't help but to clutch him tighter as she said these words. "But… But we have to move on, right? I… I mustn't keep thinking of Shinji, otherwise…"

Maybe she was right about trying to forget the past again; maybe she was being a hypocrite for doing such a coward thing, repeating Shinjiro's mistakes. However, if they wanted to be steady columns for the others, they had to hide their cracks from everyone.

"Hamuko." Minato wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay to cry when no one sees you, or in another person's arms."

"…Really?"

"Yes."

A couple of seconds went by. She then began wailing like a baby, embracing him like a teddy bear.

They could have all the friends, partners, enemies and relatives they wanted.

Because at the end of the day, they only had each other.

And the card informing of Fools Level 8 was there to prove it.

* * *

><p>"Hello."<p>

A high pitched voice awakened the Fools, making them realize they were still in each other's arms and Minato's bed.

"Hey, Pharos…" Hamuko greeted him without much eager.

"Is it warm in there? ...It's pretty cold tonight." Pharos said excitedly. "Can you believe it's already autumn? It'll be winter before you know it." The boy really seemed radiant. His expression turned however into one of worry as he looked at the Fools. "You seem tired. ...Did something happen?"

"A… friend of us passed away." Minato explained, instinctively pressing Hamuko stronger to himself.

"...Is that so?" Pharos asked, surprised. "In this world, people die every day. Until recently, this was the same to me as the blowing of the wind." He looked down. "But now, I see things differently... For the first time, I have friends."

He got up from Minato's bed to look at the Fools better.

"Lately, I've become more certain of something... You know the end I've spoken of? Some people refer to it as 'the Fall', but regardless... it's drawing near. Don't you sense it...?"

"Sense it…?" Minato and Hamuko exchanged meaningful looks. They then looked at Pharos questioningly, but that made the boy shake his head disapprovingly.

"We are kindred spirits, you and I, so why is it that only I can remember?" He sighed. "...This is a heartrending matter. Is my existence something you are unable to accept?"

The sad smile Pharos gave them made them feel closer to the boy. Death Level 8. …They were still pretty sure that that Social Link was skipping levels or something.

"Forgive me if I have said anything peculiar today. ...Perhaps it is the change of seasons." The usual grin returned to his face. "Of course, our friendship remains steadfast. Well... I shall bid you farewell for now. Good night. I'll always be by your side..."

Pharos disappeared.

There was a lot to discuss, but the Fools were too tired to care, so they simply went back to embracing each other.

* * *

><p><strong>Saving Shinji why? Because I have plans :U Also the story is dramatic enough as it is and I hate drama (no, seriously).<strong>

**I'm pretty sure I read a similar chapter ending in some other fic. I don't really like reading, so I guess it must belong to one of my favorites or something :T Dunno.**

**EDIT: Oh okay, it was Where one was least alone, by h3AdS1aMMer 8D  
><strong>


	79. Comfort

**Author note: because people seem to forget this and because I cannot answer anons personally: **

**To Jose Mandigma: I am Spanish. That is where my grammar mistakes come from and why I need a beta reader. The narrator is always one of the characters; that is why deeply _sarcastic_ lines as 'profound' or 'big surprise' appear in narration from time to time. There :T**

**Sorry for taking so long to update lately, RL is getting more and more often in the way. Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and for the Tartarus segment, and to KahFreakingBoom for expanding the TVTropes article!**

* * *

><p>"The poor little thing…"<p>

"I'd like to say that he had better luck than she did, but…"

A clean, white, almost sparkly room and two voices. That's what was awaiting the child beyond the covers of the comfortable hospital bed. Surprised? Not at all. The place was eerily familiar.

"She's suffering from smoke inhalation, probably because of the fire caused by the car wreck. She refuses any kind of help from the doctors and the nurses, and only allows that guard who found her help her. It's not usual for amnesic people to be this problematic… so we only can keep investigating if these symptoms are derived from cerebral damage until she calms down." The doctor adjusted his glasses and turned his head to the left. "He, however? We found him in a critical state; I am honestly shocked he has survived. He's suffering from hypoxemia, yet his condition has improved greatly in only a night, just like hers. We don't know what's causing his symptoms, but, judging by his constitution and general analysis, I'd say he visits hospitals rather regularly."

"Any clues to their identities?" The nurse asked.

"No." The doctor sighed. "There were several families involved in the accident, as well as a fire in a building at the end of the bridge, so we have no way of knowing who's are these children, and all the people who have come visit other patients deny knowing them. Maybe if the ambulance idiots…"

"Huh?"

"Oh, you haven't heard the story? They're going to be fired. When they arrived, they sentenced that the girl had been asphyxiated and assumed her to be dead, all of which had apparently vanished when we found her roaming in the corridors. That could be just a critical mistake, but no; they were saying all the while that the ghost asphyxia had been caused by that boy over there, spluttering some nonsense about the kid's eyes shining like hitodamas. You should have seen their faces as they told all this."

"What? What had they taken?" The nurse asked, shocked.

"That's a mystery. Their toxic substances analysis were perfectly clean. And—uh, my break is almost over, I'll talk to you later."

* * *

><p>"Hrng?"<p>

Minato propped himself on his forearms and squinted his eyes to look around. Okay, he was in his room. And the rumble by his side was…

"…A weird dream again?"

"Ah… yeah. This one was specially… bizarre." The bluenet scratched his head. "Sorry for waking you up, Hamu."

"Whatever. You always have weird dreams when you sleep with me…"

"Then stop sleeping with me." Minato answered, cocking up an eyebrow. He received no further response.

Sleeping with Hamuko had become a usual thing, and almost the norm in Minato's room. They knew that it was dangerous, and that wanting to comfort each other could get them killed or else, now that Aigis wasn't supposed- she was still quite the stalker- to be protecting them. However, it was only there where they could be themselves with each other. Cry, talk, laugh… their emotions were now reserved to that room in the first floor.

* * *

><p>Nearly two weeks had gone by since that fatidic Sunday. Things had been surprisingly calm as a general rule… probably because no one wanted to talk about what happened. No one wanted to ask questions, and there seemed to be a general atmosphere of lack of trust; after what happened with Ken, anyone could be a traitor of sorts, even though they claimed to have forgiven him.<p>

The Fools had set up some sort of temporary truce, more one sided than anything: Hamuko refused to spent any time with her Social Links. Every day after school, she'd go to the shrine and spend hours praying silently. Then, she'd go to his room and spend hours without saying a word, or else she'd cry and tell him how much she admired him.

Minato, on the other hand, spent most of his time with Mamoru, his dear self-proclaimed rival. Why? Well, there was a number of reasons. The main one was that, even though he was going through some pretty harsh shit as well, he faced it all with a smile. He cared for his brothers while his mother was at the hospital, rather cheerfully, and always refused any help Minato offered… even to the point where he had systematically refused the sports grant he received for his outstanding –for a non-monster fighter, that's it- speed, only to look after them. He was an incredible boy.

They'd visited the shrine a couple of times too, and spent time praying with Hamuko, with whom Mamoru seemed to get on more or less well. There wasn't any danger of stealing his Social Link, as Hamuko assured, so the three hanged out together rather often.

During all that time, they only took the risk of spending time with a potential Social Link for both once. Akinari. And only because the boy surprised them on Sunday 11th , praying together.

"A friend of ours died."

Minato gasped. "Hamuko! What the hell are you saying? He's alive, stop saying that kind of thing."

"He's living through a machine. Might as well be dead." Hamuko sentenced.

The bluenet could only sigh. "Uh… A friend of ours is in coma, Akinari."

"Coma?" He muttered, thoughtful. He'd been listening to their exchange. "An eternal dream, away from all suffering, not yet alive nor dead… yet away, from all the simple pleasures of life, such as reading…" He couldn't say much more, as he began wheezing even more strongly than usual. "Sorry, I… stayed up late… reading…"

The Fools helped him sit down on a bench.

"I didn't know you liked reading that much." Hamuko commented nonchalantly, earning a glare from Minato.

"Ah, you like it too?" Akinari asked with a smile.

"Please, take care of yourself and rest." Minato demanded, adding a sigh. "We wouldn't want to lose any more friends."

"But, I've been coming here every Sunday, hoping to see you." He coughed.

Hamuko's eyes widened. "That's right; I haven't been here with you in weeks…"

"That's all right, I've been visiting him in your place." Minato smiled, although Hamuko didn't seem sure about whether to smile or get angry.

"And I'm afraid you might be doing so way too often; you're spoiling me, Minato." He half chuckled, half choked.

"If my company is enough to make you happy, I will do anything in my power to make you smile." The bluenet bowed sharply, in an almost funny way.

"Smile…?"

That's just what the pale boy did, before getting another of his attacks again.

"I'm sorry, I spoke too much today…" He got up slowly from his bench. "I'd better go back now…"

He had only walked a few steps away, granting Minato a Sun Level 5, when he turned back. "People only die when you banish them from your memory. Will you kill him?" Akinari continued his path after these philosophical words.

"I…"

Hamuko held her head up for as long as she could; it wasn't much time, so they had to go back to the dorm.

* * *

><p>Night time was awfully awkward. Minato knew from day one that spending so much time together, in each other's arms, wasn't going to be easy, even more knowing their history together, but… well, let's say he wasn't as surprised as he expected he'd be when it first occurred.<p>

Yes, of course they didn't spend all those nights talking about feelings. They engaged in other activities.

Like studying. It was those textbooks' fault.

Midterms were right around the corner, and everyone was using Shinji's condition as a reason to slack off, except Minato, who'd been studying a little every night, and Hamuko… who just slacked off as a rule. However, now she pretty much was under his care, he wasn't going to allow her to embark in a luck mission.

That Sunday, taking advantage of the fact they had gone back early to their room, Minato tried to convince Hamuko to study with him. …She wasn't in much of a good mood, though.

"Don't try to fool me." Minato growled as he shoved some notes into Hamuko's hands. "I know you haven't paid attention to half a class since September." She opened her mouth, but he immediately added. "And don't try to tell me you've been going to Wakatsu. I've been going there, and I haven't seen you a single time during the day."

"But I don't…"

"Studying will be good for you."

"Why?" She sighed. "It's not worth it. My expedient is pretty long already; good marks wouldn't do anything. And you know how slow I am; don't even bother."

That was the cause of her lack of interest, huh…? "…A good leader needs to keep their wits together, to be effective in battle."

Hamuko's eyes opened wide. "…You're right! I need to be a better leader for everyone! But how is history gonna help with strategies—ohhh. Wars and such." She nodded wholeheartedly. "Alright. If this is for the good of S.E.E.S., I'll do it!"

Well, that was surprisingly easy.

* * *

><p>Five minutes. She only needed five minutes to memorize a whole page of Minato's notes, word by word; however, she didn't understand any of the things she said, so when Minato tried asking her questions which weren't literally what was written there she could only stutter. She only needed ten minutes to get awfully depressed.<p>

"Hamuko, you have to study; it will be good for you."

"…" She turned her head to him. "You just sounded like…"

Minato quickly grabbed her hand, repeating once and again that it would be okay so that she wouldn't begin crying; however, she didn't do anything other than stare at their hands. When Minato was beginning to fear she might be under the influence of forces superior to them, she looked up at him again.

And then they kissed, once and again, confirming that it was no one's fault but theirs.

They didn't really need more incitation than that to send caution to hell and begin playing on his bed.

Comfort sex, she called it, when Minato raised a doubt in a moment of lucidity. They were both taking advantage of each other, so it was fine, or so she insisted.

"You loved it, I loved it. It's always helped me." She explained.

"…It's been only a week since he was shot, Hamuko."

"I moved on, as he wanted me to, no matter what Akinari says." She said coldly. "And I can't think of anything better than this to prove it to myself."

Minato wasn't too sure of what convinced him that it would be okay. Maybe it was her quoting that of 'if my company is enough to make you happy…', which made his heart melt. Nonetheless, a moment later he was running upstairs with Hamuko in his arms to settle down in her room, at her request. They fortunately didn't stumble upon anyone; even Mitsuru was out.

'No feelings' wasn't gonna trick anyone this time. They were only acting on them, to be able to conceal them better.

* * *

><p>The room was a complete mess as usual, so Minato almost had to dig his way towards her bed. Seeing it was an impossible mission with the added weight of Hamuko, they decided to roll about on the hay—err, clothes pile, instead.<p>

"Why did we have to come here, again?" Minato asked as he tried to make space to crawl onto Hamuko.

"Because I have something you don't." She sneered. Indeed, she had many things he didn't.

They had all the time they wanted to warm up with a concert of 'kiss me here', 'touch me there', 'where is that even?' and 'stop doing that, you creep', so moving away from her to give the next step was difficult for many different reasons.

"Second drawer to the left, remember?" Hamuko commanded as she took upon herself finding a way to the bed which wouldn't make them trip.

"Left of where? I can't see anything!"

"Well… left! There are only two cupboards in the left!"

"There's only one here."

"Left, Minato."

"MINE OR YOURS?"

"We have the same left!"

"No we don't! What… Augh, _**what the hell is this**_?"

The lights turned on. Hamuko had her hands on the light switch, with a less than amused expression.

"Good god, what's taking you so long?" She growled.

"What IS this?"

Minato was holding something with an expression of utmost disgust…

"T-that…"

Among the brown, white and greenish spots of the extremely wrinkled skin of the rotten fruit, traces of black marker could still be seen.

"This shit is awful, Hamuko! It's gonna get moss and bugs all over your room and make you sick!" Minato yelled as he threw the rotten fruit to the ground. "Augh, seriously! Today is the last day I'm letting you slack off like this! We're going to tidy your room, and I'll make sure you study every day! I'm not going to do anything more for you until—"

Sobs. Lots of sobs.

Hamuko immediately pushed him out of her room. _**Naked**_, yes. And he didn't dare knock or yell lest someone would hear him and go check out what was happening- if they didn't hear Hamuko's cries instead- or climb downstairs to get more clothes, since someone could still see him. Also, he tried his best to mentally block the cameras out of his sight.

In the end he decided to do something practical and useful and take a cold shower.

* * *

><p>When he was ready to walk out of the bathroom, he found a pink towel waiting for him which most definitely didn't belong to any of the boys.<p>

He decided not to think too much about it and headed to his room as quickly as he could to get dressed.

Once he was ready, he set out to find his rescuer… only to find someone dragging a big trash bag downstairs with a big effort.

"You'll break it if you drag it like that, and Senpai will get mad, Hamu."

"Senpai is always mad." She retorted as she kept her path downstairs.

"Well, you don't want to get her madder." Minato smiled. "I'll help with that. What are you carrying?"

"Beetle shells."

"…"

* * *

><p>The afternoon was long, yet productive. Within three or four hours they turned Hamuko's room into an habitable place, found COMPPs which showed the effects of being under the pressure of lots and lots of diverse rubbish for months, diverse things which probably could be sold, and a few blunt weapons. They would have found bedrock had they dug a little deeper.<p>

Minato finally met Kaki-kun… or his mossy corpse at least. It took quite a while to convince her, but in the end she threw him away after Minato suggested bringing a different persimmon each week.

"You can have as many as you want, now they're in season." He suggested. "But you have to eat them before they begin going off."

"But… W-what kind of person would I be if I ate my pets?"

"…You don't like persimmons, do you?"

She grinned coyly as she shook her head. "I like the idea though." She stepped towards him to give him a kiss. "Thanks."

And his reward was…

* * *

><p>Monday was a blast. They had a day off, so the usual group- The Fools, Junpei and Aigis- and a few more additions –Yukari and Fuuka- decided to head to Paulownia to let off some steam, and that way be more relaxed for the exams.<p>

"Man, seeing all of us together, sitting by the fountains…" Junpei spoke dreamily. "Aw man, I miss Yakushima so much!"

"We should have played some more." Minato smiled.

"Haha, yeah, those were the good days." Yukari replied.

"WHOA, YUKA-TAN, YOU'RE AGREEING WITH ME?" The boy with the cap yelled.

He screamed some more when her foot met his face.

"I do reminiscence Yakushima occasionally as well." Aigis spoke up.

"Aigis, does that mean you're capable of feeling nostalgia?" Fuuka asked, impressed.

"Nostalgia?" The robot tilted her head. "…Is it a concept related in any way to Nostradamus?"

There was a general silence.

"This robot needs to have her time watching TV restricted." Minato sentenced, earning a nod from the whole group.

Everyone seemed to be in a much better condition, now they had things to focus on; probably Shinji wouldn't cross their minds until the Midterms were over…

"I think I like this better."

Minato couldn't avoid turning to Hamuko almost immediately. "_**What?**_"

"We're…" Hamuko spoke rather shyly for her. It had been a recurrent thing for a week or so. "We're united now. We're a group for real, not like back then."

Either she wasn't capable of seeing the way everyone glanced at each other, or she couldn't understand the atmosphere.

"Yeah!" Yukari joined her. "I mean, c'mon it's obvious, isn't it? Just look at us! We've stopped bickering with each other, right?"

"Objection." Junpei muttered miserably as he rubbed his nose.

"It is in these moments of hardship when armies need to be closer." Aigis… narrated.

Well… she did have a point… "If we manage to bring everyone together, we'll be able to overcome anything." Minato agreed.

"Haha, yeah, the power of friendship and stuff is gonna buff up our Personas." Junpei laughed. "Hey, Minato, Hamuko! You have a bajillion friends! Gimme your powers!"

"Uh…" The Fools exchanged meaningful looks.

"O thou, Aigis of the Robot Armada, gimme the power to summon some of those enormous crazy god things they have." He knelt down and bowed down to her.

"Junpei-san," the blonde spoke harshly, "I'm a robot, not a wizard. I cannot give abilities to ninjas."

"What? No, I'm a samurai." Junpei puffed out his chest.

"Impossible. Your battle stance, your elegance and your calligraphy are too pathetic to be compared to theirs."

And Junpei didn't say another word that day.

* * *

><p>The exams went by smoothly for both of them, thanks to the time they spent memorizing Minato's class notes every night. And nothing else, since Hamuko was incapable to understand anything they studied, and would try to quit every time she failed miserably. Regardless, to think they would ask stuff such as why isn't a jellyfish a devilfish…<p>

* * *

><p>When Saturday arrived and those jokes of an exam were over, everyone seemed to lose their spirit again. Hamuko and Fuuka looked specially affected, although the former always tried her best to play it cool in front of others, and that lack of energy could mean their damnation in the following full moon operation, which was only two weeks away.<p>

Minato was rather down that day as well, though.

Mamoru was leaving that day, to work in a factory far away.

Minato hadn't dared tell him a single word to stop him and keep working to achieve his real dreams; last time he told that to an athlete, it ended up with him breaking his knee.

Instead, Minato only wished him the best as he saw the train disappearing in the distance, and clutched strongly the car keys Mamoru gave him as a memento of him. They belonged to his father or something; Minato didn't remember too well.

Helel seemed an incredibly powerful Persona… yet that really wasn't a consolation for seeing his friend move out to a life of despair.

Better cheer up showing a world of pain to the ones who brought pain to them.

* * *

><p>The ichor from the Hell Knights faded as always. Hamuko held herself high, flashing an encouraging smile at the team.<p>

"Alright, great job! Another Guardian down!" she cheered.

Minato frowned at her, moving in close to convene quietly while the group disbanded, heading toward the teleporter.

"Are you sure you should be doing this in your state?"

"We did fine," she muttered at him out of the side of her mouth.

"Perhaps, but that's owing more to the weakness of the enemy than any particular accomplishment of ours. You heard Fuuka, didn't you? When she reported their weakness?"

"Of course I did!" she snapped back. "Hit 'em with Charm attacks. And I was having Succubus do her thing the whole time. Got one of them, right? Made things easier, right? Why are you getting onto me?"

"Because I brought Incubus, and you're perfectly aware of that. The Fusion Spell would have been more effective. Why didn't you use it?"

The last member of SEES in front of them disappeared into the teleporter. Hamuko whirled on him.

"Well, excuse the hell out of me! Hey, you remember the last time we pointed our guns at each other? You wanna sit there while I paint you a fucking picture, since you forgot? Streetlamp? Screaming?"

"Hamuko..."

"P-Pool of blood? Ken crying nearby? T-The... t-the..."

"I'm sorry," he murmured, wrapping her up in a hug as she broke down crying, still mumbling incoherently into his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"_I want to forget too…_"

He just held her tight as she composed herself, reflecting that in this instance, she may have been right.

* * *

><p>"How did they do, Mitsuru?"<p>

"They..." She opened her mouth, then shut it. She subconsciously glanced over at Fuuka, chatting with Junpei. "...None of us were performing up to our potential. It is... unreasonable to expect anyone to be back up to form after the tragedy we suffered so recently."

Akihiko raised an eyebrow at her. "Unreasonable?"

She rubbed her arm, glancing down.

"Yes. No one or two people are responsible for any shortcomings today. And we overcame the enemy regardless."

_"That's a better attitude, Mitsuru-senpai."_

She had forgotten the younger girl could hear thoughts.

* * *

><p>"We should get a job."<p>

Hamuko turned around, looking rather surprised.

"Do we need money again or something?" She asked as she dived into her wardrobe to pick some clothes.

"I was thinking that it'd be good for us to have something to keep ourselves busy. To avoid thinking about… that." He explained.

"Don't you like the way I'm keeping ourselves busy now?" She sighed.

"O-of course, but... I don't think it's healthy."

"Healthy?"

"'Comfort' doesn't sound a good reason to me."

Minato feared she would throw up a tantrum just then, but instead, she just nodded.

"If you think it'll be better for us, we can begin looking tomorrow."

With that, she finished dressing up and left her room to get breakfast.

* * *

><p>"Pink alligators?"<p>

"Yes!" Akinari nodded energetically. "How do you feel about them?"

"I dunno, Akinari-kun." Hamuko tilted her head in a rather Aigis-y way. "I've only seen pink elephants."

"Aren't those—"

"So what is this thing about alligators?" Minato quickly changed the subject.

"Ah, yeah… um, this is kinda embarrassing but… I've decided to write a story."

"Oh, you want to become a writer?" He asked, surprised.

"How do you write pink alligators?" Hamuko questioned as well.

"Well, uh…" Akinari laughed. "You see, he's the protagonist of my story… a pink alligator whom no animal likes because of his color…"

Both Fools nodded as they stared at him, to show their interest.

"Because of his vibrant color, he couldn't hunt for food easily, so he was always hungry and miserable, but then…"

"He made a friend?"

Akinari smiled, without paying attention to who asked the question. "…A bird who was unable to fly." He then began chuckling. "I haven't thought of much more… well, the bird would practice flying while standing on the alligator's back, but… that's about it… told you it was pretty embarrassing…"

"No." Hamuko shook her head quickly. "I liked it."

"You did?"

"It reminded me of something which happened a few months ago." She explained.

"I see…"

Minato took a quick glance at Hamuko, and then looked back at Akinari. "I like how that sounds too. Where did you get the idea?"

"Ah, well…" He laughed again. "I was thinking of that thing you said of being happy… and decided that I'd try writing an upbeat story to cheer me up…" His cheeks became a red color which contrasted with his usual paleness. "I've never written anything before, but it doesn't matter, since I'm writing it for myself. Still, I'd like to show you the whole novel someday, since you two are my source of inspiration."

"Huh? Me too?" Hamuko seemed shocked.

"Yes." The sick boy nodded. "When I write, I can feel your strength... telling me not to die just yet."

This time it was Hamuko who received the power according to Sun Social Link Level 6. And a shock as well, from which she didn't recover in the rest of the day.

Much to Minato's chagrin, though he would never say that aloud...

* * *

><p><strong>With this chapter I've prevented +5 chapters of boring stuff, yay! It's only one now ;n; Dunno how the next chapters will be. Perhaps you'll have to wait even more, since I'll start soon my last month in 11th grade. THIS FIC WILL BE A YEAR OLD ON JUNE 14TH GUYS!<br>**

**November will be fun, November will be fun.**

**And welp. TAIGAAAAAAAA. Just leaving that there.**


	80. Role Model

**Author note: some idiot made my TVTropes reviews get lost forever! Do you know how horrible that is?**

**Well. They're just reviews, so no biggie. But still, ow, my pride. What a bastard :T**

**I'm late as fuck, I know *w*/; At least I did warn you that updates will be slower.**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and gadeel for expanding the TVTropes article.**

* * *

><p>"I-Impossible…" Minato stammered as he fixed his eyes on the scores board.<p>

"A-am I dreaming, Minato?" Hamuko's eyes were wide as saucers. Yes, she had all the reason to do so.

They had scored the highest of the grade, with exactly the same note, a 100%, since they knew all the answers to every question. Awfully unfair, indeed, considering he studied for a longer time… but Hamuko was right when she told him that they'd only ask about the contents of his notes, so…

"Yes, you must be dreaming." He nodded quickly. "Want me to punch you?"

"Aw, hell no! I don't wanna wake up, I'm happier here!" She clang onto the print out.

"Hey! Will you stop hogging the scoreboard, Hamuquitter?"

Hamuko turned around, without letting go of the wooden frame of the board. Her expression turned from bliss into pure dread as her eyes laid on Kenji… _and Rio_.

"W-wait, I take it back! Minato! Pinch me!"

The boy gave her a strong hit in the arm with his right fist. She let out a little whimper and rubbed her arm.

"I said PINCH." She whined.

"Boowhat?" He babbled nonsensically. He didn't seem to have done it on purpose…

In any case, that couple of seconds of confusion were followed by exclamations of happiness because of the reality of her marks mixed with mellower cries of pain as Rio caught her by the ear and dragged her away.

Kenji and Minato exchanged silent looks.

"Guess they need a girl-talk or something." Kenji sentenced awkwardly.

"Ow." Minato shook his hand absently.

* * *

><p>"L-look it's not that I was ignoring you or anything!" Hamuko futilely tried to defend herself as she was dragged by the ear.<p>

"You've been avoiding me for months! You just vanished when Kenji and I got together and haven't showed up to practice ever since!" Rio yelled.

"I-it's not like that! W-well, it is! But I have a good explanation!"

"Oh really?"

"Yea—no." The brunette clapped her hands together. "I guess I've just been sort of busy."

"For months?" The team captain glared darkly at her.

Hamuko hid her face inside her collar. "I've been… rather… busy?"

Rio was one of those people Hamuko didn't have the guts to try to lie to, alongside Mitsuru and… other people, yes, but she had to…

"W-wait, weren't you the one who was all sorry about being too focused on sports and stuff?" She sincerely had forgotten.

"You really think this is all about sports?" Rio's eyebrows arched dreadfully.

"Eh… no um… but I heard you girls are going to get in the National meet, is that so?"

"Don't change the subject." Her captain scolded her.

She was horribly scary when she wanted to. A wonder Kenji always seemed so hyped about her… maybe it was because she was real mature? Maturity… that was something Hamuko respected a lot.

"I didn't want to make Yuko feel uncomfortable." She finally confessed.

"Huh?" This apparently took Rio by surprise. "Didn't you two make up in that trip?"

"Easier said than done." Hamuko relented, rubbing her arm awkwardly as she huffed. "I thought that if I showed up I'd just end up making a mess… It's not that I'm slacking off, yanno? Playing with you and the others was really important for me…" Indeed, Hamuko had given up on the chance of maxing out the Chariot Social Link. What if Minato had already somehow done that? …Knowing him, he probably had. "And… I wouldn't want to ruin your efforts if someone disbanded the team because of that." Saori briefly crossed her mind. "You guys are doing great things without me…"

Rio remained silent for a little while after that. She asked Hamuko to not move as she went into her classroom, which was a tad worrying considering that lunch break would end soon. She was back soon, carrying a heavy worn out book.

"Dumbass." Rio let the book fall on Hamuko's head.

"Owww… Was that _really_ necessary?" The brunette asked as she rubbed her head. Rio shrugged and picked up the book. 'How to: Tennis'. Huh.

"I made sure to know every single rule. Every advice. Every move and useful trick."

"Oh?" Hamuko wasn't still in her right state of mind after getting whacked.

"And it was good for nothing." The raven haired girl growled. "It didn't teach me how to be a good leader."

Hamuko had a little flashback to the times when she used to see a similarity between Mitsuru and Rio.

"It wasn't until you arrived that I learned what a true sports team leader needs: making sure everyone is having a good time."

"Rio…"

"And you also kind of got me together with Kenji." She blubbered. "So I'll forgive you… when you have finished that book."

Hamuko couldn't keep a smile from invading her face. No, she would never be able to use Thor, as she found out upon reaching Chariot Level 10; not like it mattered- too much- anyway. She had her friend back. More or less.

"I'm not too sure of what to do about Yuko and you, but I only hear good things from her and Kazushi-kun, so maybe she doesn't care anymore."

"I doubt that." The female Fool sighed.

"Well… I'm not letting you off the hook, anyway!" Rio sentenced. "I'll see you this afternoon in practice."

"What? B-But, I'm gonna go job-hunting with Minato! Hey Rio!" She yelled as the girl ran away, because of the bell marking the end of the lunch break.

"I'll drag you there if I have to!" The other answered cheerfully.

...Maybe she needed an explanation or two about what is fun…

* * *

><p>Tennis wasn't tiring at all. It was indeed fun…<p>

Except that everyone laughed now at Hamuko's poor level, which used to be above that of the exceptionally weak team. Now, however? People were continuously pointing out that she held her tennis racket like a sword or something...

Yuko…? They smiled at each other when their gazes crossed… but Hamuko knew that she still had to be pretty mad. It made her feel really guilty… overall, knowing how it feels to be… ah, she couldn't think of that! Tennis practice, tennis practice!

* * *

><p>Café Chagall. The last place they could think of to ask for a job, seeing that Minato wasn't too comfortable with working giving other people massages in V-Blue. On the other hand, Minato failed to see the logic behind Hamuko's preference of serving coffee to old creeps than giving drinks to young creeps in Game Panic.<p>

Minato and Hamuko could only exchange awkward glances after being kicked out, while their ex-boss kindly told them the things Hamuko said before leaving. They were anything but beautiful, so Hamuko was red as a tomato all along.

"Are you sure you want to go back?" He asked. "We can keep looking for a job elsewhere, it doesn't have to be Paulownia, you know?"

"But, this is pretty close to school, and we can come always on time thanks to the monorail…"

"Well that's true, but… maybe, just maybe…" He turned to her. "Maybe we'd have a better chance if you stopped wearing that stupid maid costume!"

"What? But, this is Yukari's maid costume! She asked me if I could give it back to the girls who bought it, but I decided it'd be best if we took it to the dry cleaner first." She explained.

"Why did she have—" He shook his head. "Why are you wearing it?"

"Have you ever carried around a maid costume? They're pretty heavy."

Minato decided to shake his head again and leave Hamuko's excuse for a train of thought alone. Not like she seemed to mind about wearing like a maid in public. Not anymore.

"Excuse moi~" A cheerful, yet somewhat creepy voice sang from behind them. An old man in a suit… "I couldn't avoid hearing that you need a job, hm?"

"Who are you even?" Hamuko asked.

The man fell face first.

"TANAKA! PRESIDENT TANAKA FOR YOU!" He yelled. "Boy, why didn't you even greet your master?"

"Uh… I didn't recognize you… did you um… change your hair?"

Blond. It was blond now. And his face had many less wrinkles. No wonder he couldn't recognize him.

"Why yes, I'm glad you noticed! Doesn't it make me look juvenile? Ah, my boy, you have such a good eye for this kind of thing!" He began laughing haughtily.

"Wait, you're THE President Tanaka, of THAT TV program?" Her eyes were almost gleaming. "I loooove your program! I think your products are great!"

"Do y—"

A soft kick to the calf told Minato what he needed to know. She was getting them a job.

"Oh my, such an enthusiastic fan!" Tanaka went on with his stupid laughter. "Ah, it's so difficult to find people like this these days…" He clapped his hands. "Oh, oh! What do you say I make you a model, hmm?"

"Tanaka-san!" Minato yelled. "I paid you to get a job as well, remember? You promised it to me first!"

"Ahahaha, that's okay! Of course you're employed too! I'll make a star out of both of you! I have enough money to employ a thousand stars, all glowing dimly besides my dazzling spotlight! I'll show you how to be real successful, not like those idiots who pointed at me and laughed when I used to wear holey socks and eat only rice in my bento!"

He noticed what he had just said and his forehead began getting sweaty as he looked right and left. "W-well then!" He began walking backwards quickly. "I'll see you tomorrow at this hour at the TV station! It's the chance of your lives!"

Devil Level 6. And a great, yet somewhat sketchy-sounding, job offer.

And a Personabro-fist ensued. Hamuko seemed too happy to be jealous of his earning more power.

* * *

><p>Classic Literature is the only thing left in Fuuka's way. Yes, as soon as this finishes, she'll have lunch with everyone in the rooftop! Yes, she might not be a good cook, but, it was fun to give it a try every so often and share it with others. Even Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai promised to go! After making sure the recipe is edible and triple checking for salt-sugar mistakes, haha.<p>

Well, she spent hours the previous night cooking, after working for a few hours in her latest project, a patch for Aigis, so this is beef stroganoff is guaranteed to be a delight, just like Shinjiro-senpai's!

Shinjiro-senpai… How is he? Will he wake up? Everyone says that there's no point worrying about him, but… the thing Fuuka cares about the most is her friends. Part of the fault for his situation is hers, for not having been suspicious when he sent her a message…

"Earth calling Fuuka!"

Fuuka's face slid from her hand, and she almost hits the desk. She turns around to see Natsuki staring at her. "A-ah, sorry!" She laughs.

"What were you thinking about?" Natsuki asks, suspicious.

"Shin… A-Aragaki-senpai…" She confesses.

"Ah, were you friends with him?"

"Y-yes, I _am_…" Fuuka answers, with a hint of annoyance. "He got involved in an accident, and now he's in a coma…"

"Yeah, I know. I mean, I've never met him in person, but I've heard a lot about him." She shrugs. "Will he get up?"

"We don't know yet, but some of my friends already act like he was gone for real…" The teal haired girl can't hold back a sigh. "I've been trying not to think about it, but… I don't know if that's okay… I _**don't **_think it's okay to just let things like that pass, I know that from all the things that have happened with my parents."

"Parents, huh...?" Natsuki's dark eyes lit up. "I can relate to that." She nods to herself. "But… you'll be okay, right?"

"Natsuki, what are you waiting for?" Ekoda suddenly calls. "Come on up."

Natsuki shakes a hand lazily while muttering a 'yeah, yeah'. Haha, it's so very Natsuki to ignore him like that.

The teacher shakes his head slowly and heaves a sigh. "Don't you want to give your classmate a proper goodbye?"

The brunette shrugs and stands up, and then goes to the front of the class, much to Fuuka's confusion.

"Uhh, hello, everyone." She talks hastily, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "I know it hasn't been that long, but I feel like I've made some good friends. I'll remember each and every one of you, even after I transfer. Thank you." She rubs the back of her neck and glares at Ekoda. "...How's that?"

She walks back to her seat under Fuuka's intent gaze.

"Transfer...?"

She's obviously looking away.

"WHAT?"

Natsuki only does an 'I'll tell you later' gesture.

* * *

><p>Lunchtime. None of Fuuka's guests has arrived to the roof yet, but that's fine; she's alone up there with Natsuki… trying her best not to cry her heart out.<p>

"You're a weird one, y'know?" Natsuki laughs as she looks to the windmills in the distance. "The biggest bitch in the school is leaving, and you feel sorry for her."

"You're transferring… and you didn't say anything...?" Fuuka repeats for the umpteenth time.

The ganguro girl drums her fingers on the safety fence as she turns around. "It's not like telling you would've changed anything. Why make us both depressed?" It takes a while until she finally begins explaining. "Anyway, my dad's pretty sick... And they say it'll take some time for him to recover... We don't really have that much money, so we can't afford to stay here."

Fuuka is at a loss. "M-my parents are doctors! Maybe they could help! Or maybe you could stay in the dorm with her! No, that wouldn't be allowed… what about—"

"Y'know," she chuckles again, interrupting her, "I still think you're crazy for being friends with someone like me... But, like I said before... we're both in the same boat. My parents act like I don't even exist. ...I hate living at home. That's why I was so jealous when you moved into the dorm. I can't go with you, but… I've always wondered why you moved there. I mean, your house is nearby and your parents are pretty normal."

They were pretty pushy, but, yes, they always were very caring… She's in the SEES dorm because of the Persona business.

"If you don't wanna tell me, that's okay." Fuuka's remained silent too long, apparently. "...But if it's something that you and your folks can work out, then do it while you have the chance. It'll be a while before my dad's in any condition for us to have a heart to heart talk."

As every time she is shocked, Fuuka just can't bring herself to pronounce a word.

"Haha, what am I doing? This isn't what I wanted to talk about." She shakes her head with a smile. "Y'know, Fuuka... I used to think that every day was just the same. And I'm only saying this because it's you... But, you don't get any second chances in life. If you accept the way things are, then they'll never change..."

"You're telling me that now?"

"This is the last time I'll see this view, huh..." Natsuki ignores her again. "I won't be in school next week 'cause I'll be packing, so... I guess this is goodbye..."

"No!" Fuuka cries desperately.

"Haha. It's okay. Everything will be alright." She pats Fuuka's head. "C'mon, don't gimme that look."

"But..." The teal haired girl objects almost inaudibly.

"Hey, I'm not helpless, y'know." She rests her hands on her hips. "I've changed a lot since I met you. I'm gonna try and figure out what I really want now. ...So, I hope you do the same."

"What I really want... I..."

What does Fuuka really want? She would like to be having lunch with everyone.

"I used to try and please everyone..."

All that food she cooked in order to bring everyone together. Maybe earn a few compliments.

"I was afraid of not being liked, so I did my best to fit in. …But, I never really thought about what I wanted."

"Hahaha." How can she laugh so much at a moment like this…? "That is so like you, Fuuka. Well I say, if they don't accept you for who you are, then screw 'em."

She walks towards Fuuka and rests a hand on her shoulder.

"...But I like you... even if you don't like yourself."

Fuuka looks up at her with teary eyes. She doesn't know what she wants, but she definitely doesn't want Natsuki to leave…

"Well... I better get going."

Thus she leaves, without looking back, while Fuuka only stares at the door.

As she feels tears about to begin pouring from her eyes, a loud beep alerts her that her cell phone has received a message. It's from… Natsuki!

"_Even if were apart well still be connected. we can always talk rite? thnx for everything_"

Her cheeks are already wet and her eyes shore as she reads the message.

"Even if we're apart, we'll still be connected." A little smile crosses her face as she interprets the poor writing.

"It all makes sense now..."

Fuuka holds back a sob that threatens with making her smile disappear.

"I've always been so worried about how others are feeling... That's why my power allows me to stay connected with them... But, I've the power to stand up for my friends… because I want to see all of them being happy; that'll make me happy as well…"

She looks down the fence. Natsuki is walking towards the exit of the school.

"I want us all to remain friends. The power to connect people, even when they're apart..."

Yes, she would always feel the links between she and her friends.

"My Persona has given me this amazing gift."

And just as she realizes she can feel now her connections to everyone, she sees the change inside herself as well; her Persona, Lucia, has evolved, giving place to Juno. All thanks to Natsuki…

The door leading to the roof opens suddenly.

"There you are!" Yukari exclaims. "Weren't we gonna have lunch together in the cafeteria?"

"Oh! Were we?" Fuuka rubs her eyes with the back of her sleeves. "Sorry, I thought we were going to meet here, haha…"

"I was told there would be edible goods." Aigis demands.

"Hey Fuuka-chan, your eyes are all red. Are you okay?" Minato asks, stepping in. The other SEES members follow them into the rooftop after a few seconds.

"Everything's okay now." She nods quickly.

"Okay...?" Junpei looks at her questioningly.

"...I've made up my mind. I'll do as much as I can with my power." She turns her head to Mitsuru-senpai. "...For my sake, as well as the sake of others."

"Okaaaayy..." Yukari mutters, cocking up an eyebrow in confusion.

"Sorry. I guess that was sort of random, wasn't it?" Fuuka laughed. Mitsuru-senpai seems to have understood, though, as she casts her eyes down.

"Uh, are you sure you're alright?" The boys ask again, while Fuuka just keeps on chuckling.

* * *

><p>Lunch break was still far from ending when the Fools stood up from the ground and called for the others' attentions.<p>

"We have an announcement to make!" Hamuko said proudly. "This was meant to be a secret, but…"

"We thought it might affect our Tartarus explorations, so…" Minato continued.

"What, you got her pregnant?"

Junpei's words were meant to be a joke, but they caused a heavy silence among those members of the group who were aware of The Fools' history together. He looked left and right. "Oh?" Then it suddenly hit him. "_Oh_… s-sorry…"

Their expressions were surely awkward enough to get everyone who didn't know anything staring at them intently.

"Ahem, _**no**_. We've been offered a job as models. We are going to go to the local TV station this evening." The bluenet finished. "In the event we actually begin having any business we'd like to set up some specific exploration days, and…"

"I don't think that will be necessary." Mitsuru shook her head slowly. "After all, there is only one shadow left; once the next full moon arrives, all of you will be free to do as you please. No more Tartarus explorations to worry about for any of us…"

It was pretty obvious what she really meant. You two are free to do whatever. She was shrugging off any responsibility she ever felt for them… or maybe just freeing them from their duties as leaders. Mitsuru was hellishly ambiguous when she wasn't giving orders around.

Mitsuru seemed to notice their suspicious looks, and put up a weird expression in response. …Guilt? Junpei also seemed kind of put off…

They got some congratulations and a full interrogatory about how they got such a deal…

And when they were going back to class, Mitsuru stopped them.

"I, ah…" She hesitated during a few seconds. "I wanted to formally apologize for my actuation in the last mission. I should have taken in count what was at stake before using the chance to expand our knowledge about Personae. So um… _my apologies_." The red head obviously had difficulty saying this.

Minato shot Hamuko a quick glance, which she answered with a blank face. They muttered a simultaneous, not heartfelt at all, 'don't worry'. However, they were indeed appreciative; after all, bosses don't ask for forgiveness every day. That wasn't going to wake Shinjiro up, though.

Her senpai nodded and blubbered back a 'thank you'. She didn't seem too comfortable with their reaction, but she kept quiet about it. "I have also seen your scores… Obtaining a hundred percent isn't something everyone can do… even less during a situation like ours. I have always thought that outstanding performances should be rewarded, and you're not an exception."

She motioned the Fools to follow her to 3-D. She revolved the contents of her schoolbag and brought out a little rectangular wooden chest, which looked somewhat expensive.

"I didn't know which would be an adequate gift for you, so I consulted Iori. He answered that you both like games, and I casually happened to be in possession of this..."

She handed the item to Minato and asked him to open it. …There was a French deck inside. Minato ran a finger over the first card. There was something…

"They were given to me by my father long ago. I have always considered them to be very special. Then again, it's something rather subjective for me. They may have no value at all." Her cheeks reddened lightly, and she coughed into her hand to hide it. "I have never been any good at giving gifts, but I hope it suits your tastes."

"Thank you." They both bowed before their senpai.

"Lunch break is 'bout to finish, we should head to class." Hamuko suggested, and then they were in their way to 2-F. "…You felt that too, didn't you?"

"They have the same feeling as Persona cards, yes." Minato picked up an ace and turned it around. "Same mask patterns in the reverse."

"Maybe we should go ask Igor about them." The brunette tried to reach out for the cards, only to find Minato's harsh stare on her as she tried to pry the ace away.

He seemed to notice what he was doing and quickly put the ace in the box, closing it immediately. He then smirked at her. "…Or, we could play poker to see who gets to keep them."

"I like poker." She said, cocking an eyebrow up.

* * *

><p>The bell rang, and Junpei couldn't hold back a cry of victory. He had managed to stay awake during the whole lesson. However, the envious students didn't share his enthusiasm, and began laughing at his energetic reaction. Ah, how they wish they had his willpower and strength…<p>

"Well, what should we do until this evening?" Ah, that sounds like his dearest female suitor… other than Chidori, of course! Ah, he was going to visit her that evening… Oh wait, focus on the leaders.

"I dunno. Choose our clothes or something?" …Minato was as… uh… fashionable as ever…

Junpei, being the honorable guy he was- no matter what a certain blonde robot might opine- accepted wholeheartedly that he had made a BIG mistake during lunchtime, making It very awkward for all the people involved. To compensate, he would invite his dear partners to a delicious dinner in Hagakure. Because he was magnificent like that.

And because he had a couple of things to talk with Hamuko too.

* * *

><p>Junpei's formal leaders accepted readily his invitation- really, who could blame anyone for succumbing to Junpei's charisma?- and were soon filling their stomachs together, or at least until Minato ditched them to go have ramen with a guy who looked rather… '<em>strong',<em> and had a uniform like theirs, but with a third year badge. Could he be… his…?

Eh… anyway…

"So, it's been a while since we last had a brotalk!" He said with a big smile, even though she seemed to cringe as soon as he said the last word. "How's life going?"

Hamuko looked at him with some noodles hanging from her mouth. She swallowed them and gave him a troubled look. "It's… going, I guess? I mean, you live with me, yanno, you should know what's up."

Damn, of course! Shinjiro-senpai… he had made a big mistake again, damn it…

"Oh, haha, yeah… s-so, models, huh?"

"Yep." She went back to slurping her noodles nonchalantly.

"Yanno, I don't wanna be the overprotective bro-type…"

"You aren't—"

"…But you should be careful with all that fame and stuff. I mean, I haven't heard any news about those photos in a while, but…"

Her red eyes stabbed him. Figuratively. Maybe they were stabbing his soul.

"Why does every guy in this city try to act like my older brother?" She began laughing so hard that the chef glared at them.

"Well, uh… I guess you look moe like that? With that bunny face—"

She literally fell to the ground and kept laughing there, while rolling around. Minato looked at her but said nothing, so Junpei gave her a hand.

"Look," she rubbed her eyes, "I'm very glad that you care about me. And I will take care. But, you aren't my bro anymore."

There was only one reaction reserved to that kind of comment.

"_**Say whaaaaaaat**_?"

Hamuko linked her hands together under her nose and smiled. "There is someone whom I love a lot in the dorm. And he used to love me a lot. But I didn't know it back then and I treated him very badly and I told him some things which were very, very dumb. And then something extremely weird happened and I tried to do something really bad to someone else. And then I'd rather forget what I did a few days later to the same person, but… oh wait, what was I going on about? Eh… anyway, he stopped loving me because of all those things which happened. And that's terrible."

She freed her hands and held the counter of the ramen restaurant tightly instead. "That person is my real brother. That's why you can't be my bro anymore."

Junpei stared at her silently.

"…Are you telling me you're Minato's sister?" He yelled, making Hamuko have another laugh fit which she didn't bother explaining as much as he asked.

When she finally recomposed herself, she cleared her throat and gave him an amused look. "I have just told you something very, very important, which I haven't told anyone. Anyone who isn't Minato or is alive." She added, mysteriously. "But I know the great Junpei will be able to deduct the solution of this case."

"Man, when did you get this cryptic?" Junpei groaned loudly while Hamuko muttered something about Minato rubbing off her. "And I'm not that great… I'm always slacking off, and I can never focus and… W-wait a sec… You called me 'Junpei'!"

"Oh, did I?" The brunette smirked, with that hamster smirk of hers. "That's what I was trying to say. Since I already have a big bro, and I'll soon be famous, I'm naming you… my right hand! My partner! Junpei the dragon! How's that sound?"

"Your partner?"

"Yep. Minato's my sidekick, so you'll be my partner!"

The boy rubbed his goatee. "Hmm, it doesn't sound bad… so what would I do?"

"I will need your lame jokes to fend off crazed fans!"

"Wha—hmph! You underestimate, ex-sis…!" Junpei folded his arms, in a rather badass fashion. "Bring on the money and the babes, and I will be your personal ass until I die."

"…What about you agree to help so I don't tell Chidori what you have just said?"

* * *

><p>"Does this suit make me look fat?"<p>

"…Is this a trap question?"

"What?"

"If I say 'yes', you'll say that I only say that to make you feel well, and if I say 'no' you'll throw a fit and go look for another suit." Hamuko put a finger on her lips. "Wait, no, it's the other way around, isn't it?"

"Does it make me look fat or not?" He insisted.

"Minato." Hamuko rested a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you go ask Fuuka?"

They walked downstairs giggling like idiots as they remembered that recording, and soon they were on the way to Port Island.

* * *

><p>"Hurry up!" Minato insisted as he smoothed once and again the wrinkles of his blazer.<p>

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Hamuko huffed.

"Well, do that later or we'll be late!"

The brunette was about to reply, but she only shook her head. "It's not my fault you don't have a clue where the TV station is! Haven't you been working for that guy for so long?"

"Talking, I've been talking to him!" Minato defended himself. "What the—! Why are we back to Port Island Station?"

"This must be one of the seven wonders of Tatsumi Port Island, among which is: why is every FUCKING street name in moonspeak?"

"It's French." The bluenet pointed out. "But yes, good question. Maybe it has to do with Mitsu—will you stop distracting me?"

"Whatever. Let's ask if someone knows the way."

They ran in different directions, Hamuko heading to the back alleys and Minato towards Gekkoukan High. However, she didn't even get to enter the bar area before she suddenly felt her knees waver.

There were some traces of blood on the ground.

That's right—she was where…Shinji… the shot… that guy… Ken…

"_Hamuko-san_!"

Ken… why did he…?

She didn't get to faint, as she suddenly realized that the boy's voice wasn't in her head.

"What… what are you doing here?" She asked as she dragged her feet away from the zone, trying her best to forget all the images which came to her mind, some of which were not even related to that night. "Don't tell me you tried to…"

"No!" Ken yells.

"No… never again…" He repeated, with a lower time.

Hamuko just tilted her head slightly to show she believes him. "So?" She asked without a trace of warmth in her voice.

"I saw you two getting in the monorail and I thought that maybe I would dare go in there this time…"

"Why would you ever do that?" She spluttered angrily, grabbing his collar. "This is a bad zone! It's dangerous to go alone even for an adult! You could get killed or worse! Who do you think you are?"

She let go softly of his sweater. "Oh… yeah, it's what I was doing just now, wasn't it?" She smiled wryly. "Sorry. That was horribly hypocritical of me. Yanno what that word means? …Well, uh, you kinda saved me just now, thank you…"

Ken shook his head slowly with a worried face. Was he saying no to her gratitude? …He really was a way too mature boy.

Hamuko's phone beeped just then. Apparently, Minato had already found the way to the TV station.

"Hey," she closed her flip phone and smiled, "Yanno how to play poker?"

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter took forever :I Next ones will probably too. Welp.<strong>

**Review in TVTropes (and/or here), please ;n;**


	81. Over the top

**Author note: if I have a complain about my fic nowadays, it is: AUGH, WHY ARE P3'S SOCIAL LINKS SO SHALLOW? I mean, I love watching P3P's social links. But P3's sure make it hard for me to give them any deepness (see: horrible bout of drama :I) Oh well.**

**Let's get 500 reviews, the biggest milestone to my 1000 reviews ultimate goal! 8D**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and the Tartarus scene, and to gadeel for expanding the TVTropes article.**

* * *

><p><em>A young blue headed boy appears in the middle of a bucolic nature, shaking his hair in slow motion as he picks flowers.<em>

_The boy begins washing his beautiful hair with a lake as a background. He then begins straightening his hair to prove the power of the shampoo as whistling sounds in the background. Cue several shots of the shampoo._

_He then gets on a boat and rides the seven seas with a beautiful young man. And he shakes his hair again._

"What the hell am I reading?" Minato pondered aloud.

"Notmotei, my company's new invention. It will make your hair silky like… like silk." President Tanaka said as he munched some of his own chocolate poke-y, "you were supposed to be the one man at the end of the script, but since your friend dared reject the chance I gave her, we had to make adjustments."

"Well uh… so will I really have to wash my hair?"

"Yes."

"With that product?"

"Indeed."

They stared at each other intently.

"Will it make my hair fall out or something?"

"Suffer for beauty." The shady business man walked away cheerfully after telling Minato to take a break.

The bluenet did as asked and dragged his feet to a vending machine nearby.

"Here," a voice called by his side as her owner extended a Bauer Bar and a Mad Bull towards him. It was Hamuko, accompanied by Junpei.

"Thanks."

He quickly took the soda, but he couldn't help but stare at the chocolate bar for a while. After spending a rather gross afternoon with Nozomi, in which he had to hear the Gourmet King having stomach problems in order to get Level 4, he was all but hungry.

"Man, I can't wait for this to be aired!" Junpei said, excited. "Being your friend will finally be useful for something! Chicks love actors, but since they know they can't get them, they totally dig actors' friends!"

"_If I were you, I wouldn't do that_…" Minato muttered as he ran a hand up his hair. "So, did you have any problems arriving to this set?"

"Nah, Junpei knew the way around the TV station perfectly! I wonder why…" That was one of those situations in which the creep-o-meter for Junpei reached unsuspected levels. "I don't know what I'd have done if he hadn't been following me around the whole afternoon."

"Hey, it ain't like I was stalking you: I'm your partner, remember? I gotta make sure that you're fine and… and I wanna know who's that guy you told me 'bout yesterday!"

Minato gave Hamuko a curious look, and she mouthed 'bro' discreetly.

"Who could it be? The Chairman? KEN? You really seem like Ken's sister, is that it?" He put his face right against Hamuko's as he interrogated her. "Or was it like more mystical? Like, an upgrade, and now we all stopped being Personabros and—"

"So how was your afternoon?"

"Eh—"

"You guys! Don't ignore me!" It was difficult to accomplish Junpei's request.

"It was pretty good." Hamuko giggled. "I spent a long time with Hidetoshi-kun."

Minato suddenly choked on his soda, and it unavoidably ended up all over Hamuko's face.

Her answer to that was somewhere between Japanese and pure gibberish full of rage. Japangrish. The same reaction as Junpei's when she stole his cap to try and dry the caffeinated drink dripping from her hair.

"Not like that, stupid!" She yelled. "I wanna make up for everything I did last month! So, I spent a long time giving a hand to Hidetoshi in the Student Council Room!"

Minato got quiet. Junpei got even quieter.

"Man, that's kinky."

The male Fool decided to go back to the set and pray that those two wouldn't break anything.

"Boy, it's a tragedy!" President Tanaka suddenly exclaimed. "A fashion tragedy!" He pointed his index finger at Minato's face quite dramatically. "Our last poll showed that blue hair is old-fashioned! Dye it silver grey! Or platinum blonde! Costumers won't be able to do anything but amaze at the fairness of your hair and adore my product!"

"…Eh? But I have never dyed my…"

"It's all about the image, my boy! You're a model now! I'll make you famous! Today, you're just a mildly good looking cucumber, but, one day, under my care, you'll be on a quest to glory!"

"Cucumber… quest… what?"

"You will bloom like a famous and glamorous cucumber flower if you dye your hair. Then again, maybe you should wait until having finished this advertisement; it's not that I doubt my products, but maybe you shouldn't mix my shampoo with hair dye."

Tanaka left again, this time having somehow managed to give Minato a Devil Level 7.

There was only a doubt left in Minato's head after these wise words.

"…_Do cucumbers have flowers_?"

* * *

><p>"Oh. Guess what, they do!"<p>

"Minato, stop looking up nonsense and come play with us!" Hamuko called from the kitchen table.

"Yeah, yeah…" He left his laptop and took a chair. "So, poker, right?"

The following competitors were ready to play: the Fools, Ken, Aigis, Koromaru, Mitsuru… wait WHAT? Mitsuru?

"Aigis insisted that I taught her how to play." Mitsuru muttered glancing down at her cards shyly. Well, whatever.

"Cut the deck, Aigis." Hamuko commanded.

"Let us commence!" The robot exclaimed as she rose a knife on the air.

"A-Aigis!" Minato stopped her. "What are you doing?"

"I was told to cut the deck."

This was going to be a difficult evening.

* * *

><p>After a brief explanation on the rules of poker, Aigis began giving out cards to her fellow players. It was time to take advantage of something Minato hadn't used in a while…<p>

Analysis.

"WOO, OH YES!" Hamuko yelled, throwing her fist on the air as she took a look at her cards. "Eh—I-I mean… uh… Man, these cards suck." Perhaps it wouldn't be necessary.

Mitsuru stared silently at her cards while Ken just looked at Hamuko with an awkward face. He probably didn't know how to play, and learning from Hamu wasn't going to do any good.

"Koromaru-san," Aigis whispered, "how should I react to this?"

"Arf!" The dog barked passionately.

"Show no emotion. I see. Shutting down emotion-display subroutines."

"T-that poker face…" Hamuko muttered.

"Truly formidable…!" Mitsuru agreed.

It was pretty good, alright, but Minato had a great poker face of his own.

"Man, that's scary." Hamuko commented.

"Quite unreadable." Mitsuru agreed.

"I cannot read his poker face." Aigis stated.

"You ain't got to read nobody." The brunette shook her head. "Well, so?"

"Not going."

"Nope."

"Koromaru-san advised me to quit."

"You cowards!"

* * *

><p>Hours passed quickly while they played. After finishing the second round, Hamuko cooked something for Ken and apparently leveled up after giving him the dish. 'That was fast', Minato commented. 'I wonder how long had he been holding that level back', she just had to answer. When he got sleepy he went to his room to take a nap, accompanied by Koromaru, who was a rather skillful player who granted Aigis more than one victory. Those two really needed to stop watching TV every time they weren't with the Fools.<p>

In the end, Minato, Hamuko and Aigis were the only ones left playing… since Mitsuru was surprisingly bad and left after having bet a couple million yen.

Yes, really.

She said something about really _not_ having a problem and being thinking about some things for the Tartarus exploration they had issued that night and whatnot.

* * *

><p>"I bet five biscuits for Koromaru-san."<p>

"I see your bet and raise it to five biscuits and a bone."

"Damn, you guys are sure playing hard." Hamuko bit her lip and glanced left and right. "I—"

And a staring contest ensued. At least from Hamuko's side, who tried hard at seeing behind Aigis's emotionless face. Then she looked at Minato's equally emotionless face. Then she shrugged into a corner of her chair and muttered that she quit. Her Royal Flush could do nothing against Aigis's pair, apparently.

So, Aigis was proclaimed supreme victor and ruler of the SEES poker competition by Junpei and Yukari who had been watching all along. Koromaru would reap some benefits the following day for his unconditional support as well. Hamuko foresaw she would have nightmares if Aigis didn't reactivate her emotion display functions. And then they finally were off to have some real adventures.

* * *

><p>A single Mythical Gigas stood between SEES and what Fuuka claimed was the topmost floor of Tartarus that could be reached. The mighty Shadow shrugged off even the strongest physical attacks, dishing out its own with impunity. Such a powerful creature demanded a masterwork of strategy and tactics.<p>

"Hit it with a whole bunch of lightning?" Hamuko suggested with a shrug as Minato crushed another Attack Mirror, activating its protective effect.

"I suppose it is worth an attempt," he affirmed.

The ascended Personae of Ken and Akihiko called down a truly impressive display of electricity, driving the Shadow to the ground, sparking.

"Hah! My turn!" Hamuko crowed. "Odin!"

"Did you just say Od-"

"Thunder Reign!"

The power called down by the Norse god of storms was enough to blind all those in the vicinity. Minato was pretty sure he even heard Fuuka cry out. As the spots stopped dancing in their eyes, Hamuko took a look at Minato and started giggling.

"Y-You may not want to... stand so close next time," she choked out.

He calmly flattened the hair that had stood nearly straight-up from exposure to the attack.

"Sadly, this is still better than what Tanaka's product did to it."

* * *

><p>"...This is it?"<p>

"I don't see another staircase..."

_"I detect that you aren't quite at the top," _Fuuka interjected.

"But with no stairs, this is the highest accessible floor," Minato mused. "There's one of those weird suitcases here, too."

"So... we reached the top?" Hamuko said hopefully.

"We've gone as high as we can," he confirmed, smiling slightly himself.

Hamuko's first reaction was, of course, to run to the edge and look down. Minato's was to drag her back before she tripped over the briefcase.

Mitsuru received the news about their findings with clear disappointment, however, she congratulated the whole team, who spent the way back to the dorm musing about how short the tower was after all.

Despite the fiasco from arriving to the top just to find nothing, they were all rather excited after such deed, since that would probably mean they wouldn't have to come back to Tartarus for real. That meant they'd have to keep on letting off steam in… a different way.

* * *

><p>The door to Hamuko's room was kicked shut without any regards to the other inhabitants of the dorm, locking it for extra safety. Hamuko turned around with a smirk, and that was Minato's cue to begin playing tonsil hockey with her, until he got bored and headed instead to her neck, licking it strongly and intercalating some kiss here and there.<p>

"Happy, are we?" Hamuko asked through her teeth, as there was just too many people awake in the dorm. She took advantage of the moment Minato pulled away to answer to give the same treatment to him.

"I'm glad we're alive,' he inhaled sharply as she kissed up and down his jaw, ending up chewing his ear, "and that's as good a reason as any."

The brunette made a little pause to look at him in the eyes. He only realized his awkward choice of words after she muttered a rather forced 'yes, yes it is'. Before he could even mumble an apology, however, she blocked his mouth with her own and began unzipping his uniform trousers.

The Dark Hour stopped, returning everything its natural colors. Mostly black since it was rather late.

They both probably had a similar thought, since they made an awkward pause to look at each other. What would happen when the Dark Hour ended? There were only a few days left until the last mission… and that was something with which they had spent their whole lives.

Oh well. They had more important business to take care of right then.

* * *

><p>"Calm down, child! We're not going to hurt you!"<p>

Lots and lots of people in white coats were surrounding the bed. They always brought food, but now they were attacking!

"Ack!"

One of the men in white jumped back as he got his hand bitten, leaving a clear trace of blood behind. The child hissed menacingly as one of them took out a plastic thing with a needle, trying to fend them off.

"We need an anti-tetanic shot for Nohara-san!"

"Sedate her first!"

Ouch. After being stabbed with the needle thing, the kid could do few more than stumble and fall back onto the bed.

Everything became blurry…

"Are you sure it's a good idea to discard her? I don't think she's in the right state to…" The police man who looked like that TV detective was speaking to the men in white… he seemed so sad…

"She's just scared right now; she obviously doesn't want to move away from you. However, she's recovered completely and no one reclaims her, so it's time she moves to that shelter in Tokyo. Maybe some fresh air will be good for her…"

The police man nodded, but he didn't even say 'bye' before everything went from blurry to black.

* * *

><p>"Seikatsu-san, are you okay?"<p>

Said girl suddenly snapped back into reality and glanced around, just to see Ms. Terauchi staring at her intently. She jumped to her feet.

"Uh… W-what was the question?"

"We were talking about natto." The teacher explained.

"Ah, yeah, natto, oh, natto, sure, natto… err… Natto smells like old socks?"

The class burst out into laughter.

"…True enough, but that wasn't my question."

Hamuko apologized for being zoned out and then slumped down on her table again.

"Are you okay?"

She turned her head to Minato, and then narrowed her eyes.

"_What do you think of girls who believe they dreamt about officer Kurosawa last night_?" She whispered.

Minato formed a 'X' with his forearms and shook his head slowly.

"_That's what I thought too_." She slammed her face against the table again. "_Damn emotionless Aigis face_."

* * *

><p>Thursday lessons finally came to an end, but Hamuko couldn't rest just yet; she had promised Minato that she would get herself a job, and she wasn't going to go back on her word.<p>

"Heeey partner!" Junpei greeted her energetically. "I need your HALP!"

"Hey." Hamuko high-fived him. "I'm sorry b—"

"Ya see, um… the teacher's threatened me 'bout my grades and… and you got a hundred percent! Help me, please!" He clapped his hands together and bowed profusely.

"Ah, well… t-the real mastermind is Minato, and…"

"Alright! I'll bring him too!" He ran away. "Hey Minato…!"

* * *

><p>And that was how they ended up studying all together. Well, they guessed Junpei was doing the homework Minato gave him, since they were too busy playing footsie under the table to know.<p>

"Hamuko," Minato called suddenly, "didn't you say you wanted to see what books they have in here?"

"Did I…?"

The bluenet gave her a lopsided smile.

"I mean, how COULD I forget it?" She exclaimed, excited, as she jumped to her feet, earning a shush from the whole library.

"Alright guys! I'll be doing my best!" Junpei rubbed his biceps before stabbing his notebook with his pencil. For emphasis, she guessed.

"How did you know I've never done it in a library?" Hamuko was next to jumping as she followed Minato around.

"Don't be stupid, we're not really going to do it."

"But you…!"

"Look, you wouldn't have come if I hadn't done that. And just for your interest, screaming tends to be frowned upon in libraries." Yes. Minato couldn't be that playful…

"Then…?"

Minato pushed his back against a bookshelf and motioned Hamuko to do the same. He then pointed towards their table. Junpei was still doing his homework, which was somewhat admirable.

"Well?"

"Look closer."

"I don't see anything interesting, Minato." Hamuko sighed.

"What…?" Minato peeked out, and then his expression turned into one of pure dread. "OH, SHIT! She's not there anymore!"

"Who…?"

"There's no time to explain! The library is her natural environment!" He grabbed her hand. "We have to—"

"What are you…. What are you two doing here…?"

They both turned around slowly, feeling Chihiro's overwhelming glare on the back of their necks.

"What are you two doing?"

"Checking… out… books?" Hamuko laughed, with only a thread of voice. She was scared stiff.

"You two… are holding hands…"

"T-this is not what it looks like!" Minato quickly shook his hands in front of his face.

"What does it look like, then…?" Chihiro asked, coldly.

"H-have you played School Days by any chance?" The brunette clang to Minato's arm.

"Don't… change… the… SUBJECT!"

Minato pulled Hamuko's hand and ran in direction to Junpei while Chihiro followed them.

"Junpei! Save us!" Hamuko shook his arm quickly.

"Wha-?" He stood up. "Hey, don't you dare hurt my—!"

Chihiro pushed him away so easily that it seemed he was made of paper.

"You… you two…"

They were cornered, on the ground. To think they wouldn't die at hands of a shadow…!

"If I can't have Minato… NO WOMAN WILL!"

"Wait, woman?" Hamuko asked suddenly. "…You too think that he looks like an uke?"

"…" Chihiro froze. "…Why, yes! His face… it can be so moe some times…"

"I know, right? It'd be a pity to ruin it…" The female Fool rubbed her chin. "Now, what would you tell me about that guy over there, the one with the goatee? Doesn't he look rather…?"

The jealous treasurer looked at Junpei. Then she looked at Minato. Junpei. Minato.

And then she had a nosebleed and fainted.

"Exactly." Hamuko propped herself up on her forearms and jumped to her feet.

Minato was nothing short of shocked. "What… what were you two even…?"

"Yaoi fangirls." She rubbed her nose. "I can smell them a kilometer away." She then glanced at Junpei. "Thanks partner, I couldn't have defeated her without your help!"

"WHY does everyone pair me with this f…riend of mine?" Junpei growled.

In the end they were all kicked out of the library, and decided to escape from the building while Chihiro was still unconscious.

* * *

><p>"You know, I have just had a revelation." Junpei said eagerly. "You will get me killed. My friends will get me killed. Yuka-tan will kick my head out. Mitsuru-senpai will freeze me alive. Fuuka-chan will feed me until I can't eat anymore… But you two will kill me just by being near! You… you don't go around flirting with a yandere! That's. Not. Cool." He laughed. "I know it's dumb for me to tell you this, what with being the leaders and all, but… but… think things through outside Tartarus too."<p>

"Sir, yes, sir."

Hamuko decided not to question how she had just obtained Magician Level 8. She'd just go with it.

* * *

><p>In the evening…<p>

"Here again?" The owner of Café Chagall yelled. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not gonna give you your job back!"

Hamuko sighed and nodded, then asked if at least they were welcomed as customers. Her old boss growled an 'of course' and said that a waitress would take their order in a while.

"Ah…" Hamuko inhaled the smoke coming from her cup of coffee. "It's been a while since I last had coffee with… anyone…" She cleared her throat and looked at Minato. The bluenet was glancing right and left, while holding his cup dangerously close to the edge of the table . "…Are you still paranoid about Chihiro?"

"You don't know her." Minato shrugged his shoulders, trying to hide his face. "Every time she sees me with a girl…"

"Sorry for bringing you trouble."

Hamuko was staring at him so intently that it made him feel uncomfortable. "Eh. It makes my life interesting."

They joined fists at the cry of 'personabros' and then laughed awkwardly as they noticed everyone's stares, since there were some classmates in the café.

"Personabros…?"

"HOLY FUCK," Hamuko backed away, "DON'T YOU EVER REST?"

Hamuko jumped away as Chihiro slammed the table, but Minato remained still. His cup fell to the ground. With a quick gesture, he signaled Hamuko to go away.

"Oh-oh, my gosh I'm so sorry! Oh my gosh, please, forgive me Minato-san!" Chihiro crouched down and began picking up the pieces. "I-I'll pay for it!"

"And how will you pay it?"

One of the aforementioned classmates got up and walked towards her.

"Will you use the money you stole from us to make up for that, huh?" A girl asked from their table.

"I… I didn't…!"

"You."

Minato got up and stepped towards the group.

"Where is your proof that she has stolen any money?"

"Ah, well, that's…"

"That's what?" He narrowed his eyes.

"W-well, we have no proof, but..." One of them relented.

"Then, if you dare bully her without any proof…", Minato cracked his knuckles, "you'll have to answer before me... and I'm sure Mitsuru-senpai wouldn't be happy, either."

"Minato-san…"

"Uh… we don't want any problems with the student council…" They walked back to their table in silence, while Minato just smiled smugly.

"That… that was so brave of you!" Chihiro's eyes were next-to-gleaming… uh…

"W-well, I couldn't let them hurt you, right? I believe in you… my, uh… dearest?" He patted her head, although not too keenly. "So um… you shouldn't get mad when I go out with my friends, right?"

"Minato-san… I'm so sorry I ever doubted you! Ah…. Where is Hamuko-san? Oh my gosh, where are my manners? I have to apologize for my previous behavior!" Chihiro got all hysteric about needing to apologize, but, not too later after Minato got Justice Level 8, she finally let him go… with a renewed love for him and a broken cup which he had to pay. Interestingly enough, he felt positively nothing.

* * *

><p>Hamuko eventually reached Minato at the station.<p>

"You had planned that, huh?" She asked, amused.

"I manipulated her and lied to her. And I absolutely hate doing that." He sighed. "It's so… so…"

Hamuko barely managed to contain a giggle, which Minato didn't miss.

"I'm sorry. That's so not like the Minato I used to know…"

"Well, the Hamuko I used to know would never have apologized." He harrumphed.

"Ack, we're turning into good people! Next we know, we'll be donating our Tartarus money to charities and saving cats trapped in trees and giving Koro-chan daily baths!"

"Heinous." Minato snorted.

* * *

><p>The night passed quickly… and noisily, since everyone was apparently into poker.<p>

"What have we done?" Hamuko muttered as Fuuka bet a batch of handmade chocolate truffles.

'What have we done?', indeed.

* * *

><p><strong>This is one of those chapters in which a lot of things happen and in the end nothing happened at all *w***

**Come check out the POKER OMAKES! ™ written by my beta reader! They'll be in my dA gallery (SandraMJ) soon 8D**


	82. Defrosting

**Author note: sorry this took so long. Weird as fuck week, nothing like psychological pregnancy to get me writing, and then a busy week. Welp, summer is quickly approaching, look forward to that.**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading, and gadeel for expanding the TV Tropes article! **

* * *

><p>Yet another normal Friday morning… more or less.<p>

"And then I saw her scratch his ear, smile and say 'good dog, Koro-chan'!"

"You surely dreamt that, Hamu." Minato shook his head.

"But it's true!" Hamuko defended herself.

"I can't imagine Mitsuru-senpai referring to ANYONE in such an informal manner." Yukari giggled. "Not even a dog!"

"Maybe she doesn't know Koro-chan's family name?" Fuuka joked.

"Koromaru-san informed me that he descends from samurai." Aigis stated solemnly.

"What? And you believed him and not me?" Junpei barked.

"Junpei-san, Koromaru-san is able to understand Japanese perfectly and has a great imagination which allows me to understand him as well."

"Yeah, well, I'm rather imaginative too! For example, last night—"

Everyone took a step away from Junpei.

"Not like that!" He shook his arms and stomped the ground.

"Guys, don't get derailed!" Hamuko sighed. "I'm telling you I didn't…"

Hamuko's sudden silence coincided with a soft 'hey' from Akihiko, who quickly walked past the group.

Everyone returned to their chit chat without giving it any more importance; everyone but Minato, who hadn't missed a single time how his dear friend followed their senpai with her eyes during the whole last month. She couldn't tell him anything, lest he wouldn't understand… and he found them disgusting anyway, so…

Minato could relate perfectly well. He had to spend a whole week with his sister on similar terms. Hamuko had to watch her brother give her a harsh look every so often. Not as frequently as back during that _incident,_ but quite often nonetheless.

"It's about time you tell him, isn't it?" The bluenet suggested, nudging Hamuko's hand softly.

The female Fool let a little smile appear on her face and looked forward. "I wouldn't like to be a hypocrite."

"What is hypocritical about missing your family?"

She shook her head slowly. "I have to move forward too. Forgive and forget, like someone said."

"Hamu—"

"Minato-san!" A girl yelled. Chihiro… "Oh Minato-san! Such a coincidence seeing you here! And… Hamuko-san too…"

"Ahaha, oh well, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone."

She mouthed 'good luck' before quickly jumping back into the lively conversation SEES was having.

"D-d-d-d-d-did she call us… l-l-l-l-loverbiiiirds?" Chihiro… fainted.

Minato couldn't help but lament in times like these that Evokers didn't shoot actual bullets.

* * *

><p>"Man…" Hamuko yawned with her mouth wide open, accidentally showing everyone the contents of her mouth, full of chicken curry. "Fridays are boring as hell. I have to make more friends..."<p>

"Why would you say that?" Minato asked, look up from a little notebook where he was scribbling something.

"Oh, well, you know. All my maxed out links tend to…" She made a short pause. "Vanish. Or play really difficult sports. Hey, that's right! There's tennis practice today. I promised Rio that I would visit more often! I'm gonna tell her right now! Thanks a lot, Minato!" She swallowed quickly and ran away.

"…Welcome, I guess." Minato lost no second grabbing a handkerchief to whip out the rice grains she had let all over his jacket while she was yelling excitedly. Then he sighed, and took a look at the notebook. She had given him an idea to kill time …

* * *

><p>"<em>And… this is the last one<em>."

Minato smiled in satisfaction and took a look at the list he had just finished. "_Magician out, Chariot out, Hermit out, Star out, Tower out, and, Priestess, oh Priestess as well!_ Hah…" He let out a vainglorious expression crawl onto his face. "_Hamuko really has no chance of getting these back_." His eyes kept scrolling down the list, and his smile soon vanished as they stopped over 'Hanged Man' and 'Strength', as well as making him frown a little about Hierophant. They had to go visit the old couple some day, now that there was nothing at stake. "_Justice eight, Moon four, Fortune five, Devil, uh, seven…_"

He furrowed his eyebrows at the last three. "Fools five, other Fools eight, and Death eight… Eight, huh…"

Maybe… maybe Social Links could get repeated, like the Fools one? Or, for example, the fact that both he and Hamuko had different Hermits…? Who knew…

Minato briefly wondered about how her list could look like. Who was closer to 'winning', even though they had no idea about how to win. It'd been a while since he last contacted Igor, after all…

In the end, and in order to prevent any unwanted eyes from taking a look at the confidential information, Minato folded the page into a little, horribly made, paper plane and threw it out of the window. After all, no one would know what it meant, and Hamuko would probably find it if he threw it to a bin. It wouldn't be the first time he'd seen her during the last week glancing at the bin in search of notes for the exams.

However, and because the chances were less than minimal, he hadn't foreseen that it would fly vertically down- it's not that it was a bad throw, it was… the wind- and landed straight onto Akihiko's head.

"Priestess, Justice… Are these…?" He heard him whisper as he looked at the note. Well fuck.

Next time he'd burn the paper.

* * *

><p>"Woo, nice shot, Rio!" Hamuko crowed as she waved her racket in the air. Because cheering was basically all she could do, since Rio was just so much superior and intercepted the ball every time.<p>

Well… at least this maxed out Social Link hadn't disappeared from her life… and that was great. It'd been a while since she last had so much fun. About a night and a half to be precise, but that wasn't anyone's business but hers.

* * *

><p>Practice eventually came to an end, and since Rio was busy, Hamuko began roaming around the sports zone to see if she could find some friend to go home with.<p>

Fate is a weird thing, they say, for there's a thin line which separates it from coincidence. Meeting Akihiko when he had just left the male lockers? Coincidence.

Hamuko turned around, with the intention to just follow her path after a simple 'hey', but her senpai stopped her. "Do you know anything 'bout this?", he asked.

A paper plane flying straight onto his head, with unimaginably important information, crucial for the Tournament, written on it… had to be fate.

"What do you know 'bout it?" he repeated.

The brunette read the list carefully. Apparently, she had no chance to get to any of the links Minato had marked as 'wlua'. Oh wait, 'mine'. That was some calligraphy right there.

"I... I didn't know Minato was so ahead of me…" Hamuko muttered, half impressed, half shocked.

"Ahead of you?"

She didn't answer. She tried to hide her face by looking at the note until he left, like an ostrich. Then she realized it was her own fault for talking aloud and gave him a blank look.

"No more secrets." Akihiko said harshly, almost threateningly.

Hamuko nodded sharply. "Come with me."

* * *

><p>"Why are we here?" Aki queries as Hamuko climbs onto the jungle gym.<p>

"I like this place." She replies calmly and then adds "Social Links."

"What?"

* * *

><p>What Hamuko tells him is bloody unbelievable. Then again, nothing either of those two ever tell is ever credible to begin with. Making friends is what gives them Personas? That's all they need to be strong? Friends? And they are fighting against each other at the same time for those friends? Since when do they even know this? What sense does it make?<p>

"Then all that time you two spend with everyone…" Akihiko begins, dubious.

"We really do care about everyone." Hamuko affirms strongly. "I guess that we wouldn't have hung out so much at first if there wasn't all that power stuff involved, though, but it did the trick; we really ended up loving all of our friends. Most of them." She scratched the back of her head and smiled, maybe recalling something.

"So do I form part of that power thing?" He asks suddenly, unable to contain his curiosity.

She doesn't answer immediately, instead deciding to stare at him for a few seconds. Like a certain someone used to do a lot.

"Star Social Link." She finally confesses, sounding somewhat tired. "You uh… 'belong' to me, in a sorta universal karmic energy way. You're out of Minato's reach… for some reason. You have some pretty powerful Personas."

Akihiko wants to know more. He wants to ask everything and get all the answers in one interrogatory… but perhaps he's lucky she's telling him all that much.

"So why do you two… do those…" Aki can't even finish the sentence, lest he get nausea from the images from that night.

"No idea. We're trying out ideas we get from several places: universal karmic deity things giving us vague as fuck hints, dreams, Wahoo Answers…" She sighs. "I think it's working. But then again, the most worrying nights are the Full Moon ones…"

They fall into an awkward silence, with Hamuko staring at him intently.

"Sometimes I feel really tired of all of this." The girl states, out of nowhere. "All this situation. In general. I don't think anyone really knows about that." She links her hands under her nose. "Sometimes I think I've been doing the same thing my whole life. But I know I haven't, so…"

"I know what you mean." Akihiko nods. "It feels like I've been fighting Shadows forever. But ever since that first big Shadow appeared, things have been weirder. And since you turned up I've been…"

Those rodent-like red eyes… her hair… her nose…

"I've been seeing Miki in you." He eventually confesses. "My… dead little sister. You already know 'bout her, right?"

Hamuko remains uncharacteristically silent.

"I'm sorry 'bout that. I should have known from day one that there's no way you could be her… but I was so desperate… I just wanted to believe…" He runs a hand up his hair. "Maybe I've already forgotten what she looked like. In any case… I think I have already accepted that she's gone, and I'll have to live with that the rest of my life. Shin—"

"Forgetting is not easy, but it's sometimes the best option." The brunette interrupts him jumping down from the jungle gym. She shakes the dust off her skirt and then looks at him. "It always helps. It's not the bravest thing to do, but we both know that the only road in life is ahead, right?"

And now she's trying to teach him lessons again… "That's your excuse to make me forgive you for what I saw that night, huh?"

Hamuko smiles wryly. "Could be. It's up to you."

Akihiko pressed his lips into a line. "You two still disgust me." However… "But since you don't even… I guess… Tell Minato I thank you two for trying so hard for everyone." Akihiko can't help but mumble, so he decides to walk away.

"No, thank you for the power!" Hamuko shouts from afar. She says something else, but he can't hear it anymore.

* * *

><p>Minato was lying on the sofa when Hamuko arrived to the dorm. He seemed somewhat disturbed. And rather full.<p>

"Why do you think people get into cults?" He asked, sitting up.

"Hi to you too." She snorted and plopped down next to him. "What's this cult business?"

"Nozomi is part of a cult. You know, the Gourmet King? He's apparently been accosted for months by the father of a child who got scammed by him… then again, he does seem convinced that he's earning heaven or whatever. I personally think he's just mad about being compared to his brother…"

"So?" Hamuko tilted her head. "Why are you asking me? I don't know jack 'bout him. And aren't you the _**expert**_ in people?"

"Well, yes, but you know more about this beliefs stuff than I do." Minato shrugged. "Maybe I could ask Johei. He probably knows a lot about these kind of things."

"Could be."

…

…

"WHY WOULD YOU EVER DO THAT?"

Minato just stared at her and blinked slowly. "…What?"

Hamuko reached into her jacket pocked and produced a note out of it. "This!" She extended it towards him.

"I would say I'm surprised you have it, but I expected you'd somehow end up with it. It always happens." He scratched the back of his head. "Well, allow me to correct it."

He scribbled over the '4' next to the moon kanji and wrote a '5' instead, making Hamuko's jaw almost fall.

"Am I too ahead of you?" Minato pried, with a knowing smile.

"Wha—no! Gimme that pen!"

In a few minutes, Hamuko finished scribbling down the Arcanas she possessed on the reverse of Minato's note. "Watch and cry." She grinned victoriously.

"Let me see," he coughed, "you have maxed out Emperor, Hierophant, Hanged Man, just like me, and Moon, as well as Chariot and Hermit; however, those last two were mine first, so you got no access to their Personas." He smirked. "Strength level nine, Magician level eight, and Star level seven are all already a bit too late; that Justice level seven is a no-go, and… Lovers and Temperance level nine and Sun level six are actually rather interesting."

Minato folded the note carefully and stuffed it into one of his pockets.

"Thank you for telling me who will be my next best friends."

And with that, he left the sofa, leaving Hamuko completely speechless behind.

* * *

><p>"How… how did you know persimmons are one of my favorite fruits?"<p>

Seikatsu muttered something about bitterness, having a 'mountain' of them and doing some cleaning, all way too fast for her to understand, and then ran away after leaving the fruit on Mitsuru's hands. It had some strange black marks on its skin, but it looked rather good. Maybe Akihiko would know how to cook something with persimmons in home ec.

* * *

><p>That day was going to be rather busy. The highly awaited school trip was quickly approaching, and there were a lot of things to decide before that time arrived. The place was probably not one of them, since Ekoda's word was law, regardless of what the other teachers and the Student Council said. That was the only reason why he wasn't discharged after Moriyama's bullying incident.<p>

But that wasn't the most worrying issue, though. There were only ten days left until the last mission. Ten nights until the operation which would decide the future of humanity. Would they do a good job? Would they be able to stop the Dark Hour, as the Chairman said? …Would her father finally be at peace with himself?

That was all she'd wanted since she first awakened her Persona in that Tartarus exploration… making her father smile again. Making him look at her without immediately glancing down, ashamed of himself for 'not being able to take his daughter's place'. Penthesilea was a curse, not a weapon or a discovery, as he had told her so often…

Absorbed by these thoughts, Mitsuru walked into the Student Council Room almost automatically.

"Oh, Senpai."

Apparently Takeba had business to attend as well. They sat down next to each other as Mitsuru brought out her own documents.

"I saw that the room was empty, so I decided to fill out this poll about the archery club as soon as possible…" She explained.

"Ah, good job. Efficiency is always appreciated." Mitsuru nodded to herself.

They worked in silence. An unnecessary silence, as Mitsuru observed, only broken by the scrapping of the pencils' tips over their papers. Weren't her efforts to grow closer to SEES, to be a leader of her people like Akihiko had reproached her, well aimed? Oh, perhaps a casual conversation would allow Mitsuru to grow closer to Takeba, and thus be able to assist her better in battle.

But what could they talk about? Ah, wait, of course. She had to choose a topic which the other would enjoy talking about. Takeba really seemed to like fashion… But, Mitsuru didn't possess any knowledge in that field, since her maids always chose the 'appropriate' clothes for someone of her status. It… it was such a pity, really… Mitsuru really liked her subordinate's clothes, but, she would never be allowed to wear such garments. Much less bright pink, like a little girl, disgracing the strict color coding of the school uniform. But then…

"Mitsuru-senpai?" Takeba called.

"Huh?" The red head glanced at her.

"You um… broke the tip of your pencil."

As it seems, Mitsuru had been doing nothing but scratch the paper, without any graphite. That was rather… embarrassing.

"I'll lend you one of mine."

With that, they continued working in silence, mostly since Mitsuru felt rather ashamed right now.

"So…" The younger girl was the one who attempted to break the awkward atmosphere this time. "There are only ten days left until the last mission, right?"

"Indeed." That could be a good way to 'break the ice', as Iori usually said every time he approached her. "You don't sound too happy about it."

"No, well, of course I'm glad, but…" She glanced down. "I joined SEES expecting to find out more 'bout my father, only to discover that it was all really his fault. It ain't very encouraging, you know?"

Certainly, it could be all but 'encouraging', as she said.

"But, this is the last mission." Takeba said determinedly. "I may not have a reason to fight anymore, but I won't give up. I'm gonna mend all my father did, fair and square." She shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Everyone has their reason for fighting, so I guess this will be mine."

Her words were surprisingly inspiring. Yukari Takeba had nothing left to fight for, yet she was still determined to face the Shadows straight on, to embark on a mission which could cost her life. Everyone's lives.

Mitsuru insisted on reminding everyone of the danger they were in, and the good of their actions; however, treating them like soldiers, her weapons, she forgot that, in the end, they're not but a few teenagers who joined forces with her disinterestedly, to fight for something nobody would ever acknowledge.

The red head couldn't avoid thinking of Shinjiro. He'd always refused to take orders from her, claiming that she 'was no boss of his'. When he decided to leave, she even called him a 'defector', earning nothing but a head shake from him. And now, he was in the threshold between life and death. And it was all her fault.

How could she have overlooked… no, forgotten something so crucial…?

"It will soon be over." Mitsuru finally spoke with a thread of voice. "In only a few days, everyone will go back to their normal school lives… and everything will be over." She cleared her throat. "Well, the members of the Student Council will arrive soon."

It was a lie. The meeting for that afternoon was canceled, as she had an appointment with Arisato. However, she needed some time to think.

"If you want to talk later, let me know." She added, standing up to accompany Yukari to the exit.

Yukari seemed somewhat distraught by that offer, but she smiled nonetheless. "No, that's okay. Thanks for listening."

Mitsuru fell back onto her chair immediately after Takeba closed the door.

* * *

><p>"Minato-san!" Chihiro exclaimed as soon as she unfortunately found him. "Did you hear that announcement? W-we've been called into the Student Council Room!"<p>

"What a twist." He sighed. He certainly couldn't bear Chihiro, and he would have much rather just ignored this Link, left powerless or not; however, he couldn't just let her suffer at everyone's hands. He knew she didn't take the money, so he'd make everyone see it as well.

Then hopefully he could slide away and hide under a rock until Chihiro's crush disappeared. Or maybe he would eventually be found and burnt alive or something, seeing her homicidal attacks towards every thing who got in her way to his heart or something.

"Minato-san, are you okay?"

"Uh… yeah, yeah. _On fire_."

They knocked on the Student Council Room door, and had to wait a few seconds until Mitsuru opened the door for them. Then the bluenet and the red head simply exchanged a tired look.

"Let's end this quickly." Mitsuru rubbed her forehead. "Whose fault was it?"

Minato was tempted to say 'it was her' to see if she would leave him alone, but he just pressed his lips and looked elsewhere.

"Well?" She insisted.

"I-I really didn't do it!" Chihiro suddenly jumped. "I-I didn't do it!"

"Do you have any evidence?" Their senpai demanded.

"Well… no, but…"

Mitsuru took a deep breath. She seemed to be in low spirits for whatever reason. "I believe you." Then she exhaled slowly. Now THAT was new. "You are great with mathematics, and that's why I assigned you the role of Treasurer. However I… understand that someone who is good with numbers isn't necessarily good handling money." **Understanding**? What was wrong with her?

"Thank you so much, Kirijo-senpai!" Chihiro bowed once and again and again.

"I… yes, not at all. We will look further into the case, however, as you will understand. We can't just leave the money missing."

Her sore eyes noticed Minato as he was about to leave.

"Arisato." She called. "We will be in charge of discovering who's the thief. You can come to my room tonight, so that we may plot a plan to find him or her."

No. Nonono Mitsuru-senpai. Chihiro was staring at her.

"Come with utmost discretion, please. Don't come too late, after the meeting I would like to discuss some more… _private_ matters with you."

The girl with glasses just twitched.

"Do you think you could bring Seikatsu too? It would be a little less jarring if someone saw you in my room with her."

Her fingers began moving on their own.

"I want to be there for… what…"

"Move, **move**, _**MOVE**_!" Minato yelled as he yanked Mitsuru away from Chihiro's reach.

"YOU TWO… WILL… WHAAAAAAAAAT?"

Minato could only briefly admire the petite girl's inner strength, since she easily lifted in the air a table which was double her length. Then, he had to run for his life and Mitsuru's when she threw it against the door.

"**What in the world**?" Mitsuru asked, shocked as she ran out of the room with him.

"S-she forgot to take her pills this morning, don't judge her!"

They began running through the corridors, closely followed by the crazed Chihiro who kept screeching things like 'he's MINE' and 'DON'T touch HIM!'. A lovely girl.

"H-hey, what do you think of yuri?" Minato barked. "Hamuko and Yukari isn't a bad pairing, is it?"

"PERVERT!" She screamed as she ran behind them. "UNFORGIVABLE!"

Chihiro somehow managed to run ahead of them and block the door. Her glasses shone scarily in the backlighting, blocking her eyes from view. Oh, holy fuck.

"Hey Minato! 'Su—?"

Everyone's glares turned to Hamuko. She glanced around and then began backpedaling slowly upstairs. Then she fell backwards. Then the traitor got up and backpedaled upstairs faster until she was out of sight.

Using this momentary distraction, Minato and Mitsuru ran to the place they considered most secure. The Faculty Office. Chihiro followed them in immediately.

"You won't escape now…" She laughed evilly.

She approached them slowly. With heavy steps.

"Fushimi, what are you—"

She stopped. Chihiro stopped. Oh holy everything, what did she have in mind? What torture was she planning? Would she gouge their eyes out? Would she bathe in their blood? Would she… would she make them read the last part of Magical Witch Detective?

"You!" Chihiro pointed to a teacher.

What.

"I remember now!" She exclaimed, ignoring completely the cornered teenagers. "I remember perfectly now! I gave you the money!"

"I…" The flabbergasted teacher could only mutter.

"You had a cut on your face, and you said that you'd keep the money and—" She kept on rambling while the teacher just sank in his chair.

"A-ah well, you see, I didn't have money for a taxi that day… I was going to give the money back, but I forgot and…" He babbled.

"Give the money back!"

Chihiro kept insisting while the teacher promised to do anything as long as she left him alone. Then, she turned around, and beamed at Minato.

"Minato-san! I did it! I proved my innocence! And I did it alone!"

She certainly was radiant, and that was a well-deserved Justice Level 9.

It was almost a pity his dear stalker got expelled for damaging school property in two occasions and threatening several female students and the Student Council president.

_Almost. _

* * *

><p>Fuuka-san and Aigis-san are having a toast in Fuuka-san's room that evening. Aigis cannot help but wonder what a toast tastes like as she consumes hers. Maybe diabetes. Maybe it tastes like biting into spring. Maybe it tastes like toast.<p>

"Thank you very much for your help, Fuuka-san." Aigis nods her head. "I was somewhat dubious of your capability to create a patch for me; however, you possess an incredible skill when handling machines."

"I-it's nothing like that." Fuuka-san laughs. Her temperature has increased. Indeed… winter is coming. "I'm not familiar with a lot of these mechanisms, though, and lot of them look really damaged…"

Aigis is beginning to think that perhaps she should not feel so comfortable with someone looking at her heart. Not even Fuuka-stove.

"Oh…" Fuuka-san exclaims, surprised. "What is this…? A countdown? Seven-thousand nine-hundred ten hours…?"

"A timer until my next mandatory checkup. I felt it was prudent to be examined sooner." Aigis quickly responds.

"Oh." The human mutters, maybe somewhat disappointed. "Well, I don't think it'll take too long to finish this patch. If it works, the malfunctions you've been telling me about should disappear soon."

There is some ado outside the room. Aigis looks at Fuuka-san to signal her that she wants to know what is happening outside.

Fuuka-san walks out of the room.

She comes back fifteen minutes later.

"Hamuko-chan's yelling at Minato that she is Koro-chan's commander and is wandering around with a dirty collar on her neck."

"These days they let anyone be a commander."

Aigis can only wonder where she keeps her gigantic robots.

* * *

><p><strong>I think chapters get more retarded the longer I take writing them. Life ;A;<strong>


	83. Play it cool

**Author note: WILMAA—I mean, EXAAAAAAAAMS! School's over! FREEEEEEEDOOOOOM!**

**I'm making a cover for The Fools' Tournament (for the 2131278312th time, but now Image manager is up, it's legit) and I would ideas about what should go on the cover :I**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and gadeel for expanding the TVTropes article! :D**

* * *

><p>"Notmotei." The bluenet on TV said dryly as he shook his hair in low motion, allowing everyone to observe how it layered magnificently while his expression didn't change a tiny bit. "For a hair silky like silk."<p>

The silence was almost tangible in Minato's room once Jika Net Tanaka stopped sounding. At least until Junpei, Yukari and Hamuko burst out laughing, complete with Fuuka trying to hide her laughter and Minato burying his face in his hands while Aigis patted his shoulder.

"O-oh man, I di-didn't kn-no-now—" She fell face-first from his bed and began cackling way too loud to say anything meaningful.

"You're the BEST actor I've ever seen!" Yukari joined her hysterical laughter. "I hope the pay was good!"

"Hahaha! Good thing I hadn't told anyone I'm your friend!" Junpei too…

"E-everyone knows already, d-dumbass!" Hamuko stuttered still face down.

"SEES will be all over the school tabloids from tomorrow onwards." Aigis foresaw. "Our masquerade will be brought down. And it will be all because of you, Minato-san!"

"You are all dead to me." Minato growled. "Let's go, Fuu—"

"Why are MyTube uploads so slow…?"

The bluenet narrowed his eyes slowly as his lips disappeared into a line.

"Ah, now you're expressive!" The brunette exclaimed.

"I hate you all."

As he was rushing people out of his room, an insistent beeping began blaring out of Minato's mobile phone.

"Oh God, not again…" He muttered, pressing once and again the cancel button.

"Wow, could that be…?" Hamuko grabbed the threshold and dove into Minato's room again. "Could it be you already have stalkers?"

"Unfortunately yes." He pushed her head out with one hand while he kept canceling incoming calls and deleting messages. "And not of the variety you'd think." He sighed. "Chihiro loves me more than ever, it seems, even if I ignore her. Damn Justice. Good thing she doesn't know where I live."

"**Justice** came back to bite you in the ass?" The brunette smirked. "Then, can you say that's she's a… _**righteous**_ stalker?"

Minato admittedly couldn't hold back a chuckle. The pun got Hamuko's ass kicked out of his room, nonetheless.

Fortunately, it didn't take him too long to realize that letting Hamuko roam the streets all by herself wasn't a good idea, much less after sharing lists. And well… there was only one friend they could think of every Sunday.

* * *

><p>That afternoon, Akinari looked paler than usual, and somewhat skinnier as well. Maybe it was because it was beginning to get cold in Iwatodai, and he always wore nothing more than a shirt and jeans. Striped shirt, indeed…<p>

Did anyone use to call him that…?

"Hamuko-chan?" She heard Akinari's voice in the distance. She waved her hands energetically to greet him, and he only shook his head slightly to acknowledge her.

"Hey!" Minato quickly runs towards their bench. Of course he wouldn't stay at home…

"Good to see you." Akinari nodded again.

He didn't seem to be in a talkative mood, so Hamuko was the one to bring up a conversation topic. "How's your story going?"

"Ah, you remember about it?" His eyes lit up ever so slightly, but then he furrowed his eyebrows. "I wrote some more…"

"Nice…" The bluenet muttered.

Minato had already lost his composure enough for one day, so he didn't seem to feel very energetic either. Well, better for her! It was Hamuko's turn to beg to hear more of it.

"Where did I stop last time…?" He tapped his chin. "Oh, yeah. I told you how he made a friend, right? Well…"

The bird who was unable to fly and the pink alligator, they were great friends. The most bizarre companions each other could find. The bird would always try to learn how to fly, and the alligator would be happy to lend him his back to be safe from all the animals in the place. However, one day, exhausted from so much practice, the bird fell asleep on the enormous lizard's mouth, like so many other times before. Dizzy and dying from starvation, the alligator was not capable to guess that what was in his mouth was no other creature than his friend, and he swallowed what he thought was food without a second guess.

Once the pink alligator noticed what he had done, he drank swamp water to induce vomit, and try to rescue his friend. But, by the time he managed to retrieve it, the bird was already dead.

This broke completely the alligator's spirit, and he began crying and crying…

"And, that's where I stopped writing." Akinari added at the end of a long pause. "I don't know how to end the story."

The Fools weren't too sure about what to say. They didn't dare utter a word. Was that how their friend felt…? …Was that really what he claimed they inspired him to write? Was that what he said she encouraged him to carry on with?

As if reading their thoughts, Akinari smiled wryly. "I know it's a rather dark story. Maybe it sounds depressing to you, but… but that's just how I see the world…" He frowned a little bit, but his weary smile remained in place. "Only the end remains a mystery for me, and I don't want to find out what it's like..."

Hamuko was never one with words. That was Minato's gift. However, she always made up that lack with enthusiasm and will to help.

But she didn't have any of that now. People around her… they just kept leaving… some way or another…

She couldn't let him drown in self pity, right? She had to make him fight to keep living, not like that, but with a smile, because that was the right thing, no?

'See the ending with your head high?', 'fight against the end', 'cheer the fuck up'? How could she ever dare say such things when she had never and never would be able to _**do**_ them and truly face things as they came?

"I still want to hear the ending." Minato spoke up. "It might be sad, but I want to know what you can come up with. I'm sure you can do something great."

The ill boy smiled sincerely this time.

"…Alright. I will try to have an ending for the next time we see each other…"

Sun level 7. But it didn't belong to her. It was simply a heads up in her mind of how incapable she had been to actually be there for people in the last months.

* * *

><p>"Silent as usual, huh?" Minato asked as they walked to the dorm. Akinari had begun coughing as usual and decided to go home a while before. "Hey. He's battling against an illness. I know you hate not being able to do anything, but—"<p>

"The story sounds really familiar, doesn't it?" She interrupted him.

"Huh?" He gave her a dubious look. "…That it does."

Hamuko merely nodded and kept walking to the dorm.

* * *

><p>"Minato-saaaaan!"<p>

"Minato-kun! Here! Here! He's so handsome!"

He knew not how it happened, nor where had this come from, but he could only say:

"I just don't get to rest, do I?"

"Wouldn't most boys would be cheering over having a harem of fangirls with only a horrible advertisement?" Hamuko muttered.

"I. WOULD." Junpei wailed.

"Most boys and Junpei." She rectified, signaling the boy.

"…Do you really need to keep pointing out that kind of stuff after all our time together?" Minato sighed.

"HEY! What's with you two today?" The boy with the cap growled. "Oh, well, I'll forgive you if you lend me two or three of those, man."

"I will tell Chidori."

Junpei responded to Hamuko with a noise that could only be compared to an angry troll smashing his mace against a keyboard.

Minato perceived something in the distance. A grey head standing out among the crowd of rabid girls. His savior.

"Akihiko-senpai!" He exclaimed, ecstatic.

The boxer glanced to one side and the other trying to see who was calling for him, until he finally sighted Minato. He did nothing for the longest time.

"You… you really give everything for SEES, Minato."

Buhwhat.

"Thanks for keeping them occupied."

Akihiko then walked past the crowd, causing little more than some murmur amongst the girls. Then the squees and squeals ensued as their eyes turned back to him.

"Hey partner, did I tell you that joke 'bout…" Junpei muttered as he and Hamuko silently slid away from the scene.

"Guys? …Guys!" Minato yelled.

"Minato-san! Eeeeeeeeeh!" The fangirls screeched as they shook him to get his attention.

"Wait! Wait you! I-I have a girl! L-leave me Hamtaro, I love alone! I mean, leave me alone, I love Hamtaro! I mean, Hamu—"

"Oh my gosh! He likes Hamtaro!"

"He's dark, mysterious **and** has a cute side! That's SO hot!"

"I want to try his shampoo!"

Oh, how he hated Tanaka.

* * *

><p>The day was interesting. To say the least.<p>

After the fangirl avalanche cleared a little with the first bell, Minato headed to the shoe lockers. His drawer was oozing with letters. He was somewhat used to this situation, being rather popular and all, but he hadn't received any in a while. Maybe… Chihiro…?

"Don't you just love the breeze up there?" Minato chuckled nervously, as his fingers drummed against the metal door.

"It's pretty nice." Hamuko agreed. "But it's kinda cold up here, maybe we should go back in."

"O-oh, but why? We haven't had any time for ourselves in a while!" He responded.

"What are you talking about? Have you forgotten about yesterday already?" She snorted.

"To talk! I mean to talk! Now that we have our libidos under control, let's talk about things!" He quickly moved his hands to stop her from pushing him from his place before the door. "Tell me, Hamuko. How is your life going?"

"I'm… alive, I guess? May or may not be so after the next mission." She shrugged. "I prefer not to get a cold during the next week to make sure I can give my best, so if you don't mind…"

"No, Hamu!" Minato reached out to grab her leg, failing miserably. "Don't open that door!"

Ignoring him completely, Hamuko opened the door. Immediately after…

Nothing happened.

Well, there was a couple frowning at them, asking why were they hogging the roof. Nothing more than that.

"People care more 'bout their lunches than you'd think." The brunette affirmed.

"My fans are like weathercocks." Minato lamented.

"Hey, wait! Aren't you the guy from that lame ad?" The girl who was waiting to get in the roof suddenly asked.

"…Why can you never get a joke?" He sighed.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked.

"The Universe."

* * *

><p>Once classes were over, from the group of girls following Minato only two or three were left. And man, did they hog him. Every 'Minato-kuuun' they squealed would have been written down with a heart and a million of those wavy symbols. And of course, Junpei, upon noticing this, tried to get everyone to mock Minato with him. Only Aigis acceded. And only because she claimed to be his biggest and only fanbot and having known him for the longest time.<p>

Unfortunately the fangirls didn't seem to accept the first robot girl as a winner, so they kept clinging to him as he dragged his feet to the entrance. But—oh heavens.

Chihiro was right outside the door, apparently waiting for him. I-if she saw him with all those girls… then…

"Isn't this getting boring?" Minato buried his face in his hands.

"Minato-kun? Are you okay?" One of the girls asked.

"Oh! Oh! Are you blushing or something?"

'Minato-kun! Minato-san! Minato-kun!', they just wouldn't shut up. And Minato could only pray that Chihiro wouldn't turn around.

But suddenly, a bulb light up in Minato's head. He quickly turned his face to Aigis and muttered "Distraction maneuver number four!"

"Minato-san, I am not authorized to use a Megidolaon gem here."

"Oh. Wrong number." But it was good to know she actually carried one. "Look, do this instead…"

Aigis nodded and ran in direction to the vendor.

Five seconds later a bag of bread crab met one of the fangirls' heads with almost the strength of a rock. However, he couldn't allow himself to dwell much on it, for he had to run while everyone was distracted with trying to figure out how Aigis could have such strength. He'd thank her later.

Given that he couldn't use the exit to run, Minato decided that he'd be better off hiding. Wait, he could go to practice that day! But, his fangirls would know where to look. Oh, the gym! No one would find him in the gym!

The place was surprisingly empty, save for the boxing club members and some people ogling the kendo club guys. Sometimes he couldn't keep himself from thinking that his life would have had much less drama if he had chosen something like that instead of racing. Oh well.

A familiar greeting caught his attention. A dry, yet surprisingly easy to differentiate 'hey'.

"Good afternoon." He answered his gray-haired senpai with equal lack of emotion as he approached Minato. "Err, are you done boxing already or something?"

"Haven't begun yet."

Awkward might be an understatement when defining this situation.

"So, uh..." Minato cleared his throat. "I guess I'll go hide somewhere else from your fans and…"

Akihiko… rested a hand on his shoulder. Not in a 'it's okay, bye' way, but more in a 'you are not going anywhere, young boy' way.

"Hamuko told me about Social Links."

Minato needed a second to gather his thoughts. "She told you about THEM?" That was the most coherent thing which came to his mind right in that moment. Not the most cautious, really, but he didn't like this development.

The other boy narrowed his eyes. "So she wasn't making up stuff, huh?"

"_That girl is crazy…_" Minato muttered as he rubbed his temples. "Look, I don't know how much she told you, and I don't really care whether you believe it or not, but you shouldn't try to involve yourself with all this stuff. It's brought nothing but disgraces to us."

"So why are you two still competing?"

The bluenet inhaled slowly, trying to calm himself. "Didn't she tell you? All your asses belong to us. You know perfectly well that if it wasn't for us you guys wouldn't have gone so far."

"And yet you're always about to die in every battle." He remarked quite seriously, making Minato back off slightly. "Didn't YOU tell me something like… 'believe in us, Senpai' once? Why so cocky when you faint like a princess in distress, huh? WE are the ones who save your asses every day."

"I'M…!" Minato suddenly stopped, and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, Senpai. I didn't mean all that. The moon must be affecting me earlier than usual…"

"…_But that's indeed what I was thinking_." He pandered in silence, somewhat scared.

"Is it the moon's fault now?" Akihiko exclaimed, unbelieving.

"Hell if I know, Senpai!" He growled. "Look, listen to me, you are of no help, and nothing you do will help the problem. So don't ask anything else, we've already had to deal with Mitsuru-senpai enough times. Don't try to involve yourself with us, or you'll only get burnt. And, since I know how much influence you have on her, don't you dare question Hamuko instead of me. Otherwise…"

"Otherwise, **what**? Is that a threat, Minato?" The silver head gave him a fiery look.

"Consider it advice."

They exchanged an intense look.

"I'm staying because your fangirls are still out there, not because I want to see you boxing or anything."

"…Tch."

* * *

><p>The sofa was so incredibly comfortable that Hamuko couldn't help but notice why Minato liked lying there face down. Kind of like what she was doing right then. She'd considered going on the hunt for Social Links, but… Minato would win anyway, and she had to rest... She had to rest to be fully awake that night. No matter how many times Yukari and Fuuka tried to make her get up to hang out together. She needed to be in great condition. Maybe she'd go to the bathroom later.<p>

The door to the dorm opened, and the other Fool crossed it with his head low. Minato almost plopped down on top of Hamuko when he arrived to the sofa, but fortunately he noticed her in the last moment. He could have gone to the other sofa, but no, that one was 'his', so he just had to push her to the ground to overrun the furniture. Then he heaved a long sigh.

"Your brother would make a great policeman." He murmured against the sofa.

"YOUR brother would make a great policeman." She muttered back.

"My brother… IS a great policeman."

Minato rubbed his eyes and sat up. Then he jumped to his feet and began shuffling towards the door. Apparently, he got tired and decided to lean against the counter in the hall instead, looking smug as ever as he glanced at the registry.

"Will you honor SEES with your autograph now that you're famous?" Hamuko joked.

"Why would I ever do that?" Minato barked.

"I was just thinking that we might be causing trouble to Mitsuru-senpai." She shrugged. There was an awkward pause. "…It's already affecting you, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" He huffed. "It came early this month."

"And no pad will save you from that."

Hamuko was a bit worried when he face-palmed and slammed the door behind him, but at least he came back to ask whether she wanted to go to the TV station with him to make sure he didn't whack Tanaka.

Unfortunately, she couldn't. She had things to do as well.

* * *

><p>As soon as the Dark Hour began, and Tartarus began its nightly ascent, she bolted through the front gates, toward the teleporter. Setting it to send her to as near the start of Tziah as she could get, she stepped in.<p>

She tore through the Shadows with bestial ferocity, almost completely forsaking her Personae in favor of getting in as close as possible. None of the ordinary Shadows, eager to get away from her, stood a chance.

"Come on," she growled at a group of Musha, who had actually been managing to avoid her attacks with a reasonable degree of success, but land none of their own. "Dammit, can't you do better than that?"

With a frustrated growl, she pressed her Evoker to her head, bringing out her most recent acquisition.

"If ya can't put up a fight, then just fucking DIE FOR ME!"

A deceptively demure-looking young child emerged at her command, dressed in blue. Alice gestured with a giggle. The rain of spears annihilated the Mushas, and everything else on the floor.

Hamuko clenched her fists, and stalked off toward the stairs.

* * *

><p>That accursed phone was ringing again. Surely, this close to midnight, Chihiro HAD to be asleep. Even stalkers had to sleep sometime, right? Upon checking his phone, almost fearfully, he saw not Chihiro's name, but Mitsuru's.<p>

"Hello?"

"Arisato. Return to the dorm as soon as possible. We'll be making an excursion to Tartarus tonight, as this is one of our last chances to do so before the mission."

Minato sighed, agreed, and hung up. He supposed he could choke the life out of Tanaka later.

* * *

><p>SEES, thanks to Minato's lateness, did not arrive at Tartarus until the Dark Hour had been in progress for about ten minutes. Well, SEES minus one.<p>

"You tried calling her before the Dark Hour began, right, Mitsuru-senpai?" he asked.

"Indeed," Mitsuru replied. "She failed to pick up. I suspect she was too busy doing... whatever it is you two do after hours."

Minato mused that that depended entirely on whether they were together or apart at the time. He sighed.

"We'll just do this a little differently, then," he said. "The Shadows left aren't too much of a challenge in large groups, so we'll take them in pairs. I'll head up first with Mitsuru-senpai, then the rest of you come two-by-two staggered behind us, so the Shadows have a chance to recollect."

At least, that was the plan. Every single floor they had been on so far had been... empty. Completely empty. Fuuka had been scanning frantically ahead of them, nervous about the oddity. Tartarus felt even deader than usual. No Shadows roaming blindly. No Reaper stalking their steps. The air was completely still. As such, it took a far shorter time to reach the top than they expected.

"...Hamuko?"

Sitting at the top of Tartarus, looking out toward the moon, her naginata by her side, was indeed Hamuko. She cast a tired look behind her at the two.

"The moon's really close to full, huh?"

He said nothing, kneeling down beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder. He couldn't see her lip twitch, nor her cast an exhausted look at her weapon beside her.

"Seikatsu, what are you doing here by yourself?"

"...Burnin' off some steam."

"Mitsuru-senpai, it might be best to just head back for tonight," Minato said quietly. "We will leave questions for another moment."

"This situation is a bit outside of the norm," Mitsuru agreed. "Very well. Seikatsu, can you stand?"

"...Not really. Can't walk, at least."

"You seem to be uninjured," she observed. "Are you simply exhausted?"

The sigh that issued from Hamuko's mouth sounded almost like a growl.

"Yeah. Not a scratch on me."

"Good. It would not do to have you injured before our last mission. Arisato, can you carry her out?"

"Yes, I can." He turned around, offering Hamuko his back to climb onto. She reached around his shoulders. "Ah! Not so tight, Hamuko. I do need to breathe to carry you."

And in a much quieter voice, "Calm down. Don't let it get you especially right now, while she's watching. The Dark Hour is about to end; try to just ride it out. You know you will have more control after it does."

"It gets worse every full moon," she murmured softly.

"I know. At least this one will end it all."

"...Will it?"

Minato turned his head slightly towards her, guessing her thoughts. "You're scared that you'll completely lose control again, aren't you?"

"I'm… I'm not scared of anything… I'm not gonna fail you…"

Amongst her even breathing, Minato didn't miss an almost heartbreaking 'Shinji…'.

* * *

><p><strong>Did you miss me, guys? Because I missed you ;w;<strong>


	84. Extra chapter 2!

**Author note: a birthday present to you all, since this fic became one year old on June 14th! AU extra chapter while you wait for the actual one 8D!**

* * *

><p><strong>Kirijo, Mitsuru.<strong>

From the very first moment Minato landed his eyes on her during the opening speech, he knew she had to be special. Mr. Chairman had recommended him not to get involved with Kirijo. That was some hellishly influential family which had connections all over the city; a misstep, and their plans would vanish completely, probably along with them, too. But that was okay; Minato knew better than he did.

He approached the lonely rich girl carefully, without trying to claim her attention too much. One compliment to the Student Council President here, another salutation to his senpai there, and infiltrating the Student Council, and thus gaining a better position by her side, was way too easy.

Minato became her right hand in no time; perhaps more than that, albeit that was never his intention. Definitely more than that, though he never meant to.

And it was in her room, where he'd been led without knowing that he simply asked her…

"Will you join me?"

She looked at him like he was crazy when he told her he knew what she felt every night. She almost fainted when she saw the dark creature summoned by Minato. And she just melted when he whispered that he needed her beside him.

Business, you know. Kirijo, the Persona, and Kirijo, the money, were both now on his side.

* * *

><p><strong>Sanada, Akihiko.<strong>

Of course, Minato couldn't have spent all that time focusing only on Mitsuru. He discovered Sanada by chance, following a crowd gathered in the gym in his way to kendo. The raw passion which dominated the gray head every time he landed a punch, and the way his opponent feared not only him, but his very presence… there was no doubt. He would make a perfect addition.

Minato wasn't only the best right hand, but the best right hook. He quit the kendo club rather willingly and joined the boxing one, earning quite more attention than he would have ever cared for.

He became Sanada's confidant rather quickly, much like a pupil in his eyes. Every Monday, he 'stole him' from 'the Kirijo girl', as he used to say, and took him to the ramen shop, to recover energy after training.

One day, he introduced Minato to his best friend, Shinji. The humungous boy in a coat gave him a fiery look and snorted, saying the blue head was 'just like Aki'. Even though Minato laughed and said he wished he was half as cool, in the bottom of his heart he could only digress from that statement.

Eventually, the awaited day arrived. The competition was about to end, and the final match featured no other than the confident Sanada and the timid Minato.

Didn't look so timid anymore when he punched Akihiko until he hit the ground, unable to get up because of his broken rib and nose. The older boy could only stare in shock as he gasped for life.

"You're joining me." He sentenced.

Defeat didn't bring friendship, but respect. And Minato now possessed Akihiko Sanada's powerful Persona in his arsenal.

* * *

><p><strong>Takeba, Yukari<strong>

The most popular girl in school wanted nothing less than the most popular boy in school, and it was in their class, where it all began.

Let's say that they took to staying after hours in school, so it didn't take him too long to spend a Dark Hour with her, thus proving that he knew what she was going through. And she proved to be pretty much a coward with an almost offensive offense capability, so he decided to name her the healer of the group.

He didn't even need to tell her to join, she followed him of his own accord. Adorable… not, as he had to deal with more people, and having someone by his side without any justification would do him no good.

Fortunately, she was popular and exceedingly self-conscious; she decided that they would never share any distance closer than five meters in school by herself. At least she seemed rather loyal.

Well. There went his part of the budget for medical supplies.

* * *

><p><strong>Iori, Junpei<strong>

Let's not fool ourselves. That boy was a complete loser. Minato once followed Akihiko like an idiot to eventually take control, but he was pretending all the way. This guy, on the other hand, really was an idiot who simply followed Minato. Because, he was so cool, and cool people had to hang out together, in his words. Minato was dully surprised when Akihiko rescued him during an exploration and brought him to his presence, still wailing like a baby after his first encounter with a Shadow.

Once again, that guy joined him without even offering him to. Oh, being a hero, oh enjoying the company of them cute girls, oh… what an idiot. Hero complex, anyone?

And that wasn't the worst; the boy was convinced that he was the leader of the squad and completely indispensable. This coming from a guy whom the word 'weak' was too much to define.

Too bad he was too stupid to even catch the hint when Minato used to always leave him out in missions. Oh well. He ended up making a fine living bait for Shadows.

* * *

><p><strong>Yamagishi, Fuuka<strong>

This case was somewhat more difficult than expected for Minato.

He first heard about Yamagishi from Akihiko, who met her by chance in the hospital during a revision. He said that she was somehow capable to know all which happened in her surroundings, such as guessing when the doctors were approaching way before they could be heard.

A short investigation led us to finding out she was being bullied, and left one night to rot in the gym. They had no way of knowing that their school turned into Tartarus at night, of course, but they probably would have still done it had they known; however, they were 'traumatized' now or some shit.

The exploration went rather smoothly, and they even could certify a theory: big Shadows appear on full moons. God knows how happy he felt when he knew that the sinister child in his head wasn't lying.

While they were fighting the Shadows to protect Fuuka, Minato simply left. No one asked a question. He headed to the dorm and found that fucked up Natsuki Moriyama girl, the leader of Yamagishi's abusers, wandering around the place, following some voice. He grabbed her wrist and led her to Tartarus. Everyone had already finished fighting.

The hard part wasn't convincing Fuuka to join them. She… she pretty much threw herself at his feet… only to prevent him from trying to leave Moriyama in Tartarus, as a way to avenge Yamagishi in order to lure her into his group. She cried and said that she'd do anything, but let him leave her like that. As soon as he let Moriyama go, Fuuka simply hugged her, and Moriyama began wailing as well, apologizing to Fuuka once and again.

They've been friends ever since.

…Isn't vendetta what everyone wants? How could she just…?

* * *

><p><strong>Aegis… Aigis?<strong>

Minato… didn't see this one coming. At all. It simply wasn't in his plans.

SEES's leader had managed to convince Mitsuru to take him to her father, the rich and ostentatious Takeharu Kirijo, saying that he needed to veil for everyone's safety, and vacations were necessary to keep sane after so much stress. Lies. He needed to get closer to the Kirijo family. It was indispensable.

The beach was also rather nice, he had to admit. However, as beautiful as the sight of the girls in a bikini was, he had no time to lose. He had to interrogate Takeharu. Find everything out about Kirijo Corps. And he achieved so; he found out they were trying to build a device to control time. His father was completely crazy.

Of course, Yukari, who hated Mitsuru so much, just had to get sentimental because, oh, sad irony, her father worked in Kirijo Corps during the incident which blew half of Tatsumi Port Island up so many years prior.

And apparently, he died, and the whole explosion was… his fault.

Minato couldn't help but chase after Yukari when she ran away crying. He knew the feeling. It was his whole motivation crumbling to pieces, probably hers too.

He wanted to avenge his parents. He wanted to know what happened the night he lost them; however, the object of all his work and cooperation with the Chairman was… dead?

The next morning, everyone could appreciate the dark circles under their leader's eyes. The imposing aura that emanated from him, as someone once told him, was probably gone as well. He had no energy left to keep his cold, calculating persona, his mask. He was simply depressed.

Minato had to commend Junpei; albeit awkward, the sympathetic idiot tried his best to cheer him up, going as far as to drag him and Akihiko into a flirting contest, just to amuse them. In any other occasion Minato would have probably fulminated him with a glare before he even touched him, but… he just had no energy left.

Needless to say it was a complete failure and Junpei and Akihiko ended worse than they'd begun, since Minato was only a bystander all the way. He had to admit it was… interesting to say the least. He'd never thought he could have fun with his subordinates, to say the truth, but he decided to give it a try and help them out, if only to clear his mind.

And that was when they found her. Aigis. The first robot girl to ever assault him. There was always Elisabeth for more bizarre assaults.

The American-looking robot maid was actually a rather sweet bodyguard. If only because she did a fine job protecting him from Fuuka's food.

* * *

><p><strong>Koromaru…?<strong>

Akihiko brought a wounded dog to the dorm. No. That was just… dumb. Minato could stand living an hour in which everyone turned into a coffin and blood splattered everywhere. He could bear having a robot maid in SEES who stalked him all day. But having a dog in his group? That came out of nowhere. What was next? Create an investigation team and asking Kirijo to invent a specific brand of cookies for the dog?

Well. It wasn't like the dog bothered him or anything. In fact, Koromaru was quite a smart dog who was a big help in keeping the Shadows and Fuuka's lethal actions to a minimum. And he was even good for flirting.

…Nice doggie.

* * *

><p><strong>Amada, Ken<strong>

Minato had already seen Yukari and Junpei talking with the kid some months before, in the Naganaki Shrine, and hey; he had had his suspicions. Good thing he didn't have to confirm them personally, since the Chairman brought him into SEES himself.

Amada… didn't do much of anything. He just stood there. Brooding about his mother, whom he lost two years prior. The whole summer. And he wasn't precisely an ace fighting.

However, Minato couldn't bring himself to hate, depreciate or look down that child. He knew how he felt. And hey, at least he kept Koromaru and Junpei company!

* * *

><p><strong>Aragaki, Shinjiro<strong>

Finally, Akihiko brought in someone normal! Serious. He wasn't talkative. Had a minimum of non-imposed respect for him. Got in frequent fights with Akihiko. Taught Fuuka how to make real cuisine. Gave Koromaru walks willingly. Had a big mace with which he could make a Shadow puree with a single hit. This guy was Minato's hero. If he ever had one true love, it was this mysterious beanie guy who made his life so much easier.

But then, October 4th arrived. The moment for everyone to show their true colors.

* * *

><p><strong>Arisato, Minato<strong>

I have had a lot of time alone to ponder about this. About myself. Now I only have a few minutes left.

I am a horrible human for ever writing this report, much more so in third person, as if it did not concern me. A story of blood, splattered in tribute to my obsession with vengeance against everything, under the pretense of saving the world. If I hadn't founded SEES, none of this would have happened. If Ikutsuki-san hadn't taken me under his wing when they found me in the Moonlight Bridge, they would still be alive and I wouldn't have to stand all this.

It was a horrible mistake. Now I'll let the only survivor make me pay for it.

I hope an eternity of solitude won't be too long for Aigis.

* * *

><p><strong>There you go! Angst 8D<strong>


	85. Fairies

**Author note: Fuck being sick why am I always sick *A* Apparently I have anxiety or depression or something. That's the reason why this chapter took forever. Sorry ;w;**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading!**

* * *

><p>The following morning, the Fools were gathered in the Command Room to quickly review the situation before going to school.<p>

"…Therefore, you two are experiencing these symptoms earlier than in previous moons; however, they aren't outside the norm or unusual in any way, am I correct?" Mitsuru asked, in a much less accusing way than they were used to.

"Indeed." Minato nodded. "I've been trying to keep my attitude as normal as possible, but I can feel it's already begun to take over. In the following days, it just will keep worsening, probably reaching the edge during the next full moon. We all will need to be prepared for that; god knows what may happen."

"We will spend the following evenings readying a strategy to ensure yours and everyone's safety, should anything happen." The red head agreed. "So, Seikatsu, if I understood correctly, you went fighting on your own, putting yourself in _**unnecessary**_ danger, as a means to try and keep yourself under control as well, and not just yesterday, but in previous nights as well."

"Yeah. I'm sorry 'bout going to train in secret… but I don't think it was unnecessary." Hamuko rose her chin to look at the taller girl. "Senpai, this is the last mission. We can't allow ourselves to assume we have trained 'enough'." She cast her eyes down again. "I don't want to see a replay of the last full moons. We are a team, and we are strong, yes, but we don't know what's coming. We have to be ready."

"That still doesn't explain why you went on your own so many times without telling me, claiming to be looking for a job." Minato reproached her.

"Well… did you see any Shadows?" She inquired suddenly.

"No, not really," he admitted.

"Exactly. I like seeing you."

The school day was about to begin, and so they couldn't allow themselves to spend any more time talking; however, Minato couldn't help but think about what might have happened if he had had the chance to confront any Shadows all the way to Gekkoukan. Or he would have, if it wasn't for Chihiro's messages.

* * *

><p>Akihiko-san, Mitsuru-san, Aigis and The Ninjas are all gathered together in the roof to have lunch. Aigis can perfectly hear Minato-san's claim that from all the awkward lunch breaks they had had in the last weeks, this one was the <em><strong>weirdest<strong>_.

Aigis has not been protecting them officially for a while, but she always looks after them, no matter the situation. So, why do Akihiko-san and Mitsuru-san claim that Aigis is incapable to guard them properly on her own?

"You are a robot designed for combat, Aigis." Mitsuru-san explains.

"All the better to protect them." Aigis replies.

"But… didn't you say you're a robot designed for stealth?" Minato-san asks as well.

"All the better to ghost masters of stealth." Aigis answers once again.

"Aigis, you're not nearly objective enough to follow my orders." Mitsuru-san insists.

"All the better to follow theirs."

The group of humans exchange looks.

"She's convinced me." Hamuko-san claims.

"Aigis wouldn't know if you're acting out of the norm, she's a robot." Mitsuru-san, that is mean!

"But she—!"

"We'll be supervising you personally, period." Akihiko-san sentences. Junpei-san always recommends not discussing too much with a man who can give you a megaton punch to the gut. Was that an exaggeration? Or is Aigis truly yet to see him unleash the fieriness of his true potential? Perhaps he will even call an attack and begin a transformation sequence prior to the nuclear explosion that will ensue. …It would be better not to find out.

"So…" Minato-san interrupts Aigis's machinations. Because, she is a machine. That is why they are machinations. Do humans machinate too? They create machines, after all… "How personally is 'personally'?"

For some reason, Minato-san's question prompts a bizarre look in both Akihiko-san and Hamuko-san.

"I-I mean, we're kind of infamous around school, and you wouldn't benefit from following us around school all of a sudden…" He quickly rectifies.

"Hmm… Arisato does indeed have a point. What kind of image would we be giving to the other students and staff if we began tailing them all day…?" Mitsuru-san ponders aloud. "Oh, of course. We only need an excuse for both of you. Well, let's see…"

"Um, I'm part of the Student Council. And we should still be discussing Chihiro's case, right?" Minato-san offers. "It wouldn't be too weird for us to spend some time together around school."

"But what about her…?"

The group's glances change their aim once more, this time to Hamuko-san.

"Hamuko Arisato had an affair with the head of a rival band, Junpei Iori, which brought despair upon the punks of this school whose leader, Minato Arisato, was officially romantically involved with her, causing a riot amongst the mooks who wanted to take revenge for their cheated leader. However, Hamuko-san was able to kick their backsides with the help of a bad tempered Yukari Takeba and quickly extinguished the riot, thus becoming Gekkoukan's Disciplinary Committee number one enemy in the process." Aigis makes a short pause, to access more files of the sitcom. "However, Akihiko Sanada, a man of good heart and a great senpai, decides to take her under his wing, and with the aid of the righteous Student Council President, Mitsuru Kirijo, show her the path of goodness and non-affairness."

"Perfectly credible." Mitsuru-san agrees.

"You… don't have a clue about how accurate that could actually be." Minato-san muses.

"'Non-affairness'?" Akihiko-san asks.

"Fuuka's working on mending those kinds of tangent rants." The other male human explains.

"Ah, it ain't really nothing too stupid this time it was just—"

"W-w-what are you all sayin'?" Hamuko-san screams in a panic. "W-Who the hell do you think I am? No one would ever believe that kinda junk 'bout me!"

Aigis is about to respond when Akihiko-san and Minato-san san quickly shake their heads to signal her to stop.

"We'll… pretend that we've somehow become more acquainted in these last days as to spend some time together." Mitsuru-san offers, once Hamuko has stopped spouting angrish. "That is all for now. Aigis will continue her mission of guarding you in class; we will substitute for her after hours."

Akihiko-san and The Ninjas nod at each other, much to Mitsuru-san and Aigis's curiosities. Hmmm…

* * *

><p>Once the lessons were over…<p>

"Alright, Mitsuru's busy with Student Council stuff, so I gotta look after you two this afternoon." Akihiko stated slowly, with his arms folded. "…Who do you wanna hang out with?"

"We don't decide it just like that." Minato explained. "It requires some in-depth study of—"

"Social Links tend to run into us." Hamuko finished.

"So what? Are we gonna wait 'til he thinks of someone and someone runs into you?" Their Senpai asked, rising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, pretty much." The brunette shrugged, proceeding to smile and give Akihiko a derisive backslap on the chest. "Just give it time, man of good heart."

…Not even a minute passed before Bebe suddenly assaulted and embraced Minato, wailing about not having seen them in a long time and being about to leave school. Ten seconds later, the one who was almost thrown to the ground was Hamuko, by Junpei. Needless to say, the latter had a couple of things to say about the first situation.

"Do you think Chihiro would be jealous if she saw me in this situation?" Minato whispered to Hamuko, over the cracking sounds of his ribs.

"She'd be _delighted_." She hissed. "A-alright, guys, time up. Stay there with Aki. Adults need to talk."

Junpei and Akihiko jumped, probably at the use of that diminutive. Bebe just sniffed and dramatically whispered an 'okay' before getting closer to the other two boys, who stepped away simultaneously.

The Fools walked a few steps away and turned their backs to the group.

"Well, this is the situation." Hamuko cleared her throat. "Here there be boys. They be mine."

"Why be you talking like this?"

"Unimportant. Moving on to the next point… THEY ARE MINE!"

Hamuko shoved Minato with the intention of running towards the boys, but he easily grabbed her arm before she could begin moving. The girl just glared at him.

"I need to build up some muscle." She admitted as he tried her same tactic, this time much more successfully. "Come back 'ere you son of a—"

She probably would have finished Junpei's trademark taunt, but she stopped at the sight of her brother. "I mean, uh, let us entail friendly conversation."

"And 'friendly conversation' stands for—"

"Minato-san! Hamuko-san! Please, I arrived 'ere first!" Bebe complained. "Atai…"

The students had to exert effort not to laugh at the foreigner so he took the silence as his cue to continue.

"I… I am leavin' in a few minutes!"

"What." Minato asked.

"What." Hamuko echoed.

"Well duh, school's over." Junpei finished.

The boy seemed to be about to cry, so the Fools urged him not to do so as they followed him to the Ec. Room. The other two guys followed just to avoid the awkwardness of standing alone in the middle of the corridor.

"Zere's no time to explain! I-I 'adn't met with you before because I zought zat would make you sad… kanashii… but, I don't 'ave any time left… so I… I…"

Bebe began sobbing again, making the situation somehow more bizarre than it already was. Still, he managed to pull his wits together and head to a drawer near the door. He produced some colorful fabric out of it.

"'Ere!"

As he said this, he pushed the cloth into Hamuko's hands. "This is… your kimono?"

Indeed, it was no other item than the kimono he'd been working so hard on for the last few months. It had a beautiful flower design, which fit perfectly its salmon and white colours.

"I want to see you wear it before I leave… please, Hamuko-san…"

"I don't uh buh huh… this is sudden _as fuck_…" She stuttered nonsensically as she admired the cloth in her hands. "…Okay."

A soft "yesss" made everyone turn to Junpei, who just whistled while looking away in return.

* * *

><p>"How… how do I look?"<p>

The situation was rather amusing. The same girl that used to strut all over Tartarus showing more flesh than clothes a few months prior was now coyly walking out of the Home Economics Room.

To the present boys and the ones peeping around she probably looked like a Yamato Nadeshiko. To Minato, who knew a bit more about kimonos, she looked… like herself. Obi tied in front, _to take it out quickly, _and the right flap over the left, to tell them how dead she was.

There was no panty line.

_Ahem_.

"So beautiful…" Bebe sniffed the air again, trying to contain tears. Yeah, Minato would end up crying too if she didn't keep the kimono until they got in his room. "Keep it, wakata? I 'ope you are very 'appy, Hamuko-san. And you, Minato-san… zank you so much for bein' my friends! Watashi no tomodachi!"

"Bebe, it's been an honor being your friend. I really hope you can come back." Minato bowed before him and smiled. "I'm sure you'll be a great fashion designer in France. I'll miss you."

"I'll really miss you too! Ah… If only Aigis-san was 'ere too…" He rubbed his eyes with the back of his sleeve and then turned to Hamuko, who was completely silent. "Hamuko-san…"

"Aishiteru…" With that, he crossed the door and began crying as he ran through the corridor.

"Wait, BEBE!" Hamuko yelled as she dashed behind him pushing everyone aside. "BEBE! BEBE STOP!" She cried. "Aishiteru doesn't mean bye! I'm sorry! I was laughing at you this whole time!"

"Je sais!"

Unfortunately for her, Hamuko tripped with her overly long kimono and fell to the ground quite unceremoniously, sliding a couple feet away from her original position, unseen by Bebe who was already way too far. Minato was uncertain of whether Hamuko knew the meaning of Bebe's words, but when he reached her she was crying her heart out against the sparkly white tiles.

"Hey, ya okay? Partner?"

Junpei tried to drag Hamuko to her feet, while Akihiko moved Minato away from the scene.

"Explain." He ordered.

"Hamu just obtained a max Social Link." Minato answered simply. "That is, an incredibly powerful Persona."

"Then, why isn't she… happy?"

The bluenet needed a few seconds to answer. "It's only cold comfort. Maxed out Social Links tend to leave her life for one reason or another." He looked away. "And I tend to leave their lives with a bad excuse for an explanation. We work like that."

"Wait, but she said I'm her Star Social Link. What will happen to me?" Akihiko inquired, startled.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Last time she maxed out with a guy of our team…"

"…He ended up in a coma." Aki finished, with only a thread of voice, perhaps afraid of hearing the implications of 'maxing out'.

"Compare with my maxing out Fuuka-chan, whom I can't help but move away from, whether I want it or not."

Akihiko moved back ever so slightly. "You… and Fuuka…?"

"We ate some cake together before the prospect of the possibility we could have died the following full moon. Fuuka-chan is a very comprehensive person, and this is all I will tell." He smiled smugly. "Don't worry, I don't fuck everything that moves, like your sister the leader."

"_**My. What**_?"

Minato's little slip had earned him a furious Akihiko, looking ready to smash his face until it turned into a bloody pulp.

"Your sinister leader. Hamuko can be quite creepy, don't you think?"

"Oh." Akihiko relaxed his shoulders. "I thought you said… Nevermind, you couldn't know 'bout that…"

The Fool had to consciously hold back a sigh of relief. He was quite aware that if he kept talking he would just look like a jerkass; it was better for him to go take a nap and thus regain a bit more of control over himself for the night. Otherwise he'd end up hacking his boss. As in, hack and slash.

But first, he had to make that fucker with a camera running towards Hamuko trip. He'd let Junpei punch him in his place.

* * *

><p>Kimi no Kioku was surprisingly relaxing, after so many months without wearing his headphones a single time. And man, Fuuka's headphones were just so cool that Minato almost didn't want to fall asleep, just to enjoy the sound quality. But alas, the sofa was calling out for him.<p>

* * *

><p>What…? Barks? Was something licking his face?<p>

"…Koro-chan?"

"Oh, finally! I thought you'd never wake up!" …Hamuko?

"ACK!" Minato shoved the girl's face away from his and strongly rubbed his sleeve against his face to dry it. "Couldn't you have slapped me or something like normal people do?"

"Eh. Your face wouldn't have been so amusing." She laughed and nuzzled the dog in her arms. "Ahaha, he believed it. Good work, Koro-chan!"

"You two are infernal creatures. No wonder your Persona is Cerberus." He rolled around. "Now just let me…"

"Koro-chan said that Aigis said that Yukari said that she said that she wanted to see you say things which are say-able on TV again."

"…So you want me to accompany you until the train station so you don't have to give him a walk alone." He translated.

"Correct! Senpai'll be keeping an eye on me the whole night, it's the only moment I've got to take a stroll."

"Alright. You can tell me when exactly did you take out the kimono in the way…"

Hamuko grimaced noticeably, which she tried to hide by bending over to leave Koromaru in the ground. "I don't recall no kimono."

"Right. You still prefer shutting down completely before accepting that your friends leave your life."

"…" She narrowed her eyes dangerously, but then just closed them with a creepily forced happy expression. "Hey, let's have a race!"

Hamuko opened the door to the street and began running after Koro. "Run Lola, run!"

"Wha—Hamuko, stop chasing tail! I-I mean, stop chasing Koromaru!"

Before long, he'd already lost them, so he decided to just continue his way to the station.

* * *

><p>"That fucker…" Hamuko muttered to herself as Koromaru led her to the shrine. "I know you don't like hearing me cuss, Koro-chan, but really… does he have to remind me of things I already know? What is he, The Blue Fairy? '<strong>HEEEY!<strong> Wassa matta Pinomuko? Y'know yer pretendin' Shinji's DEAD? **HEY** PINOMUKO, **HEY**?'."

"Arf…?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't know what a fairy is… wait, yanno that Persona? Oh, nevermind. Go play for a while…" As she said this, Hamuko unclasped his leash and Koromaru ran upstairs.

"Oh, Hamuko-san?" And out of no where, Chihiro appeared into the scene.

"_Yagottabeshittinme_."

"Gesundheit!"

"Ack!" Hamuko covered her face with her forearms. Seeing that nothing happened and Chihiro was only staring at her, she separated them slightly to look at her better. "You… weren't calling out an attack?"

"Just practicing my German." Chihiro replied cheerfully. "Are you okay, Hamuko-san?"

"Are YOU okay?"

"Of course! Oh, but… Yeah, I had something to tell you…"

Hamuko covered herself again.

"You see, I was asked to write an apology to everyone, for the damages I caused… and my time expelled is giving me a lot to think about… so I realized something important about your relationship with Minato-san…"

They couldn't blame her of using her Persona against a normal person if they didn't find proof, right?

"It's completely impossible you have anything with him!"

"Wha—eeeexactly!"

"I know! I was so stupid for doubting of him!" The girl with glasses laughed merrily. "Minato-san is a really smart and elegant person. He could only look at someone with a similar intellectual level, right? That means, I have nothing to fear from the other girls, and especially you!"

Hamuko stared at her for a while, and then slowly arched an eyebrow. "…I feel mildly offended right now. But OH WELL, I'm so glad you finally calmed down! Here, let's celebrate! Koro-chan, come meet someone!"

As soon as Koromaru ran to her side, Chihiro yelped and jumped away. "K-keep it away from me! It'll bite me!"

"I don't think it'll—"

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! Please, let me go! If you see Minato-san, tell him his phone is broken and I've been calling him!"

And with that, she ran away.

"And I thought Shadows were random encounters." Hamuko scratched the back of her head. "Whatever, let's go back and begin making plans for the full moon operation. And maybe we can play poker together with Ken and the others. Is it still a fad in the dorm?"

"Grr…"

"Oh. Didn't think so."

* * *

><p>The door to Minato's door opened slowly in order to keep anyone who could be sleeping inside from awakening.<p>

"Yo." Hamuko's voice greeted him sleepily before he closed the door. "How did it go?"

"Hey." He greeted back. "Well, let's say I whacked some sense into Tanaka. I hope he won't sue me."

"Cool. I told Junpei Aki's my brother."

"Nice."

The darkness of the room turned into a green.

"Hey, Pharos." Minato said nonchalantly, nodding at the just arrived apparition.

"Good evening." The boy answered slowly as he prompted Minato to take a seat next to him. He seemed sad. "So, the twelfth Shadow."

"Indeed." Minato nodded again. "…What's up? Are you still sad?"

"Yes. I… can't remember why, though…"

"What DO you remember?"

Hamuko's question made Pharos jump ever so slightly. He smiled and sighed. "I remember talking to you two countless times."

"We haven't talked THAT much." Hamuko spluttered.

"It's an hyperbole, Hamuko."

"Oh. Is it a cousin of that Ali Gori guy?" She asked, earning a headshake from Minato and a chuckle from Pharos.

"You two sound dumber each time." Pharos laughed sadly.

"And you sound just as cryptic." Minato complained. "Are you a friend of Igor or something? Perhaps you know my grandpa?"

The little boy just shook his head with a smile. "It's too soon to be reminiscing, and too late to be talking. We'll have time to chat when everything finishes."

"I will visit you once again when all this is over." He walked towards the door, but stopped before opening it. "One last thing…"

"_Be careful._"

It was only thanks to these words that Minato jumped away from Hamuko's grasp in time to avoid being strangled.

"I didn't kill you yesterday… I will now…" Her words were more like growls.

"It's. MY. Room."

Good thing that the denizens of the dorm were probably used to strange noises, because the twenty minutes which Minato needed to throw Hamuko out of his room and get Aigis and Akihiko to immobilize her were probably louder than two lions wrestling.

* * *

><p>The next morning went by rather quickly. There were a few rumors about someone leaving school, but, that was about it. It was a peaceful morning. After school, Mitsuru went into Minato's room looking for him, causing some more stir upon the students, which would have been quickly quieted down had Hamuko and Akihiko been there.<p>

"So, if I understood correctly, you believe the shrine is a vehicle to communicate your needs to the 'higher powers' which control your dominion over Social Links." Mitsuru asked as they approached Naganaki Shrine.

"Yeah, that's a good explanation." Minato shrugged.

"Fascinating…"

Standing by the offertory, Hamuko was praying in silence alongside Akihiko. Minato stopped by her side and reached into his pocket to grab his wallet before making his offer.

"_Did you actually hit Tanaka or something_?" Hamuko asked, opening one eye slightly to look at him.

"_Nah. I just thought I could give you a hand wishing Bebe a good journey_." He answered with a smile.

"_I…_" She grinned back and closed her eyes, kicking his foot stealthily. "_I was asking for him to be able to make his dreams come true, and visit us again_."

"…_You checked a translator, didn't you_?"

"_Maybe. Or maybe an annoying Blue Fairy lectured me __**again**_." She huffed.

"_Damn fairies_."

And with that, he left with Mitsuru, talking about divine noodles, while Aki kept muttering about his sister.

* * *

><p><strong>All of them references.<strong>


	86. The final countdown

**Author note: Heeeey folks! Do me a favor and visit the TVTropes article for The Fools Tournament. It's been a while since it last received love ;w; Also, there's a little lime in this chapter. You know it's gonna be soft and stuff because I like my T rating. **

**Shadow of Souls: that was an interesting recommendation, though I'm more fond of listening to punk while writing. Try 'Own Little World' or 'Switchback' while reading the dark moments of the fic sometime.**

**Oh also: lots of canon in this episode. If you read through it, you'll be rewarded with original lines and references. Also also also this IS the longest chapter so far in this fic. Take your time.  
><strong>

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and writing the Moonlight Bridge scene!**

* * *

><p>"DIE, BASTARD!"<p>

Minato could only watch in shock as the other leader ran towards the edge of the top of the observatory, seeking to avenge Shinjiro by kicking what would become soon a smashed corpse. Incapable to move away in time, however, she fell alongside the once founder of SEES, who grabbed her leg.

Akihiko immediately darted off behind her, screaming a name which wasn't hers as she disappeared from sight. He was one second late to save her, and could only stare as Hamuko's arm escaped from his fingers. Hadn't Minato stopped him, he'd probably would have suffered the same fate as her; however, that was only for Minato to do. He followed her suit, with his Evoker ready to use.

The Fool descended faster than Hamuko by far, running vertically down the walls propelled by Horus's automatic Sukukaja skill. Upon reaching her, he let the Persona dissolve into the green of the Dark Hour and got ready for another attack.

Minato pointed his Evoker to her forehead, and, when she noticed his intentions and began struggling, forcefully dragged her Evoker towards his head as they approached the ground faster and faster.

Bam.

* * *

><p>The week before the last full moon operation went by extremely slow. After all, it was only normal to be expectant for such an event. Humankind's future was in the hands of a bunch of teens.<p>

And that is why they prayed a lot in the shrine and spent every night in Tartarus to get stronger and thus have a better grip on their newer Personae.

That isn't to say that they didn't keep an eye on their friends, of course.

On the one hand, Minato… didn't need to do much at all. Nozomi, that is, the Gourmet King, stumbled upon him in the shrine. Apparently he heard him asking for Igor's help, and somehow decided he was praying to the obese boy's god, "The Dark Mother" or something like that.

By the end of the week he had Level 7 with Nozomi and a headache from hearing so much blabbering about some paradise or whatever where he'd be thin and have little wings like Koromaru. He also had a few thousand yens less from buying so much antacid for his friend's maltreated stomach.

On the other hand, Hamuko took to visiting Chidori with Junpei, as she was even more aware of how ethereal her friendships turned out to be. If his word was to be believed, the gothic Lolita was really glad she was there to accompany. One could easily guess that was far from true, but the bucktoothed brunette seemed proud of herself.

Hamuko's paranoia led her to refuse continuously any of Junpei's attempts to become closer, as they were already at Level 9. That turned out to be extremely difficult, since the boy was now aware of hers and Akihiko's little… 'family secret' and kept prying once and again. Can't blame him for trying to be a good friend, but he was so insistent that he pretty much kept her from doing any other socializing.

Then again, their socializing really wasn't helped by the fact that they had Mitsuru and Akihiko behind them half of the day. Their senpai just weren't very good at looking like occasional bystanders.

Sunday, however, was a completely different matter. Mitsuru reluctantly agreed to give them some space, and they immediately headed to the shrine, to encounter one of their dearest friends.

…Just in time, it seemed, as when they arrived Akinari was laying on the bench, wheezing and grabbing his chest.

"We have to take him to the hospital!" Minato ordered as he began dialing the emergency number.

"N-no…" He coughed. "I'm… I'm fine…"

"No, you're not!" Hamuko reproached him.

"I… don't…!" He wheezed again.

The Fools exchanged worried looks. Hamuko then decided to take a seat by his side, while Minato just gave her an incredulous look.

"He said he doesn't want to go to the hospital." She sentenced, reaching out to close his flip mobile. "Please. Let's wait."

The bluenet nodded, but kept standing up with the number ready to call until Akinari's breathing troubles improved, a few minutes later.

"I have stopped taking medicine," he said. "Not going back to the hospital," he smiled.

Akinari hadn't done any writing at all during that week, because the pills he needed to take made his hands and his mind go numb. Thus, he decided he'd be better off without them.

His last words would be for them. That's what he wanted.

Minato shook his head silently. He accepted his friend's wish, but didn't agree at all.

Hamuko… well, she dealt with it the best she could.

"Alright! This Tuesday we'll do our best for you!" She punched the air. "Write us something pretty for Sunday!"

Optimistic, or delusional, Minato could not decide. For some reason, Akinari didn't ask her what she meant, though. Perhaps he'd already made his own decision about her.

* * *

><p>Monday was the last day before the last full moon, and of course they couldn't miss the opportunity to train restlessly. Therefore, Minato decided to do some shopping for the occasion, and that meant keeping Hamuko away from the weapons shop, lest she'd begin hunting for bizarre andor awkward outfits with ridiculously high defense stats. That wasn't to say he didn't like ridiculous _weapons_ though. That one club with nails he got from Elisabeth, for example... ah, but, yeah, he needed to focus on a plan to keep her away first.

"Hey Hamu." He yelled through the phone to be heard over the noise of Paulownia Mall. "I'm in a restaurant with Nozomi, and I'm feeling kind of sick… Yeah, yeah… Wait, what's Junpei saying about him giving me something weird? Well, anyway, do me a favor…"

* * *

><p>"Um, president… Tanaka?"<p>

The business man turned around and gave Hamuko… a weird look. He seemed happy. "Ah, it's you, ungrateful child! If you're here to get another opportunity, well… I'm in a good mood, so maybe if you beg—"

"Ah, it's nothing like that." Hamuko shook her hands. "I'm just here on Minato's behalf. He told me to tell you that he won't be coming to work today 'cause—"

"What are you saying, girl? I fired that stupid kid last week!"

"What?" Hamuko's jaw almost dropped.

"That moron lectured me a few days ago! You can't do this, you can't do that, your employers are people… can you believe it? But I, with my infinite generosity, forgave him the first time. Then, when I laughed about a request I'd received to donate to an orphanage… he just blew up, telling me how difficult his life was and blah blah blah! How did he dare? Like I didn't know…" He kept on mumbling with his teeth gritted. Not that Hamuko cared, she was busy trying to make connections. What if Minato was trying to steal her Aigis. That would be heinous. …Whatever heinous meant. Maybe she was spending too much time with Minato. Big words small ego man. What if he had glasses? All intelligent people need glasses. But his room was so tidy, where could he keep them? Maybe she needed glasses too, now she had a 100% in an exam. Oh man that was so great. She could brag about that forever. Maybe one day she'd make her brother proud with that. Yesss, Aki'd be the proudest. He's such a smart boy too, after all…

"And one last thing!" Tanaka exclaimed suddenly, interrupting Hamuko's train of thought. "Give this to the child." He handed her an envelope. "And tell him… that he didn't win! I'm only doing this so I have someone to look after me when I'm old! Tootaloo, girl."

After that, he threatened her with calling security and she left.

"Well?" Junpei, who'd been waiting outside, asked as she appeared through the door.

"Apparently, Minato was fired a week ago. Tanaka gave me this for him."

"A thank-you letter?"

That letter wasn't just any letter. It irradiated a special feeling… like that of obtaining a new Persona. But, his Social Link hadn't gone up. Hamuko's mind began working at full speed. Because, what if…?

"We need to go to the mall!" Hamuko sentenced.

* * *

><p>"Man, I should have thought this through…" Minato muttered to himself, as he put a rapier inside his jacket.<p>

"Well, and that was the last weapon!" The young policeman, Adachi, said as he gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You kids are incredible! I really can't believe what you, and that secret part of the police, uh… 'Shadow Workers', do! You're heroes, real ones!"

"Thanks. You just sounded like a friend of mine…" The bluenet answered with a forced smile. The tip of a spear was dangerously sticking into his calf. He shouldn't have hidden that one while being dizzy from getting a Level 10. Hah, Hamuko didn't steal it, yet somehow it leveled up for him. But… for some reason, he didn't feel a new Persona. He heard the voice and everything informing him that he could use Beelzebub, but he didn't really feel that Persona in his mind. The fact that he could feel the existence of creatures in his psyche has somewhat creepy.

"But, if anyone found out we sell weapons to children it'd be a disaster! We'd all get fired or go to prison or something." He said, sounding rather paranoid.

"Well, let's hope nothing happens, right?"

No sooner he said this, he saw Hamuko and Junpei running around. Unfortunately, they kind of saw him too.

"H-HEY!" He stammered. "I just got out of the restaurant and…"

"You can skip the explanation!" Hamuko laughed as she ran towards an antique items shop nearby, dragging Junpei. "Think they sell safes here, partner?"

"What do you even need a safe for?" He yelled back.

"Safes…?"

Minato decided that he didn't want to know and headed to the entrance, walking like his legs were sticks. He'd better take all those weapons out before the meeting programmed for the night.

* * *

><p>"Man, this shop is so cool…"<p>

Despite being prominently featured in the first floor of Paulownia Mall, Hamuko had never been to the antiquary. What for, anyway?

"Welcome." A woman of tanned skin and braided blue hair greeted them. She wore a lab coat and glasses which made her look really cool. "How may I help you?"

"Do you have any safes?"

"Safes?" The store owner asked, surprised. "Well, yes, but I doubt any of them would work." She smiled. "You're lucky, however, as I do fancy myself quite good at working with metal, so if you can buy the materials, I will fabricate it for you."

"Materials, huh?" Hamuko looked at Junpei. "You think we can melt Evokers?"

"How 'bout Aigis?"

"Lay a finger on my robot and I'll—"

"Wait. It… it can't be." The woman looked at them with eyes wide as saucers. "You're Persona users?"

Junpei and Hamuko exchanged looks. Then they looked at the woman. And then they ran away, yelling at each other about how she could have worked for Strega or something.

* * *

><p>"So, um…"<p>

Mitsuru looked left and right, too nervous to remember what she was supposed to say for the night. Plans had been made. Safety strategies plotted, in case anything went wrong, in _either_ side of the battle. Yet she couldn't say anything like 'I assure you, you all will be okay' or 'I promise that this operation won't finish like the previous'. She couldn't make any promises she wouldn't be able to make true.

The second years exchanged nervous glances between each other and muttered about some thing or some other, yet didn't even look at their senpai. Even Akihiko seemed to be in his own world. …But that was okay; the barrier which separated both groups was her fault. She'd been the one who decided to remain away from the others. Now she couldn't even pronounce a speech to encourage them.

"T-Tomorrow, we will behold the last Shadow!" She began. "So much time spent working on this will finally…"

"Six months!" Takeba suddenly interrupted. "I can't believe it's been six months already!"

"Yeah man! This year's been the best year of my life!" Iori yelled. "I made lots of friends! Did lots of cool things! Got a chick, man! Life's good!"

"I think the same." Yamagishi agreed. "A lot of sad things have happened, and I suffer seeing you fight every night… but I enjoy every moment I spent with all of you. I couldn't have had such a fun year if I hadn't joined SEES."

"…It hasn't been like that for all of us, you know." Amada mutters quietly, holding Koromaru a bit stronger. "…But I'm glad I met you all."

"What Ken said." Seikatsu shrugged.

"This has been the weirdest year in my whole life." Arisato sentenced. "There were great things, horrible things… but I feel really different from when the year started, in a rather positive way. This year was, overall, a good experience."

"It'll be better if we don't end up killing each other, right?"

The leaders shared a chuckle which nobody else in the dorm dared mimic. Perhaps one can get so used to morbid situations that their humor becomes equally dark.

"Speak for yourself. I don't think this year had anything of special or great compared to the last two." Akihiko heaved a sigh. "But I wouldn't change a thing. Shinji wouldn't like it if we began brooding before the last mission, right?" He smirked. "Let's finish this year with a big victory to smooth everything out."

"There'll still be a few issues left, though…" Seikatsu whispered to herself. Noticing the attention her phrase caused, she suddenly put up a big smile. "…LIKE AIGIS'S RETIREMENT PARTY!"

"That's right!" Takeba agreed. "I mean, gee, how long have you been in this, Aigis? Since like, the start, no?"

"I suppose so. My memories are corrupted, so I cannot determine the time when I was fabricated." She shrugged her shoulders in the same way Seikatsu had. Quite a human gesture, in Mitsuru's opinion. "It did not feel as long as you would suppose. I have been inoperative in Yakushima for quite a long period."

"Robots… don't need retirement parties. And I believe I am the one who has been here for the longest time; I was the first child to awaken to a Persona, after all." Mitsuru finally spoke up, albeit with a sadder voice than she meant. "In any case, it's not like we'd ever dispose of her; she was originally going to be sent back to the lab once her purpose was over; however, the Chairman claims Aigis is quite capable to keep living among us, so she may decide what she desires to do."

"Well duh." The female leader harrumphed. "Like I'd let you take lil' Aigis away. I'd take her home with me if it was necessary. I just wanted a reason to party. I haven't partied in ages."

"What about 'yay we saved humanity' parties?" Arisato suggested.

"That's boring. You're boring." She giggled and then stood still for a few seconds. "You know what ain't boring? Training!"

"I'm with her." Akihiko stood up, then turned his head to Mitsuru. "So. Can we say the meeting is over?"

"Ah, yes." Mitsuru nodded quickly. "However, it'd be best if we used this night to rest. We need to have as much energy as possible for tomorrow."

There was some mild opposition, but it quickly quieted down.

"Meeting dismissed… for the last time."

Akihiko was the first one to leave the room, with Seikatsu and Iori following suit, mumbling about telling something to someone. Arisato left giving Ken and Takeba some encouraging words. So did Koro-chan, much to Mitsuru's chagrin.

"Um, Senpai?"

Mitsuru snapped out of her thoughts, only to see Yamagishi. "Yes?"

"It was a pleasure helping you all. Thank you very much for inviting me to join SEES."

The red head opened her mouth slightly, but then just closed her eyes and smiled, placing a hand on Yamagishi's shoulder.

"No, thank you for opening my eyes."

They shared a tender grin before walking out of the Command Room with everyone, with Mitsuru being incapable to hide completely the sudden pride she was feeling.

* * *

><p>The next day, Wednesday third of November, everyone called in sick. Why? Because they could. They did nothing but sleep for most of the day. And they unplugged the TV to make sure Aigis spent the day recharging her batteries. Neither she nor Koromaru were amused.<p>

Once the Dark Hour commenced, everyone gathered in the Command Room, waiting in silence for Fuuka's new Persona, Juno, to find the so awaited Shadow.

"The final Shadow is in the Moonlight Bridge." She said, letting Lucia vanish. "And there are two other people there as well."

"Strega." Akihiko growled.

"Bastards…" Ken muttered, earning a smack in the head from Junpei.

"Six, seven…" Hamuko looked at her fingers. "Eleven against two! They ain't got no chance!"

"Uh, you miscounted Hamuko." Minato interrupted.

"Oh, right. Ten and a half." She nodded. "I'm sorry, Fuuka, but you don't count as a fighter."

The bluenet preferred not to correct her, guessing who she accidentally added to the count.

"Good luck, everyone. Be careful." Mitsuru commanded as she motioned everyone to follow her out of the room.

* * *

><p>Just as Fuuka foresaw, the two remaining Strega members were standing by the railings of the Moonlight Bridge.<p>

"You know the significance of today, do you not?" Takaya asked sardonically. "You claim you hunt the Shadows to prevent the disaster they bring... Yet, countless lives are lost each day without their intervention."

Ken obviously grimaced at his words.

"The power we wield is not itself evil... You cannot deny that. So why don't you just admit it? You do not wish to eliminate the Dark Hour... You are merely deceiving yourselves..."

A spectral silence, filled with everyone's doubts ensued.

"Refusing to answer is the same as turning your back. You are indeed foolish children..." How old was he anyway? "Erasing the Dark Hour is the same as erasing yourselves. Tch. Is even that beyond your comprehension?" He pandered aloud. Because of the lack of response, he just snorted. "As I believed, our goals are irreconcilable."

"Yeah. Forget these maggots." The other guy… uh, Jin, barked.

"Fate shall decide who will prevail." Takaya smirked. " ...Come."

"Does anyone other than the obvious three want to take on Takaya?" Minato asked.

A growl drew his attention downwards. Koromaru's hackles were raised, all his ire directed at the shirtless, tattooed man. Minato smiled slightly.

"Very well, then. Mitsuru-senpai, Junpei, Yukari, Aigis, we'll fight... um..." he gestured blankly at the bespectacled one of Strega.

"It's Jin," Jin growled back, looking irritated.

"Ah, yes. My apologies," Minato said with a superior smirk, as the groups separated. "I suppose you just haven't made much of an impression yet."

"Well then, let me blow your minds!" Jin roared back, chucking a grenade into the midst of them.

The smoke kicked up from the explosion obscured all sight for a few moments, panicking Hamuko's group. As it cleared, all five stood unharmed within, protected by the looming shape of Arahabaki.

"You know," Minato commented drily. "I have a tendency to attack people who make bad puns. Ask our other leader."

Jin gritted his teeth, watching the unfazed confidence of the group before him.

"You damn maggots!" he shouted, pulling forth an Evoker with his left hand. And the actual battle began in earnest.

Meanwhile, the other four stared off against Takaya. He seemed unaffected by the numbers he faced.

"Is there any reason your leader relegated less to fight me than to Jin?" he asked. "Of the two of us, I am the stronger."

His answer came in the form of a narrowly dodged Ziodyne from Caesar. He sighed.

"I normally prefer to chat a little before killing. However, if that is the way you'd prefer it... then allow me to send you forth from this world that you reject."

He clutched his head, a twisted grin spreading across his face.

"Come, Hypnos," he gasped out in pain.

On the other side of the bridge, as Takaya talked on, Minato sighed as Junpei easily avoided a forming Mudo curse. The relative warm breeze of a Maragion washed over them all, irritating even Mitsuru only slightly as she stumbled.

"Arisato," she began.

"I know," he interrupted. "This is a waste of our time and energy. We need to defeat the Hanged Man before the Dark Hour fades."

"Ha!" Jin crowed. "Good luck getting through us. Takaya and I won't let you end the Dark Hour."

"Enough," Minato said calmly. He drew his Evoker.

"Helel."

Takaya's Persona continued bombarding the four others with powerful elemental skills, only managing to force back one at a time as the other three counter-attacked. He bore far more wounds than any of his opponents.

"Your attacks kinda suck," Hamuko taunted spitefully, drawing forth Attis for a Megidola that staggered the pale man. "Maybe you shoulda stuck to your gun."

"That is rich hypocrisy, coming from one who claims to be fighting for the good of the world, but clearly is just a little girl with a grudge," he retorted. "Perhaps it is you who should stick to your guns."

"Ya talk too damn much," she hissed, blasting him back once more with Megidola. As he fell, the others followed suit, loosing their own attacks on him.

Takaya managed to rise to his feet, a spark of anger in his eyes.

"Very well, then. I had hoped to make this more interesting, but if it is death you want, then I shall grant you one!"

He pulled his revolver, levelling at Hamuko, and firing it in one smooth motion. The bullet, however, struck her harmlessly. Kohryu stirred within her consciousness.

"Nice try, gunslinger," she taunted. "But that precious tower of yours is gonna be disappearing soon."

A brilliant light, like the coming of the dawn, drew all sight to the side of the bridge, where Minato's Persona shone. Hamuko instantly took advantage.

"Sandalphon!"

The blast of power crushed the distracted Takaya. He fell to the ground, and stirred painfully, not managing to get up. Hamuko stalked over to him, lifting him up to his feet. The metallic angel continued to hover behind her.

"There ain't any less fighting you than there are fighting the dude with the glasses," she growled at him. "Five on one, both times." She gestured at Sandalphon behind her. "Some of us are just here in spirit."

She threw him to the side, as Jin staggered toward them, followed by the rest of SEES.

"Is their power THAT different than ours...?" Jin growled.

"Different?" Mitsuru inquired.

"Didn't you see that Takaya didn't use an Evoker? They must be using Suppressants." Minato narrowed his eyes.

"Hah, smart boy." Jin complimented him. "Yes, our Personas need to be forced out. Didn't your pal tell you?"

"So it was you who was giving Shinji those pills!" Akihiko yelled.

"You guys don't have the slightest clue what will happen if the Dark Hour disappears, do you? It won't matter for normal people, since they don't remember anything anyway... But for us—"

What…? What would happen when it was over?

"That's enough." Takaya rose a hand and smiled. "Now, then... Ordinarily, we'd withdraw... but not tonight. This body, as ephemeral as it is... It is worthless without my power. Therefore, only one choice remains... I shall prove my existence here and now!"

Takaya pointed his revolver at himself, while everyone just stared in shock. However, his last act wasn't completed, for he was tackled to the ground by his sidekick.

"What are you doing?" He yelled.

"Don't be so reckless!" The one in green replied. "Those are your words, not mine."

Grabbing his hand, Jin took Takaya over the railing.

"You win..." He muttered. "Looks like you'll get your wish... Go do what you came for."

"Wait!" Junpei screamed. "Don't tell me you're gonna jump...!"

"I'd rather die than surrender to you! Take a good look! This is how we live!"

With that, they let themselves fall to the blood sea under them. The bridge was really high… and…

"Good riddance," Hamuko muttered. More than a few nods responded to that.

"Um..." Fuuka's soft voice caught their attention. "I sense the Hanged Man. It is at the center of the bridge, about fifty meters up."

"Up?"

As she had said, in the distance, they could see a vague shape floating in the air above the bridge.

"It's out of range of any Persona attacks," Fuuka reported as they walked toward the center.

"What about long range physicals? Yukari? Aigis?"

"Not at that distance," Yukari said, shaking her head.

"Regrettably, I did not come equipped with my marksman-type weaponry."

"We don't even have a beach ball to throw at it," Hamuko lamented. "Guess we'll have to bring it down to our level, then."

"D'ya think those statues have anything to do with it floating?" Junpei asked suddenly.

Indeed, there were three statues sitting directly below where the Hanged Man floated. Akihiko brandished his Evoker.

"Let's knock 'em down and find out!" he barked out, summoning Caesar. The Maziodyne blew two of the statues to chunks. The other seemed completely unaffected, even firing off a Zionga as a counterattack.

Akihiko lunged in with his fists, delivering a few strikes that broke the last statue down. He stood there for a moment, looking down at the remains. Triumph filled his heart as he saw them disappear under the growing shadow of the Hanged Man above.

...Growing?

"Akihiko, move!"

"Io!"

A sudden blast of wind knocked Akihiko out of the way, sending him tumbling into a guardrail. The Hanged Man landed with a heavy thud a mere moment after.

"Ow..." he grumbled. "Thanks, Takeba."

"The enemy is down!" Mitsuru shouted out. "Strike now!"

Rather than withering under the combined assault of SEES, the Hanged Man gestured with one hand. A shockwave not unlike that which Hamuko used to crush Takaya blew them all backwards. With a moment to breathe, it rose slightly, still well within range.

_"It seems that the statues are necessary for it to stay out of reach!" _Fuuka reported.

"Then let's kick this thing's ass now!" Junpei said.

The Shadow edged back, gesturing with the other hand. A crowd of bloblike Mayas formed between it and SEES, blocking their advance. None of them could get through. One of them, however, had been separated, and stood up behind their final enemy, drawing his Evoker.

"I've been waiting for this."

The Shadow turned in panic, receiving a bolt of lightning that set it to twitching, followed by a crushing set of blows that knocked it again to the ground.

On the other side, SEES attempted to blast through the dozens of Mayas obstructing their path.

"They're weak to electricity!" Ken shouted out from behind Kala-Nemi.

"Great, Ken-kun! You and Akihik-" she cut off, whirling around. "Where's Akihiko?"

"I think he's on the other side of the crowd, fighting the Shadow," Minato said. "See?"

As he had said, the Shadow seemed to be tangling with Akihiko alone on the other side.

"Shit!" she swore. "We needa go help him!"

"Get through these first, then!" he retorted. "Thor!"

"Dammit, get the hell outta my way! Odin!"

The Hanged Man did not devote its full attention to Akihiko. While it attempted to defend itself, all of its force was applied towards summoning more Mayas. That is, until a particularly fierce uppercut that temporarily disrupted its summoning. It turned its emotionless mask to the white-haired teen.

Across a sea of Mayas, Hamuko's eyes widened. Akihiko was under a sudden onslaught, being forced to dodge massive golden fists descending from the sky. She kept her eyes locked onto him as she blasted through the teeming horde with fierce lightning attacks.

"Don't you dare..." she mumbled under her breath, feeling her blood heat up with anger. "Don't you fucking dare..." He dodged impressively, but he couldn't keep it up forever. "Don't you GODDAMN FUCKING DARE LAY A HAND ON HIM!"

But at last, the Shadow's accuracy, reduced by Akihiko himself, returned. The next God's Hand was right on target, crushing Akihiko into the stone bridge. He didn't get back up.

"You son of a bitch! STAY AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!"

And as Hamuko's fury roared to life, Minato felt an echo of the same anger stir inside him, as if sympathetically.

"Helel! Clear the way!"

The fallen angel appeared once more, waving an arm. That same brilliant shine, coming from the Morning Star, obliterated every last Maya in the way. Hamuko wasted no time, charging over to Akihiko at full speed, intent on saving him and destroying the Shadow. She herself didn't know what order to do it in.

Akihiko struggled to his feet, locking eyes with the Hanged Man's mask, seeing it intent on eliminating him. The Shadow hadn't even noticed its small army destroyed in one strike. One attack would blow Akihiko over the bridge.

Hamuko watched the Hanged Man gesture, the now-familiar shockwave of Akasha Arts manifesting. She leapt over it, her charge unbroken. Akihiko could not muster the same agility. The force of the blow knocked him backwards, into the guardrail. He struck it with the back of his knees. They bent. He wobbled. He fell.

Hamuko grasped his arm tightly, holding him up as he nearly dangled over the edge.

"You... don't get to go... too..." she growled out.

Minato, meanwhile, was unleashing all of his newfound anger on the last enemy before him.

"Surt! Attis! Arahabaki! Siegfried! Thor! Helel! Scathach! Alice! Die, you abomination, just get on the ground and DIE!"

Hamuko pulled Akihiko onto the bridge, where he sat down solidly.

"Sit here while we finish this," she said. "Don't hurt yourself."

And with that, she began loosing her own barrage onto the Shadow from behind.

"Yurlungur! Odin! Kohryu! Sandalphon!" She then remembered the letter she gained from Tanaka. Against an instinct screaming to stop, she fired again, shouting, "Beelzebub!"

On the other side of the Hanged Man, Minato hadn't heard exactly what she shouted over the explosive sound of his own attacks, as well of those from the SEES members around him. He did, however, feel a painful tug inside his mind, like something secured tightly in there was being yanked on.

Hamuko, meanwhile, fell to her knees grimacing, clutching her head at the pain of trying to summon a Persona that didn't belong to her. Taking advantage of the temporary lull, the Hanged Man summoned another small horde of Mayas, having them surround the Fools in two groups.

"This is more irritating than threatening..." Minato grumbled.

A snap of the Shadow's fingers changed his mind. All the Mayas glowed a brilliant white for a moment. Hamuko barely had the time to mutter out a curse before they detonated with surprising force.

Each stood in the epicenter of the blasts, not only unharmed, but all their wounds from before healed without a trace. Attis's Enduring Soul ability had done more than keep them alive.

"This feels like cheating," Hamuko commented.

"Don't complain, let's just kill this thing."

"I'm with you!" she shouted.

The Shadow didn't know which way to turn. A devastating onslaught of attacks bombarded it from each side. Even SEES stopped to marvel at the sheer ferocity the two put into the attacks, intending them to be the last they ever used. It couldn't last long, the Shadow already being weakened. It sagged to the ground, gurgled piteously, and dissolved. The last Shadow was defeated.

"We... did it?" Hamuko asked, as if looking for confirmation. The puddle of ichor remained immobile, and faded away slowly. "We did it! We fucking DID IT!"

"Heh..." Minato chuckled. "Heh heh heh hahahaHAHAHAHA! Yes! Ah, it's over! Ah..." He trailed off, smiling widely. He looked over to Hamuko. "Celebrate?"

"Read my mind!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him along, the two making a beeline for the dorm. As she ran, she turned her head to make a final shout behind her. "You did hear that, right Aki?"

* * *

><p>"Good morning." A familiar voice greeted them.<p>

Minato let out a small yawn as he opened his eyes slightly. "Good morning, Pharos…" He mumbled as he dragged the blanket of his bed over Hamuko's bare shoulder.

"Being creepy this early in the morning?" She asked without bothering to turn around to look at him. "Wait WHAT?" Hamuko sprung out the bed as she yelled, with Minato quickly grabbing her and making her sit down to make sure she didn't go around exposing herself to ghosts. "Why… why aren't you burning in the sunlight or something?"

"That's vampires, you dummy." Minato flicked her forehead.

"So sue me." Hamuko plopped down onto Minato's bed again, leering at him as she poked his side. "Then, uh—uh…?"

"I'm sorry for visiting you so early in the morning this time, but… today is a really important day. "Pharos was staring at them both intently, with a somewhat sad smile. "I'll really, really miss you two."

"Huh?" The bluenet sat up. "Are you going anywhere?"

"Yes, this… this is a goodbye."

Looking askance at her, Minato could see how Hamuko's expression began changing.

"I remember everything. All of the fragments of my memory are once again reunited." The boy with a prisoner pajama balled his hand into a fist. "I remembered my role in all of this… and I wouldn't dare spend a second more with you, with this knowledge. I'm sorry."

Tears began flooding his eerily blue eyes.

"Ours is an unbreakable friendship, though. We have been together for so, so long. Even if you don't know it, I've always been here. And I will always be, even if you still don't realize it, for shadows of the past can be felt in the present."

"But…" Hamuko's eyes began getting equally wet. "Will we see you again?"

"…Perhaps I'll see you some other time."

Death Level 10, announced the well known voice in both their heads. Thanatos, harbinger of peaceful death was now part of their minds. Which was… somewhat familiar. They'd definitely seen that before.

"Farewell."

Minato stood somewhat dazed. Hamuko seemed at a loss, pressing her lips into a line in order to hold back the tears. After a few seconds, though, she just began laughing.

"I can't, I just can't be sad." She chuckled as she jumped out of bed, raising her arms in the air. "I'm still too happy to be sad!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Minato bounced towards the edge of the bed. "I'm really… ecstatic, right now! I don't think I've felt like this in years."

"Hmm, well." She rubbed her eyes. "Did we do anything special yesterday?"

The Fools exchanged dubious looks. Then their eyes trailed down to the blanket. "No, alright, this is normal."

"Man, I don't remember anything after the Shadow." Hamuko complained.

"Me neither."

They both sat down, trying to think as hard as they could to piece parts of their memory together.

* * *

><p>"Man, this… this was the best mission ever, man." The brown haired leader slurred, holding a bottle of some unimportant booze they bought on the way back to celebrate.<p>

"We saved the world." The other Fool replied, smirking as he took his own bottle towards hers.

"Like champs."

"Chumps?"

"Cheers."

They hit the bottles together, laughing as they somehow managed to shatter them both. They then spent some seconds in complete silence, staring at each other with glaringly obvious intentions.

"C'mere, champ." Hamuko reached out to grab Minato's collar, and he complied, crawling towards her, ignoring the shards laying on the ground.

"We really did it…" He muttered as he towered the female Fool, who leaned against the bed as they shared fast, timid peeks.

"No, Minato..." Her hands trailed down his chest, taking care of each button in a torturous way, while her mouth moved from his to the shell of his ear at a faster pace, nibbling the lobe and tracing the curves of the cartilage with her tongue. Meanwhile, she gyrated her hips against the figure on top of her, trying to bring pleasure to both of them until the bluenet decided to move away to make things more interesting.

He could hear her pants as he kissed her knees and squeals as he caressed the back of her thighs, which he parted without effort. He then began following the lead of her curves, rising the edge of her miniskirt above her hipbones before planting a teasing kiss on the only fabric left covering her underbelly, which was answered with a needy moan.

Seeing him moisten his lips dangerously, she grabbed his hands and put them on the bed, trying to futilely keep her lead a few more seconds by locking him between her knees, around the small of his back as she quickly unzipped his trousers. "…We haven't done anything yet…"

* * *

><p>The silence in the room was almost tangible.<p>

"WHY did you stop at the best part?" Hamuko whined.

"Because I just woke up! I don't want to suffer more."

The brunette cocked up an eyebrow, then smiled in a mischievous way. "Well…"

"W-We have to go to school now." He answered, scratching his nose.

Hamuko only shrugged and got up, avoiding the shards of crystal which were still covering the ground, while Minato observed her from the bed. He let out a small smile crawl onto his face.

"When I look at you now, I don't feel any need to kill you."

"Oh, Minato. That's the sweetest thing you've ever told me." She snorted and shook her head. "But now you mention it, I don't feel it either… maybe it's because we're finally done with the Shadows?"

"Maybe." Minato agreed. "Or… I don't know. Maybe it's something simpler."

"Like what?"

"…Love?"

Hamuko began laughing so loud that Minato couldn't keep himself from blushing in embarrassment.

"I-I know that it's never turned out well! In fact, nothing ever turns out well between us! It's okay if you don't believe me, but—"

"We can call it that, for now, if you want."

The bluenet was thoroughly surprised, but he only smiled and nodded in response.

* * *

><p>The following morning, the majority of SEES decided to follow the path to school together, talking about the greatness of the celebration that would take place that night. Apparently they'd bring sushi. Only Akihiko and Hamuko decided to go on their own, probably to avoid each other. Or look for each other. Or hell if Minato knew how those two's minds worked. They'd meet at school anyway.<p>

* * *

><p>"<em>WhydidIdothat<em>? _HowcouldIdothat_?" Hamuko muttered to herself as she hit her face against the desk once and again and again. After a couple of minutes, she just slumped over it.

"Uh, Hamuko?" Yukari poked her cheek.

"Hush!" Aigis grabbed her hand. "Do not interrupt Hamuko-san's stamina increasing exercises."

"She uh… didn't sleep well." Minato quickly replied.

"Yeah, we all heard." Junpei answered out of the side of his mouth.

"Shut up, Junpei."

"No, I heard it too…"

Everyone froze at Yukari's words. Even Hamuko looked up with her forehead completely red.

"You called Akihiko-senpai your brother or something, no?"

Hamuko's face hit her table stronger. Junpei and Minato looked at each other.

"D-don't we all? I mean, dude, Akihiko-san's quite a bro. And we all love our bros, am I right?" Junpei offered among strained chuckles directed at his leader.

"If you say so." The girl in pink shrugged.

"I don't possess any 'bro'." Aigis lamented.

"You're quite a bro yourself." Minato sentenced. "But leaving that aside, I'm going to kill Junpei."

But before that, he leaned over Hamuko and whispered "_And you go talk with him_."

"_As if._"

* * *

><p>"S-Senpai?"<p>

The silver head turned around upon hearing Hamuko call him, but in a matter of seconds he made to walk away, nervous.

"No, no! Wait, Senpai!"

Hamuko thought about grabbing his hand to stop him, but realizing where they were she headed for his forearm like a clingy fangirl. However, he continued advancing quite easily.

"I-I saved your l-life yesterday, right? And you're always l-looking for explanations." She ran in front of him and looked at him straight in the eye, defiantly. "You gotta hear me out."

Akihiko hailed again, but spoke no word.

"I… I didn't mean to let you know like that… I-I mean yet! I mean…" She slammed her hand against her face, then slowly dragged it down, putting up an awkward smile. "S-sorry, forget I ever said anything. W-we were getting along again and… and I just said something stupid, y-yeah! I didn't sleep well, and I said something dumb. Y-yanno, because, I'm me… that's what I do… dumb things." She gulped, and scratched the back of her head. "I'll be going home now. There's a party waiting for us, right?"

With that, she sprinted away, while Akihiko just stared at her.

"I'm not so sure it's time to celebrate yet…" He heard him mutter.

* * *

><p>"WHOA." Junpei yelled as he looked at the trays placed in front of the group. "Nice spread." He suddenly rectified, trying to sound like a gourmet.<p>

"The slices are huge!" Yukari admired as well.

"Is this from the restaurant next to Hagakure?" Ken inquired.

Junpei quickly took one and ate it. "Nah. I don't feel smarter."

"Shocking." The brunette snorted.

Koromaru barked, attracting everyone's attentions. He wanted sushi too, but they probably didn't know that.

"Where's Aigis?" Hamuko asked. "'Cause if she isn't gonna have her sushi…"

"I don't think she'd mind if you have it. Anyway, the Chairman said she was taking her to the lab for a tune-up." Mitsuru informed.

"Huh?" Fuuka gave both a questioning look. "That's weird; Aigis… told me that her next visit to the lab was due in a lot of time."

"Bigger portion!" The leader exclaimed. "Do not question the sushi."

"…So it was you after all who's been teaching Aigis weird phrases?"

Hamuko gave Minato a solemn look. "It is not my fault that my robot can appreciate true genius."

"Not her fault either that you have a bottomless pit for a stomach." Minato remarked.

The general chuckles made Hamuko flinch and mutter something about screwing him. Or not. Minato didn't have time to ask, for the door bell rang.

"That must be my father." Mitsuru announced.

Everyone followed her to the door, and upon opening the door they found the ever threatening Takeharu Kirijo, accompanied by a woman and a man of about his age, both dressed very formally.

"We've been waiting for you." She greeted them.

"So, it's over at last, huh..." Her father wondered aloud.

"A-a pirate?" Ken asked, marvelled.

"No, that's Mitsuru-senpai's dad. She looks exactly like him." Junpei snickered, while Ken just stared at the family with a dumbstruck face.

"Congratulations, everyone. You've done well. There are no words to express my gratitude. Though you will never receive the recognition you deserve. it is undoubtedly a monumental achievement." He began shaking hands his everyone, in a 'a winner is you' fashion. However, before a game over screen showed up or something, he stopped in front of Yukari and took her hands within his own. "To you, I owe a special thanks, for lending us your power until the very end."

"Oh, it's..." She blushed. "It's no big deal."

After that, he stood in the middle of the lounge and turned to them. "The 12 Shadows that were the cause of all our troubles have been destroyed, thanks to your efforts. You needn't bear this burden any longer. You deserve a chance to experience the joys of youth. The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad will be dissolved as of midnight tonight. No longer must you put your lives on the line in battle. Tomorrow, you can triumphantly return to a normal school life." He said, rising his hands in the air victoriously.

However, the general atmosphere of SEES suddenly turned gloomy.

"...Is something the matter?" Takeharu asked.

"It's nothing..." Akihiko replied, unconvincingly. No one wanted to leave SEES at all. There were too many memories…

"Alright, everyone... It's time to celebrate." Mitsuru intervened. "Your feast awaits you. There's no need to hold back; eat as much as you'd like."

"I've been waiting for this!" Junpei yelled, earning a glare from Akihiko.

* * *

><p>The party went on for hours, to the point that even close to midnight they were still trying to finish the sushi.<p>

"Listen up, everyone..." Junpei said out of the blue. "Now that we're all stuffed, how 'bout we take a picture together?"

"Shouldn't we have done that before getting stuffed?" Yukari sighed.

"Hey, I tried to take one last night! I just forgot it wouldn't work during the Dark Hour." He explained.

"You brought a camera with you into battle." Akihiko stated, less than amused.

"You spend too much time with me." Hamuko shook her head.

"Ah, shut up! I just wanted a memory of our last battle!" He got up and began pulling everyone up from their seats. "Ken, hold Koromaru. You, go there. Hey mister, take the photo please!"

"Well, if we're doing this, I want a copy too." Yukari demanded.

"A photo with Yukari-chan and our leaders? I'll treasure it!" Fuuka exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's been forever since I last took a photo with anyone!" Hamuko nodded to herself. "Memories, memories for my cupboard."

"The point of photos is to see them, not stick them into cupboards." Minato pointed out.

"I want Aigis in the photo!"

"Yeah, we'll have to take another one later." Junpei shrugged. "Alright, everyone get together. Squeeze tiiiight!" He insisted. Creepily at that.

"Do I have to?" Aki asked, stepping back.

"Yes, Akihiko-senpai, you have to be the closest of them all!"

The boxer rose his fist as Junpei reached out for him. "I-I was kidding."

"Stop fooling around!" Yukari complained. "We're good to go, take the photo."

"Wait, we need to strike a pose!" Junpei exclaimed. "Partner!"

"Yeah!" Hamuko joined him.

"FU-SI-O—"

Because of their bad coordination, both idiots fell to the ground as the photo was being taken. …A memorable photo indeed.

"W-we'll take another one when Aigis-chan and Ikutsuki-san come back." Junpei muttered, rubbing his nose.

"We don't need everyone to be here. The only important thing is feeling like a—"

"Woof!"

"Yeah, a group!" Minato finished, prompting a few chuckles.

Amidst the laughter, the Fools could feel the bond keeping their group together. Fools level 7, their minds said.

* * *

><p>"H-hey, how come nobody's eating? Don't tell me you're full already!" Junpei yelled, minutes later.<p>

"Are you kidding? I'm stuffed." Yukari huffed.

"Me too... I couldn't eat another bite." Fuuka agreed.

"Even my stomach has a limit." Minato lamented.

"How 'bout you, senpai...?" The lack of answers said everything. "Wanna try some, Koromaru?"

The dog whined, having stuffed itself with meat.

Junpei plopped down on the sofa, defeated. He then turned to Hamuko. "You?"

"I was trying to make space to see if Aigis would give me some sushi, but Aigis and Mr. Chairman are taking forever." Hamuko sighed. "That's it, I'm having her portion."

The lights of the room suddenly went out, and everyone startled upon seeing that Takeharu's bodyguards had turned into coffins.

"I knew it." Akihiko slammed his fist against the table. "I knew it couldn't be so easy!"

"Wait, Kirijo-san doesn't turn into a coffin?" Minato asked.

"I was trained to be able to wander into the Dark Hour, much like Ikutsuki." He explained.

Over the whispers of the members of SEES, thirteen bell rings resounded, each one amplifying the feeling of defeat which invaded the teens, and filling them with fear for the unknown.

"So where is he?" Takeharu suddenly asked. "WHERE is he? He's got Aigis, doesn't he?"

His yells received no answer, and only made Mitsuru shrink like a violet. Akihiko rested a hand on her shoulder, trying to make her feel better, but she shrugged it off.

"Everyone... prepare for battle. We're heading for Tartarus." She announced.

"Umm... To do what?" Fuuka inquired.

"I don't know..." The red head admitted, looking outside the window. "But, that's where the sound is coming from. We have to find out what's going on."

* * *

><p>They ran through the Moonlight Bridge, where the day prior they'd supposedly put an end to the Dark Hour, and minutes later reached what should have been their high school. But no, Tartarus remained there, seemingly brighter than ever.<p>

Unsurprisingly, for some reason, Ikutsuki and Aigis were standing at its entrance.

"Ikutsuki-san! Aigis!" Akihiko yelled.

"Why are you here?" Yukari questioned. "Answer!"

"There's… something different about her." Minato observed, trying to make Yukari lower her voice. "The white LED that made a glow appear in her eyes is off."

"That means she's bad now!" Hamuko sentenced adopting a battle stance. "YOU MONSTER! What did you do to Aigis?"

"I didn't do anything to her." Ikutsuki replied with a calm voice. "She is here merely to fulfil her role… as a weapon."

"Ikutsuki-san, what's this all about?" Junpei tried to reason.

"You said the Dark Hour and Tartarus would disappear if we defeated the twelve Shadows!" Akihiko barked. "That's why we fought so hard!"

"...What is your intention?" Mitsuru interrupted him, with a serious tune they hadn't heard in a while. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she stepped ahead of her group, like the leader she really was. "It was all a lie, wasn't it? You knew from the beginning that the Dark Hour wouldn't disappear, yet you never cared about all the lives you put in danger."

"Congratulations." He applauded Mitsuru, as he gave a small chuckle. "Unfortunately, your realization has come too late."

The indignation was obvious amongst the betrayed fighters, but they were too expectant to give in to small talk.

"Everything is as I planned... It is not unexpected that the Dark Hour and Tartarus remain. In fact, I never intended for you to rid the world of them. Quite the opposite, actually." He explained. "The 12 Shadows were part of a whole... They were destined to be reunited, and that was accomplished in no small part, thanks to your efforts." He sighed happily. "Soon, Death, the almighty, shall arise and bring forth the Fall."

"...Death?" Ken echoed.

"Liar!" Akihiko crowed. Maybe… they were talking about some Persona like theirs?

"The end of all shall come and free this world from despair... The death of everything... but also the beginning." He blabbered.

"W-what is he saying...? Is he out of his mind...?" Yukari asked, obviously scared.

"Ten years ago... I, too, was a scientist for the project we've spoken of. The experiment went awry, but that is not why the Dark Hour and Tartarus were born. They manifested as a result of harvesting the Shadows' power—just as the experiment was designed to do." He smiled sinisterly, and then looked at Mitsuru. "That is why your grandfather gathered so many Shadows... to bring about the Fall."

"That can't be..."

"People have filled the world, yet turned it into a void! The only hope of salvation lies in ruin!" He yelled. "According to the prophecy... The Fall will be orchestrated by 'the Prince'. And once the Prince has delivered us all, he shall rule the new world as King! The man who tried it ten years ago failed. But I will not," he laughed, "I shall succeed!"

"Man, he's totally lost it..." Junpei commented, shaking his head slowly.

Ikutsuki harrumphed and adjusted his glasses. "I apologize for deceiving you, but this was for your sake as well. If you follow me for just a little while longer, you, too, will find salvation."

"You call that salvation?" Fuuka startled.

"Get off yourself, 'Prince'!" Hamuko growled.

"...I have a question for you." Yukari intervened, quite seriously.

"Yes?"

"In the video from my father... he said to defeat the Shadows." She narrowed her eyes. "Was that a lie, too?"

"Ah... he did record that himself." The Chairman snickered. "...Of course, I had to make some modifications."

"...You doctored it?" Mitsuru yelled.

"I _corrected_ it." He rectified. "Your father was a superb scientist... He may not have known it, but I truly respected him. While others focused on the Shadows' abilities, he explored much more important things..." He sighed. "But unfortunately, he could not comprehend the magnificent potential of the Fall..."

Yukari seemed at a loss, so Mitsuru was the one to speak. "He left that recording at the expense of his life."

"It would seem so. ...But it did prove rather useful, so I'm sure he's happy."

"So you were behind it all? You used both me and my father!" She said, half crying.

"'Used' is such an ugly word... It was for the sake of the world, so how could it be wrong?" He answered, way too peppy.

"Your thoughts of what's correct for the world aren't important here." Mitsuru muttered as she clutched her Evoker. "Our role is to correct the mistakes of the past... and we intend to do just that."

"I'm not gonna let you off the hook for all you did." Hamuko joined her.

Ikutsuki heaved a weary sigh. " ...How disappointing. I had hoped you would see the light. But, you are just children, after all. I suppose it can't be helped. Aigis!" He turned around to look at the robot. "The time has come for you to fulfil your role. Capture them, and prepare them to be sacrificed!"

"...Understood. Energy output... at maximum."

"Aigis!" Fuuka yelled, trying to make her friend awake rather futilely.

"Engaging." Aigis answered as she adopted a battle stance.

"Everybody, attack! Aigis can't defeat us all!" Minato shouted as he set out to stop her, shooting the Evoker against his head as he and Hamuko yelled Thanatos's name separately. However, absolutely nothing happened, no Persona appeared, no one else moved a finger, and the incident gave Aigis enough time to bludgeon them with her metallic wrists.

* * *

><p>"Ugh… what…? Whoa, when did the ground get so high?"<p>

Hamuko cringed in fear, only to hear the sound of chains moving. She tried to look back futilely, but at least she got to see that all of her friend had been tied up in a similar fashion… to crosses.

"What the hell?" Junpei yelled suddenly, making everyone wake up.

"Ngh... What is this?" Yukari screamed as well.

"Look! There's that bastard!" Minato crowed futilely trying to move.

"Father!" Mitsuru yelled as well, struggling as much as she could.

"Aigis is…!"

Said robot was holding Takeharu, with her gun-fingers pointed directly at his temple. They seemed to be discussing something.

"…They are to be sacrifices—harbingers of the Fall. The arrangements are complete; the prophecy shall be fulfilled!"

There were several horrified screams.

"Sacrifices? What?"

"You son of a bitch! I'm gonna rip your head off!"

"My my, what a commotion..." Ikutsuki laughed.

"Let my father free!" Mitsuru didn't seem conscious of her situation.

"You traitor! Are you insane?" Takeharu growled.

"Of course not." He snorted. "You know your father was an unlucky man. Even you, his son, after all this time, do not understand his vision."

"My father was wrong. Death as deliverance... That is not an ideology anyone should ever embrace!" Mitsuru's father retorted.

"Fool...! You are but a nuisance now. Aigis! Go on ahead and give this man his honorable 'deliverance'!"

"Aigis! NO! NO!" The red head yelled.

The robot didn't move at all.

"What are you doing, Aigis?" Ikutsuki spluttered. However the robot didn't move.

"Conflictive information… Error…"

"Wait, maybe… the mod!" Fuuka exclaimed. …She'd altered Aigis's software?

This prompted him to produce out of his pocket some kind of remote control which he pressed frantically, literally forcing the robot to move. "Ten years... I've wasted ten long years!" He yelled. "I'm not like your father... I won't make any exceptions!" As Aigis rose her cannons to point at the crucified teenagers, Takeharu freed himself from her grip and moved his hand to the belt under his jacket.

"You—!" Ikutsuki yelled, quickly pulling out a gun.

Two gunshots were quickly heard. Then someone fell to the ground.

"F-father..." Mitsuru muttered with only a thread of voice. "FATHER!"

"Urgh... Dammit..." Ikutsuki clutched his stomach. He'd been shot as well. "Aigis... Execute the sacrifices! Let's end this...!"

The first person Aigis turned to was Minato.

"Wait, Aigis!" He yelled uselessly.

"Finish them, Aigis!" He yelled as he fell to his knees, bleeding heavily.

All of a sudden, a blood-chilling howl echoed inside of Tartarus. Immediately after, a three headed metallic dog manifested itself and shoved Ikutsuki away, to the edge of the top floor of the observatory where they were, making the remote control fly away and end up broken. "Koro-chan!" Someone yelled as he gave them a greeting bark.

The blonde robot shook her head and looked at her hands. "No."

Aigis quickly shot everyone's chains, rendering them free, albeit a bit damaged because of the fall.

"Aigis!" Yukari exclaimed, surprised.

"You damned defective machine!" Ikutsuki yelled, holding his bleeding stomach.

Everyone ran to assist Takeharu, as soon as they had recovered.

"Looks like this is the end, Mr. Chairman." Akihiko spluttered.

"Hahaha... You don't get it, do you? It's useless to search for hope or reasons to live in this pathetic world! A world this depraved must be started over from the beginning! I would have brought peace to the world if it wasn't for you mutinous kids and that dog. But don't worry, in the end, I'll be the ruler of the new world... Hahahaha!"

Ikutsuki stood on his knees, bleeding to death, yet laughing like a maniac as he tried to grab the moon.

Hamuko could only stare at him, balling her fists so strongly that her nails sank into her palms.

"What happened now is your fault." She muttered as he walked towards him, while the others were attending Mitsuru and her father.

"What happened to Shinji is your fault." She repeated as she stood in front of him.

"_Everything is your fault_."

She stared at him, while he only laughed.

"I... I was so close..."

Mitsuru's desperate wails could be hear in the background, distorted by his chuckles.

"DIE, BASTARD!"

Hamuko threw her foot back and then kicked him in the gut, making him lose balance over his knees and begin falling back. However, she didn't see one thing coming. He grabbed her ankle, and so she fell to the ground and then followed him.

"MIKI!" Akihiko screamed, already too late to grab her.

Curious, how it was happening again. Akihiko yelling her name while she was about to die. And it was her own fault once again. Houdini, Shinji called her once. But she was out of tricks, and karma wouldn't save her. She would be smashed against the ground for wanting to do the same to a bastard. An eye for an eye, everyone ends blind, after all. Thanks karma.

One does remember lots of things as they're about to die. Or maybe it's just the delusions of someone who doesn't want to think they're going to die. The car accident… the orphanage… the fire… the wreckage… the car accident… the orphanage… the fire… the car accident… the orphanage, the fire, so many times, the car accident, the orphanage, the fire, the hospital, the wreckage, the Velvet Room. All the people she left, and all those who left her ever since. She had to give a hug to Kurosawa and apologize for forgetting him. She'd tell him in heaven if she got there. Then she'd say hi to Akinari. Then maybe she'd punch Igor's boss. Yeah. That sounded cool.

The last thing she could think of, however, was Minato. Just a thought. About how connected they were.

Maybe that's why she wasn't really surprised when he showed up out of nowhere just to do a Fusion Spell that would send their consciousness to hell before dying.

All while a weird voice said that the other Fools Social Link had reached level 9.

…_Idiot_.

* * *

><p><strong>CLIFFHANGER. <strong>

**And I will use this moment of attention to advise all hormone crazed fanfic writers out there to actually have a sex life before writing smut. It makes things much easier and less stupid. **


	87. A new face

**Author note: chapters will now be always at least a week long! That means we only have 14 chapters left more or less until January 31st. Are you excited? I'm excited. Be prepareeeed!**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading! Now someone go add tropes to the article, please ;w;**

* * *

><p>"So, we meet again."<p>

A little shadowed figure stepped up, uncomfortably close, amidst the emptiness of the world around.

"…I betcha don't remember me anymore, huh?"

A smile.

"I'm you. The one you who's everything you are not. The one you who's been trying to make you remember. Do you remember anything?"

Silence.

"I know this situation doesn't make a whole lot of sense to you. But I just wanted to thank you. What for? You really forgot, huh? That's okay. I'm free now. I'm a someone by myself. Our connection has been severed."

A courteous bow.

"I will be forever grateful for it."

* * *

><p>"Hamuko! Hamuko!"<p>

Bu…what?

Minato was quickly shaking her arm. His temple was bleeding, however, he was completely awake. Had… someone waken him up?

"We have to run and meet the others!" He yelled, helping her up.

"How… did you…?" She managed to slur as she stumbled to her feet.

"I summoned Thanatos to protect us from the fall!" He explained. "Come on, the Dark Hour is almost over! We can't be here when that happens or they might relate us to this!"

"This…?"

A few meters away, laid Ikutsuki's—

"No, don't look. Don't look, please." He grabbed her hand. "Come on now, Junpei's waiting for us at the entrance!"

And thus, they ran away from the scene of two murders.

* * *

><p>The Fools weren't allowed to have a minute of sleep, because of the wounds in their heads from the Fusion Spell. Indeed, two casualties were already way too much for a single night. Nothing could be done to save Takeharu's life, whose premature death was caused by an illness, or that's what the public would hear.<p>

No one made a single comment on Hamuko's deliberate attack; as far as they knew, they said, Ikutsuki fell by himself. Hamuko silently thanked everyone for their help, although she knew that might strain their relationships.

Mitsuru… shut down completely. She didn't go to school, not by her own choice, but because her father's company needed her for the funeral and as the heir she was. Neither did the Fools, for explaining their wounds, which were still glaringly obvious in their temples, would be difficult after such incidents. Aigis was taken away as well, for she needed a revision to make sure everything was fine after being controlled.

There was nothing left of the Chairman in his room. Apparently he took everything away before doing what he did… except, a disk. Fuuka gave it to Yukari, but that's about all the Fools knew about it.

Strega's fate remained unknown and the Kirijo Group no longer had a reason to look after Chidori, much to Junpei's worrying.

And well… the Dark Hour appeared again that night. The Fall, Ikutsuki'd said, was coming. How do you fight against something like that? As Akihiko put it, there were Shadows left, so they'd have to keep training.

Life marched on, it seemed.

* * *

><p>A DVD from the Chairman's room… Yukari couldn't guess what Fuuka's intention was giving her that, nor why she didn't have anything better to do than check the DVD, but alas, she told her she'd watch it.<p>

The first thing in the DVD… was the sound of a lot of people screaming in the distance. Was it some kind of jo—

"_I pray that this recording reaches safe hands..._"

"Wait, this is…!"

"_My employer has become obsessed with a loathsome idea. This experiment should have never even been conceived... That's why I had to interrupt it. However, in doing so, I set free a number of Shadows that are certain to torment future generations. But if I hadn't, the entire world may have paid the price... Please, listen carefully... I cannot stress this enough... You must not hunt the Shadows that have dispersed!"_

The video didn't reach safe hands at all, having ended instead under the power of a despicable man. Who was the recording for? Who could have had the power to fight Shadows?

"_I wasn't able to stop this madness... He won't listen, no matter what I say... He's under the devil's spell... Now, the Shadows are trying to eat one another... But if they're reunited, then we are all doomed! I'll say this once more... Leave the Shadows be!_"

What Yukari was watching was the original video. There was no alterations in it, nothing but her father trying to save everyone. The words of a man who even she mistook for a villain.

"_There's not much hope for me now. I have just one favour to ask... Whoever finds this... please... give my daughter Yukari this message..._"

The girl gasped upon hearing her name. And as if she was in a conversation with the past, the man in the recording continued talking after a brief pause.

"_I know I promised I'd be home soon... and I'm sorry to break that promise... but, I want you to know... Daddy was the happiest man on earth when he was with you_."

"...Dad..." Yukari mouthed, voicelessly.

"_...I love you, Yukari. Please take care of yourself.._."

There were no words about anyone else in the world, not even to her mother. The man in the video spoke only to her.

Something exploded in the background, and after the image was filled with light and a crack appeared on the camera recording the event, the video stopped.

"Dad?" She asked herself, once again, unable to believe what happened. Then she finally gained some conscience of it, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Daddy!" She screamed, beginning to sob uncontrollably.

Minutes passed before she was able to look up again, with sore eyes and a new determination inside herself.

"I was right to believe in him."

Tears stopped rolling down her cheeks, and she focused her eyes on the ceiling, wanting her words to reach farther.

"Are you listening, Dad? ...I'm doing okay. It took awhile, but I finally got your message. I thought that cleaning up your mistakes could be my reason to fight but, you made none. You were a hero. You spoke to me instead of escaping."

She dried the remaining tears and smiled to herself.

"I'll fight for you, and for what I believe in. That's what you would have wanted... right, Dad?"

She felt a new resolution in her heart. Could this be that… change of Personae? Or maybe that was just what being finally in peace with oneself felt like. Regardless… Yukari wouldn't back down again. Ever.

* * *

><p>"Welcome, to the—"<p>

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Minato quickly cut him. "What is it this time, I want to go back to what I was doing."

"What he said. We need to go to school and all..." Hamuko sighed.

Igor didn't answer anything. He just linked his hands under his nose and waited.

"WHA HOLY SHIT." They both jumped away from each other.

"W-what are you doing here? This is m-my Velvet Room!" The bluenet stuttered.

"It is in fact mine." Igor corrected. "I see that I will not need to point out the change that has taken place."

"Yeah…" Hamuko agreed. "Dude, is the crisis affecting supernatural beings too? You had to sell the mirror thing?"

"I…" The old man lowered his eyebrows. "I meant within yourselves."

"Am I pregnant or something?" She gasped.

A few steps away from Igor, Minato could clearly see Theo fall with his face first. Then he suddenly got up and ran towards her.

"Do not be ridiculous, Hamuko-sama!" He laughed, flustered. "D-Do you even know how that wo—"

"Do YOU?" Elizabeth pried.

"S-SISTER!" Theo stomped in front of her sister. "I uh… O-OF COURSE I DO. I am a man of the world! I know everything! You TWO on the other hand…!" He pointed at them. "Yes, you! What kind of education are you receiving? I MUST check the quality of your mentors myself! I demand a date! We will visit your school tomorrow and…"

"I brought both of you here only to remind you that you must abide by the contract, and that you're the only ones responsible for your actions." Igor clarified.

"…So she really is pregnant?" Minato yelled.

Igor's sigh could be heard throughout the room as he muttered that they needed some rest to remain sane.

* * *

><p>Hamuko and Minato opened their eyes and stared at each other through the darkness of the room.<p>

"What did just happen?" She asked.

"I don't want to know."

* * *

><p>That same day, once the lessons were over, Junpei headed to the hospital to visit Chidori. It had been a week or so since the last time, so he told Hamuko that he'd go alone.<p>

"Yo, Chidori." He greeted her, making her jump a bit. Was she scared about something? "Sorry 'bout not being able to come lately... A lot's been goin' on."

She didn't answer. She only looked down at the flowers she had revived once, which still occupied her vase.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked. Then, something clicked in his mind. "...So, you heard about Takaya and Jin, huh? I was planning on telling you... They were your friends, after all."

The Gothic lolita shook her head.

"...What, that's not it?"

"I'm scared. ...It hurts." So she really was… "Junpei... What will you be doing in two years...?"

Huh? That came outta nowhere. "Two years? I dunno. I really haven't thought about it..." Wait, maybe… "Why do you ask?" Again, no answer.

His eyes scanned her, trying to notice anything which could have brought about such a change of heart. Chidori wasn't the happiest girl on earth… but she wasn't like that either.

"Hey, um... I noticed you stopped... y'know, hurting yourself."

She hadn't tried to slit her wrists in months. He didn't dare bring it up, lest she'd do it again.

"Oh... I guess..." She muttered.

"That's good." He said in a low voice as well, as his hands approached hers. "I mean, you have such beautiful hands..."

Junpei had been making all the things he said to the others up. His relationship with Chidori… wasn't romantic at all. That was just wistful thinking. They only talked about things… or he watched her draw things… or…

"Don't touch me!" She screamed.

Of course. That hadn't changed. It probably would never change.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"This is too painful..." She said. "It used to be fun when you came to visit... But... it's different now."

Junpei looked at her in the eye, startled. "Huh?"

"It hurts inside... I can't breathe... I... I can't take this anymore!"

"Wh-whaddya mean? I don't understand!" Maybe she was ill or something? "Did I do something wrong? Tell me what it is!"

"Junpei..." She hesitated. "Don't come here anymore!"

"But... Chidori..."

Making her sad was the last thing he wanted, and so he didn't put up any more opposition. He walked away silently, ready to leave her life.

* * *

><p>On Thursday, Theo insisted on having a walk with them around Gekkoukan after hours. Elisabeth joined because she found it amusing.<p>

"So... this is Gekkoukan High School." He said proudly once he set foot in the garden. "It's difficult to wrap one's mind around such a beautiful place transforming into Tartarus..."

"It is quite warm and luminous indeed." She looked around and found that some students were staring at the group. "With such perfect lighting, it seems the students are able to tell apart that our clothes are not like theirs."

"Oh sister, you are so naïve." Theo smirked. "They're able to recognize Hamuko-sama's power, and thus can't keep her eyes away from her!"

"Please Theo." She chucked. "We're the ones being conspicuous here." She hid behind Minato.

"I refuse to accept it!" He put himself in front of Hamuko. "See? Our observers are leaving!"

They left because they were freaked out…

"You two are true masters of stealth." Minato muttered under his breath. "L-let's go."

And so they advanced into school… and stopped in front of the vendor, who looked at them with a weird expression, but said nothing at all.

"To find a bastion of commerce inside a house of learning…!" Elizabeth said, alarmed.

"Capitalism, ho!" Hamuko answered.

"Sister, we'll be finally able to taste it! The famed 'School Lunch'!"

"Yes! Procure us some 'School Lunch'!"

"Oh... yes?" The vendor asked, amused.

It took Minato a while to explain that they were trying to buy an abstract concept, and then Hamuko prompted them to buy her crab bread.

"This time I won't throw it to anyone, I promise." She said.

"...Well, as my sister often says, having bread can be a pleasure in itself." Theo explained. He then bought some bread for everyone. "Now, let us have a tour around school."

"No, let us visit your homeroom, the location where you spend most time!" Elizabeth demanded.

* * *

><p>After much discussion about whether it was necessary, the Fools led them to 2-F.<p>

"A classroom…" Liz looked around, marvelled. "It even smells like you!"

"What?" Minato spluttered.

"It's petite." She complained. "Was it designed this way to create a sense of unity among the students?"

"Huh?" Theo looked at the seats, surprised. He then sat down on an empty desk, while the students in the room stared at them. "Ah, I do feel closer to everyone in the room."

"I don't even…" Hamuko covered her face.

"Now show me the history of your world, teacher."

"Who me?" The girl questioned, surprised.

"I have sufficient preparation to be a teacher!" The female assistant claimed as she ran to the podium. "You will be my students."

"Student suicide rate was suddenly multiplied per two." Minato said to himself, wanting to hide from everyone's views. As if they weren't infamous enough.

"First question!" She yelled to the class, attracting the attention of the few students left. "Which of the following received a punch in the face in the last century: Nyarlathotep, Philemon, or Igor?"

Like if they knew any of them.

At least Elizabeth was laughing merrily at her explanations. Until she noticed all the eyes on her and determined it'd be better to move on.

* * *

><p>First they went to the art room, where they observed a bust of a Roman soldier.<p>

"A human figure cast in plaster..." Theo said, shaking his head. "What is this ersatz human used for? A living human would seem much more beautiful to me." He glanced at Hamuko discreetly. "Though if the object is to always keep one close at hand... That may be somewhat understandable."

"There are a whole different kind of ersatz humans for that." Hamuko remarked.

"Your… androids? Humans made of iron?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah. _Androids_."

* * *

><p>In the music room.<p>

"Ah... A piano..." The male assistant exclaimed.

"I'll play something for you." Minato said with a confident smile.

"Allow me to assist." Elizabeth offered.

At the end of Kimi no Kioku, everyone applauded, Hamuko was next to crying, and Keisuke was reminding Minato once and again that 'it'd be good if he visited some time' and that he 'should invite his friend to join'.

* * *

><p>Finally, they went to the sports field.<p>

"So people run around this circle in order to get nowhere?" He asked again.

"Deep, isn't it?" Minato sighed.

Elizabeth of course didn't have anything better to do than have a race with Hamuko.

"So," Minato asked as they got to the entrance, "how is our 'education'?"

"Education?" Theo blinked. "O-oh yes, indeed it is great. You have a marvelous school, which has taught us a lot as well. Thank you very much for guiding me around the school."

"We'd be happy to accompany you again any time." Liz said.

The assistants shared sad looks then.

"Again?" Theo asked, bothered.

"I don't understand my motives in wanting to come back here, either." The female assistant whispered.

"Perhaps it is only our… desire to know more about them."

"It may be so." She smiled and then turned to The Fools. "Thank you very much. You must be exhausted; we will go back to the Velvet Room. Pass by soon so that we can give you some compensation for your time."

"Let us go. Please, may I take your hand?"

"I, um…" Hamuko grinned. "I already have another hand to take."

Theo only bowed and then walked ahead of them with his sister, while Hamuko and Minato walked hand by hand.

* * *

><p>On Friday Akihiko and Hamuko's eyes met by chance as they both were leaving their club activities. They both tried to keep their eyes anywhere else as they walked past each other, but…<p>

"I…!" They both yelled. Then they looked away again. Hamuko just sighed and decided that she'd be better off leaving.

"…Wanna have a walk?"

She looked at him with eyes wide as saucers, and then quickly nodded.

* * *

><p>As it was usual for her, they decided to stop on the little park at Naganaki Shrine. She didn't climb the jungle gym this time, opting instead for a more comfortable bench. He decided to stay on his feet.<p>

"I remember the last time I was here with Shinji." Hamuko muttered to herself, earning Akihiko's attention. "He gave me this."

Hamuko took out her school jacket and rose her sleeve, shivering a bit because of the cold autumn breeze. She was still wearing his leather watch.

"He knew what was waiting for him." Akihiko concluded. "I already knew that."

"…He asked me to care for you, yanno?"

"Did he? Damn Shinji, always treating me like a kid." He chuckled. "Even that day in school. You were the one who convinced him to go, weren't you?"

Hamuko made a pause of a few seconds, then she shuffled in her seat and resumed the talk. "He said that you'd get over it."

"…Over what?"

The female leader placed her hand near her heart… right where she was shot. Akihiko's eyebrow twitched visibly.

"He said that one day you'd forget, and we would tell you the good news. And then we could be happy, sappy, and he'd give you a hug even. Well, he didn't say that exactly. He didn't include himself in that plan, but I did." She smiled sadly. "I… I could tell you how I know who I am. Even though it hurts, I know who I am now, and it was all thanks to him. It's a long story, but…"

"Hamuko."

When Shinji said her name, it made her happy. When Akihiko said it, it hurt like a knife.

"These things you're saying are too much to take at once. I need some time to think 'bout everything. But, I'll hear you out, okay? Some… other day."

"I understand." Hamuko smiled. "There's no rush at all. In any case, I want to apologize. Whether you accept me or not… I never treated you well. You're a great person and fighter as well, and I'm su—"

He suddenly embraced her, effectively shutting her up. "I'm sorry for not having been there for you all these years." With that, he left as mysteriously as ever.

However, Hamuko was smiling to herself. Star Social Link level 9, huh? Sometimes that stupid ranking was useful to understand others' feelings, after all.

* * *

><p>That same Friday Junpei heard about how Minato 'maxed out' Nozomi. But no one cares about Nozomi and much less Minato, so the narrator refused to go in-depth about this traumatizing event. He's probably happier now and less fat. Maybe.<p>

* * *

><p>"<em>Only Chihiro and Keisuke left, but I have no intention of getting close to the former<em>." He thought as he laid on the sofa. "_And then, what? Will I get more Social Links? Will I have to steal from Hamuko? Senpai and Aigis both have this weird aura…_" He sighed. "_Then of course, there's Hamu. We're one level away from the max, but… I can't think of any way I can be closer to her. And we haven't even had a fight in months. Huh_…"

He grabbed his phone and began dialing a number.

"_What is it now, young boy_?"

"I'm bored. Pay me a visit."

"_No, I will not __**pay**__ you a visit. I know what you mean_."

"But you have billions of yens!"

"_So do you_."

"But I use them for important things."

"_I know you bought a bow which shoots plungers_."

"That was months ago!"

"_You are a stupid young boy_."

"You are a boring old man."

Minato stared at his phone and smiled.

"I'll go visit some time."

"_Naoto would appreciate that_."

"Tell her I love her, okay?"

"_I will tell her that her greedy brother has affection for her_."

"Good, that's good." He chuckled.

"_By the way, if you do indeed come back, bring that girl. I have wanted to meet her in person for a long, long time_."

"Hamu? Why—he hung up. Maybe he knows she's his fan?"

As he was about to put the mobile phone in his pocket, 'Want to be close' began blaring out of it. It was Elisabeth, informing him of a change in Tartarus. They'd check it out another day, when Mitsuru was finally back. She was the most important member of the group, after all.

* * *

><p>Saturday went by without a hitch, and on Sunday the Fools rushed over to the Shrine, where Akinari was happily humming a song.<p>

"We did great on Tuesday! You should have seen us fighting for everyone!" Hamuko jumped up and down as she met him. Poor Akinari probably thought she was crazy. "So you MUST have something for us, right?"

"Indeed, but…" His white smile fit his worrying pale and bony face. "You'll have to wait just a bit more. The story's almost finished. Just a little more, I promise."

"…You really haven't gone back to the hospital?" Minato asked bitterly. Akinari, on the other hand, only answered with a smile.

"The end comes for everyone, earlier for some than others." He looked down. "I am too weak to undergo surgery, and if I have to choose, I prefer to spend my last days writing something other people will enjoy."

Minato nodded silently, while Hamuko just observed him with a weary expression.

"I want to remember how you look like, my friends."

Hamuko didn't break into tears until Minato wrapped her in his arms. Minato could bear it until he hid in his room. Sundays were always the saddest day, but they looked forward to every Sunday, just to have one more chance to spend time with him. And if Hamuko's fears were correct… they only had a level left. She was at a loss about what to do the following week.

* * *

><p>Monday… Monday… uh?<p>

Apparently some new guy had arrived to school. Quite a stud, if rumors were true. Who the hell moves in during November, anyway? Oh and… Chihiro had come back as well.

"It's really getting cold, isn't it?" Hamuko muttered as her breath turned into steam under her scarf while they headed to school.

"Is it new?" Minato asked, adjusting the red scarf she gave him. "The scarf I mean."

"Huh? Ah, no. I made it myself. With Bebe." She smiled, taking out the yellow and black piece of cloth so Minato could examine it. "I think I didn't choose the right fabric, this thing is cold as hell."

"Then it must be very warm, right?"

She chuckled at the pun and shook her head. Then she wrapped the ridiculously broad scarf around her neck again and hid her face in it. "I miss him."

"Bebe?"

"Yeah… Bebe…"

* * *

><p>"…Please introduce yourself."<p>

"My name is Ryoji Mochizuki."

A pale boy with black hair and spell-binding blue eyes, clad in a white shirt and uniform trousers which were held by straps with butterfly-shaped clasps, stepped into the class after Miss Toriumi announced him. He was wearing a beautiful yellow scarf with black lines which looked rather similar to Hamuko's… except without looking like it'd been knitted by a blind monkey.

"Gimme your hearts."

_**Okay. **_

"Hamuko-san?" Aigis poked her cheek once and again. "You are having some drool escape. I suggest visiting a dentist to fix it. Minato-san?" He turned to the boy. "…Blood loss through the nasal cavities? …Gasp! They have been charmed!"

Miss Toriumi gave him a uh… w-weird look and then harrumphed. "Ryoji lived overseas for a long time because of his parents' work, so he may not be used to all of our customs. Be sure to explain them to him."

"I'd be grateful." He beamed at her.

"Now then, you need a seat. Let's see... That one's open. The one next to the girl with the red eyes."

"Miss Toriumi? That's Kenji's seat." Junpei interrupted.

"You must be present to be a member of this class, so as far as I'm concerned, that seat is available. Life is nothing but a game of musical chairs. The rest of you should be careful, too." She looked at Minato. She was totally looking at Minato. "Otherwise your chairs might get stolen."

"Oh shit he's coming this way!"

The Fools both dived towards their own schoolbags and emerged looking perfect thanks to the power of Kleenex. Upon realizing what he was doing Minato smashed the desk with his face.

"Ninja." Aigis glared at Ryoji.

"Is that your name?" He laughed as he took a seat. "Ninja-chan?"

"S-she's learning Japanese with anime!" Hamuko quickly explained. "I'm Aigis, she's Muko… I-I mean I'm Aigis she's Hamu. I MEAN…!" She began blabbering.

"Nice to meet you… Ham? Is that it?"

"She's quite hammy, but her name's Hamuko." Minato interrupted her. "A-and I'm Minato. The blond girl's Aigis."

"Aigis, huh?" Ryoji grinned. "That's a beautiful name. So, you were the new kids before me, right? Would you give me a tour and—"

"You are dangerous!" Aigis growled.

"Dangerous? C'mon, I haven't even asked you on a date yet!"

Hamuko suddenly reached out and grabbed his scarf.

"H-Hamu!" Minato exclaimed.

"I don't care how awesome that scarf is or how hot he is." She pulled the cloth harder as he was about to thank her. "My Aigis is off limits. Lay a finger on her and I'll CURB-STOMP you and—"

A piece of chalk smashed against Hamuko's temple with a worrying speed, making her throw her head back and release the transfer student. Everyone's attention turned to the teacher, who in turn ruffled her locks.

"Seikatsu-san, another incident like this, and you won't be going to the school trip next week."

The brunette rose her thumb and then inched away from Ryoji slowly.

The lessons went by slowly. No one missed Minato and Aigis's continuous staring at the boy. Specially the former's.

* * *

><p>At lunchtime the Fools rushed to the rooftop, alongside Aigis. The three of them were in a complete silence, albeit for very different reasons.<p>

"You totally like him."

Minato looked up, with a hilarious face. "Pardon me?"

"You like that Ryoji guy, don't you?" Hamuko smirked.

"NO! You on the other hand, you were drooling for him!"

His accusation only made Hamuko shrug. "I'd fuck everyone. Your argument is invalid."

"Y-you are invalid!" He yelled, flustered.

"She is not." Aigis intervened. "Both of you—"

"No word about body reactions." Minato ordered.

"Wittwe Minato can't accept he wikes guys." She snickered.

"I'm not wi—little! And I don't like guys!" He kept yelling.

"Aw c'mon, I've seen you looking at my brother. There's an awful lot of unresolved sexual tension in there."

"W-WHAT THE HELL, HAMUKO?"

"I can tell lies apart." Aigis dropped, petrifying Minato on the act. "…Just kidding."

"Y-you two. Are crazy. And this conversation is. Over." He got up and began stomping towards the doors.

"O. KAY." Hamuko yelled back, before bursting out into a laughing fit. "Gee, and then they say I'm sensitive. Oh well. Aigis, have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Unrequited."

Hamuko was found unconscious a few minutes later by Fuuka. Aigis proceeded to praise the great attack power of one liners.

* * *

><p>After school, the Fools were talking in class, going on about what they should do once Social Links are over. All of a sudden, Junpei and Ryoji walked into the scene.<p>

"Hey." Ryoji greeted them, with his ever charming smile. "I know we haven't had the best of the starts, but… I'm new here, and I'd love to get to know you better."

"We all have been the new kids at some point, right?" Junpei offered.

"Alright." Hamuko sighed. "I'm Hamuko Seikatsu. That scarf is awesome and I have one just like that in my schoolbag."

"Cool. I'm Ryoji Mochizuki." He offered her his hand and she… hit it with her fist. He stared at it long ago for Minato to speak.

"I'm Minato Arisato. We both moved here at the beginning of the course." He explained.

"Don't get too close to him." Junpei laughed nervously.

"Aw, Jun-pie don't say such dumb things." Hamuko wrapped an arm around his neck. "Minato REALLY likes him!"

Minato froze again, alongside with Junpei who saw a death sentence on him. Ryoji on the other hand just began laughing.

"I really like him too! He seems a funny guy." Ryoji said, patting his back lightly.

"Hilarious." He answered dryly.

"Minato-san!" Chihiro suddenly walked into the class. "I'm finally back!"

She kind of fainted upon seeing the two blue eyed guys so close together. Or maybe that was just Ryoji's charm.

"Anyway." Ryoji smiled. "I feel we'll get along very well."

He decided to directly hold her hand and kiss it this time, making her get unfocused for a second. This of course didn't escape Minato's attention, but he just narrowed his eyes and remained silent. Fortune Social Link formed.

"Oh, wow." The new student shook his head. "Déjà-vu! Could it be we… had already kissed each other some other time?"

"I've kissed too many people. I don't discard it."

"Well." He laughed again. "I'm looking forward to chatting with you two more."

"You are a threat!" Aigis yelled as she peeked into the class. "Ryoji-san, please stay away from The Ninjas!"

"Got it!" He walked towards Aigis instead, making her startle and run away.

"HEY YOU!" Hamuko screamed as he disappeared. "…Hnnnnng."

"SO…"

Hamuko and Junpei followed Ryoji suit as they heard Minato cracking his knuckles.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, be prepared! Be prepared! For what?<strong>

**For the death of the drama!**

**GOOD IDEA! Who needs drama? NO DRAMA, NO DRAMA, TRALALALALALA!**


	88. The so called filler

**Author note: Hey yes, filler chapter. Enjoy.**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and for the battle scene, and to gadeel for increasing the TVTropes article!**

* * *

><p>Junpei the Awesome ran through the streets of Iwatodai, carrying a bunch of roses as red as the hair of the girl he loved. Needless to say, more than one or two roses fell in the way, but that was okay. Junpei the Awesome was too awesome to give up just like that! He would find out what was up with Chidori. He'd make her love him!<p>

Upon arriving to the door, he adjusted his cap, straightened out the wrinkles of his school uniform, and hid the bunch behind his back. He also checked he didn't have bad breath. Just in case.

"Heeeey Chidorita!" Junpei exclaimed stepping into the room.

"What the… for the last time, I am not a Pokémon!" She growled. "And… didn't I… didn't I tell you not to come back?"

"Well, y'know, I'm kinda a stubborn guy." He grinned as he suddenly showed her the flowers. "I ain't gonna leave you till you tell me what's up."

"Idiot!" She spluttered. "I told you to leave! Go now or I'll yell that you're harassing me!"

"W-wha—?"

"HE—"

"I'll be back!" Junpei yelled as he got up and ran away, leaving the roses by her side.

* * *

><p>The day Mitsuru finally walked through the door of the dorm, Tuesday, everyone was at a loss. What would they do and say? They'd better walk on eggshells around her, and subtly tell her that they need to go to...<p>

"I am ready to go to Tartarus when you are." She said to the crowd gathered in the lounge, giving them a determined look. "Let us end whatever menace might still be hiding there."

With that, she headed upstairs, to her room. The Fools followed her, in hopes of having a serious conversation.

"But, Senpai," Hamuko began, hesitatingly, "you really wanna go... there?"

"It's our duty to fight Shadows... regardless of my feelings."

"You're right." Minato admitted. "It is indeed SEES's duty to fight Shadows. However," he smiled at her, "it is our duty as leaders to make sure all of our members can give their best. We have absolutely no qualms about waiting for you to feel better."

"But... I..." She seemed to choke up. "I never... did such a thing. I used SEES as my soldiers and subordinates, especially you. You have the right to submit me to the same treatment."

"Hey. I know how losing people goes." Hamuko glanced away. "It's never easy, and you can't force yourself to fight in such a state. And... yanno. I don't hold no grudge against you, and I bet Minato doesn't either. After all, you only wanted to find the fastest way to defeat Shadows to make _him_ proud, right?"

"I did indeed only wish to make my father return to his old self. Now…"

A spectral silence ensued.

"I will fight to keep his legacy. I insist we go to Tartarus as soon as possible."

The Fools didn't dare reply, for they knew Mitsuru wouldn't change her mind.

* * *

><p>For once, the fighting was less than feverish. It was almost methodical. The Guardians, three swords held by arms rooted to the ground, were immobile, preferring to keep SEES at bay with painfully strong Zio skills. It would have required frenetic dodging to stay standing normally, but...<p>

"Why's she healing us so much?" Hamuko muttered to Minato.

Mitsuru, normally calmly delivering powerful magic like an angel of death, had relegated herself to meekly mending any wounds that appeared on the active combatants. She watched over them like a hawk, hurriedly summoning Penthesilea if anyone sustained an injury. The loss of her attacks brought the battle to a dull standstill, neither side inflicting any lasting damage on the other.

_"The enemy is only vulnerable to ice and wind!"_ Fuuka said.

"We could really use Mitsuru-senpai's assistance," Minato said in an aside.

"Yeah, hell with this," Hamuko replied. "Senpai!"

Mitsuru turned at her sharp tone.

"Will you please help hit these damn things?"

"I'm..." Mitsuru began haltingly, hesitantly. "I am ensuring none of us are hurt. It would be... detrimental if-"

"Enough, Mitsuru," Akihiko interrupted. She looked at him in surprise. "I know you're afraid, but acting like we're gonna disappear if you look away for a second isn't helping anything."

"I'm simply trying to-"

"We've fought these before. None of us have ever died fighting Shadows. We can handle ourselves, but we need your help to bring them down."

She looked down, grasping her arm. Hamuko turned around in the middle of an attack.

"We got a mission to do, Senpai."

"And mothering us isn't an effective way at completing it," Minato finished. "Would he want you to be so cautious?"

She turned away, bringing an arm up to her eyes.

"You... are right," the redhead said, her voice sounding a bit choked. "Of course. I apologize for insulting your abilities."

She turned around, her eyes looking a little stronger, and her voice equally so.

"Penthesilea!"

* * *

><p>The previous night in Tartarus was tiresome, as they hadn't trained in quite a while. However, they couldn't allow themselves to feel down; everyone was talking about the increase of people suffering from Apathy Syndrome. Did that mean that a new monster would appear with the new moon? That the cause was unrelated? Maybe it was something more like… internet! Oh! Or that new stupidly popular saga which was a copy of the stupidly popular Witch Detective saga! Less witches, more sex.<p>

Or maybe it was just Ryoji. He had everyone drooling for him. Mostly everyone. It was the scarf.

You'd be surprised at how close he became to the Fools in the span of only one week. Since they began encountering him in the monorail, which somehow prompted a Fortune level 2, they often ate lunch together, at the risk of being beaten up to death by Hamuko because of his flirting with Aigis, and hanged out with Junpei and the gang. Yukari was not amused at his behavior at first, but, hey. That guy was a lovely bastard. Ask Hamuko about it, however, and she'd yell that no guy who attempted to corrupt the pureness of her dear Aigis could be trusted. That woman had some issues.

* * *

><p>"Ryoji-kun, Ryoji-kun!" The fangirls screamed his name especially loud that Friday as he walked out of school. "You wanna hang out with us?"<p>

"Sorry, girls! I'm busy now, for I already chose a princess for the day! And even if there is no tomorrow, worry not! I WILL make sure to be in your dreams tonight." He smiled and winked, and they fled squealing.

Once the ado was over, the Fools walked towards him. Could have done it sooner, but rabid fangirls are a dangerous enemy neither of them wanted to approach.

"You'll be in their dreams? Did you come out of a shoujo or something?" Hamuko spluttered, raising an eyebrow.

"A harem." He corrected her. "I am surrounded by cute girls, all of whom want my eternal love! And I will see them try their best for my affection, yet my eyes are locked on another girl."

"No, really. You're quite the ham." Minato commented.

Ignoring all this, the new guy continued his speech. "And since it'd be unfair to count a princess amongst the plebe…" Ryoji bowed down and grabbed Hamuko's hand. "Won't you let me join your list of lovers?"

The female Fool reddened a bit, so the bluenet quickly intervened and pried Ryoji's hand away from Hamuko's. Out of jealousy. Sure. For Hamuko. Of course.

"Oh, Minato-kun." He blinked, looking at his hand. "You flatter me, but—"

"MINATO-saaaa_aannn_…?" Chihiro's yell turned into nothing but a whisper.

"Hello there!" Ryoji greeted her, rising the hand which Minato was holding in the air while the other did his best to pry it away from his clasp. "What's a cute girl like you doing all alone?"

He walked towards her, dragging Minato along, while Hamuko stepped away slowly, towards a waist-high cover. A bush, for those less affected by the Tetris effect.

"I-i—i-i-i-iii…?" Chihiro stammered, frozen on the spot.

"What's wrong?" Ryoji asked cheerfully. "Oh, we haven't introduced each other, right? My name's Ryoji, and this here," he pulled Minato closer to himself and wrapped an arm around his neck, making him struggle to run away, quite ineffectively, "this is Minato-chan!"

Chihiro went pale. Minato went scarlet. Hamuko began cackling out.

The girl with glasses ran away, dejected by what she probably thought was Minato betraying her. Or to hide a nosebleed or something, ask a fujoshi, not Minato. In any case, once she was out of sight, Ryoji joined Hamuko's laughter as he dropped the Fool, who fell to the ground.

"Y-you did that on purpose, right?" Minato chuckled, flustered.

"Ahaha, yes. Junpei-kun told me that you had problems with a girl who was always calling your name everywhere. So, don't worry! I will make her fall in love with me!"

"That plan is so stupid that it's bound to work." He agreed.

"Alright, alright. That was awesome. You saved us from Chihiro. You're quite a bro." Hamuko pandered aloud. "Keep away from Aigis and this will be the beginning of a great friendship."

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? I mean, she's the cutest thing in the world, alright, but you surely…"

Hamuko stopped talking when Minato tapped her shoulder. Ryoji looked really down all of a sudden.

"Would you believe me if I said I feel I… know her?"

The Fools exchanged worried looks.

"Well, that is unlikely but, sure! It's a small world, after all." Minato agreed.

"All the Americans look the same, right? You must be confusing her with someone else." Hamuko suggested, earning a tired glare from Minato.

"Yeah, maybe." Ryoji sighed. "And… what about knowing you?"

"That's the oldest pick up line in the book. For her." He remarked.

"No shitting." She agreed.

"I-I'm telling you it's not like that!" The new guy insisted. "…Unless you want to…"

The Fools shook their heads disapprovingly at him, while the Fortune Social Link reached level 3 for Hamuko.

"Well, we should get leaving." Minato started. "She will probably come back."

"Does this happen often?" Ryoji asked.

"It's a running gag, so you'll have to run with us if you wanna be our friend."

And thus they ran away from Gekkoukan to never come back. Never as in, 'till the next day'.

* * *

><p>"Hey, you."<p>

Junpei looked around. He then looked behind him. Then he looked at Akihiko. "Yeah?"

"You have a girlfriend, yeah?"

"Yeah." Junpei said, not completely convinced.

"Good. That's good."

Silence.

"Um, Senpai…?" He asked again, wondering if the boxer had received too many punches that Friday.

"Oh, right, uh… I-I'm just giving you some talk, you looked lonely" He rubbed the back of his head. "Girls are nice and easy to deal with right?"

"Err, nope. They're nuts, Senpai." Junpei rubbed his goatee mysteriously. "Girls get mad for no reason every month, they begin yelling out of the blue when you compliment them, and they will kick your head if they're named Yukari. They're a violent species, Senpai, who change their mind continuously and say 'no' when it's 'yes' and 'no' when it's 'no', so it's impossible to decipher them." Junpei nodded to himself. "Buh, but you're really popular, Senpai. You've got no trouble with'em, right?"

"I just wanna learn how to talk to _one_. Not Yukari. But just as loud." Akihiko answered, bluffing. "You spend a lot of time with her."

"Fuuka! I see!" Junpei smiled to himself when Akihiko just opened his mouth and shook his head, unable to deny that lie. He knew something the boxer didn't know he knew. And that was good. He'd give his partner a hand. "Talking to one, huh? Well, that's easy… all ya need is help from a master of love."

"…"

"…"

"…You mean…?"

"…Me."

"Thought you meant Minato."

"That'd been a good second option."

"I don't wanna talk to Minato."

"I hear you, bro."

* * *

><p>The last days at the dorm had been weird. On one hand, there was the everlasting –sometimes annoying- glee of Junpei and the troop. On the other, you had Mitsuru staying in her room the whole day, Akihiko always leaving without the others, and Shinjiro in a coma. Yukari wasn't sure about in which group she should place herself.<p>

She'd never had a good relationship with her red haired Senpai. Mitsuru was always so haughty and distant from the group, that it was impossible to approach her… not like she would have, anyway, since she was too hung up on her dad's death. Now, however, she knew the truth about her dad… and Mitsuru's father followed his steps. They both sacrificed their lives for the sake of those they loved.

Yukari wanted to tell her that she understood, that her offer to be there whenever she wanted to talk still stood, but Mitsuru insisted on isolating herself. That was okay, though; she wasn't going to give up just like that.

"Hey."

A voice called out to her. Oh, dang, she'd zoned out and everyone was already leaving! Well it wasn't her fault. Edogawa's lessons are terrible. Wait who was—

"Hey Yukari-chan." Minato insisted. "If you aren't busy, can you give me a hand looking for Mitsuru-senpai? We've got things to discuss about the school trip, but she's nowhere to be found and we can't start the meeting without her."

"She's disappeared?" She yelled.

"I doubt such a thing happened. She's probably avoiding us." The boy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't blame her, but Odagiri needs to supervise the members of the council and I need to stop Hamuko from bringing Koro-chan into the school building, so if you—"

Yukari left before he could even finish the phrase.

She didn't need to much time to find her. After all, Yukari only had to think about where she liked to go when she needed to be alone… and there was no better place than the rooftop. Everyone loved that place, no exception.

* * *

><p>"There you are... I've been looking for you." Yukari greeted her with her best smile.<p>

"...Oh, hello, Takeba." Mitsuru answered, sounding rather disappointed.

Yukari knitted her eyebrows together, yet insisted as the other girl turned around. "Say, didn't you have a meeting today?"

"Did Odagiri ask you to find me?"

"Actually, Minato-kun did."

"That's new." She admitted, surprised. Was Hidetoshi that bothersome when he wanted something? "I suppose the members must be rather nervous…"

"Yeah, he said they were really busy. It's only natural, right? After all, senior and juniors are going together this year. The more, the merrier, right?"

"Indeed." She looked away. "Though I don't see what 'merriness' there'll be left if I have to accompany you all."

"You're not thinking of skipping the trip, are you?"

Mitsuru said no word. She just looked away.

"You can't do that!"

She let out a questioning, yet sad "Hm?"

"W-well, you're the president, and they're busy, and… and I've been meaning to talk to ya."

"Is that so...?"

"I know we've had kind of a rocky relationship, but, I also know what it's like to lose a father."

"Takeba..." She whispered to herself.

"I want to become closer to you. You shouldn't act detached just because you are our leader and—"

The door of the rooftop suddenly opened. Before she even could see his face, Ryoji's hair antenna alerted Yukari.

"Ah, there you are, Mitsuru-san!" Ryoji exclaimed as he rushed towards the girls.

Yukari couldn't keep herself from sighing and hiding her face in her hands.

"Oh, you're here too, Yukari-chan~" He cooed. "Were you looking for her too? Perhaps for me?"

"Keep dreaming." Yukari laughed.

"Ah, well." He slicked back his hair. "Minato-kun said that they really need you, Mitsuru-san. Otherwise, the class trip might get… **cancelled.**"

Why… was this guy always so dramatic?

"But, there's nothing to worry about. I'm the lucky one who found you, Mitsuru Kirijo..." He kneeled on the ground and reached out for her hand. "...You're quite stunning, if I may say so. Would you like to go out sometime? I know this one restaurant: it's on the top floor of a 3-star hotel..." He smirked. "The view at night is almost as breathtaking as you."

Mitsuru and Yukari exchanged looks. The red head seemed rather bemused. "...Huh?"

"You better get back to the meeting!" Yukari reminded her.

"I-I suppose so." She shook her head. "Takeba... Thank you for your concern. ...For now, I will attend to my duties." And with that, she left, ignoring Ryoji and leaving Yukari somewhat unsatisfied with that answer. 'For now', huh.

"Hey, Yukari-_chan_..." What's up with being so familiar all of a sudden? "How 'bout you? Would you like to join me for dinner?" He grabbed his suspenders casually and smiled. "I know this place on Shirakawa Boulevard..."

Oh no.

Not Shirakawa. No no no she didn't need to remember Akihiko's abs and how low the towel was and how they walked towards each other andddd—aaargh not now!

Yukari stomped Ryoji's foot with all the strength coming from her embarrassment, and then stormed off while he whimpered.

* * *

><p>Sunday was… something. Minato rushed to the shrine as usual, looking forward to meeting Akinari, whereas Hamuko followed him hesitantly.<p>

But, he wasn't there. A relief, she said, as she walked back to the dorm convinced that they'd just prolonged their life by arriving late. The boy, however, was left with an unshakable sense of incongruity as a sudden cold breeze carried a few dead leaves away.

So they had a free Sunday. And they were late for Featherman R. Not like they'd even watched it in months, anyway.

"Koro-chan, give us some idea." Hamuko demanded as she played with the dog's paws. He barked. "What's that, Koromaru? Ken fell down a well?"

"You know he didn't say that, Hamuko." Minato reproached her.

"You know you both are talking to a dog, right?" Yukari remarked.

"A male dog and now a b—!" Junpei butted in, only to swiftly escape before Yukari's foot could reach him. "Y'know, you really like kicking people while wearing that belt!"

"It's a skirt, STUPEI!" She yelled, chasing him away. "And you told Ryoji about Shirakawa, didn't you?"

The Fools stared at them as they disappeared through the door. Minato then turned to Koro. "Don't worry, Koro. You're more reasonable than they are."

"Woof." He barked calmly, as if acknowledging that fact.

Just then, Aigis and Fuuka walked by, chatting about technological things beyond Koromaru's understanding.

"Aiiiiigiiiis. Fuuuuka-chan" Hamuko slurred, reaching out for them from the sofa as dramatically as she could. Then she sat up and smiled at them. "What are you doing?"

"Fuuka-san said that dust is noxious for humankind's ventilation systems, so I suggested exterminating those little invaders." Aigis explained, nodding to herself. It was hard not to jump to the conclusion that she was associating dust and ninjas.

"Ah, cleaning the dorm wouldn't be a bad idea." Minato agreed quickly. "But I'm not letting you do that alone! Hamuko, go get those two!"

"SEES assemble!" She ran away after Yukari and Junpei.

* * *

><p>Soon, all the members of SEES were giving a hand at Mitsuru's petition, albeit with different levels of actual cooperation. Comparing Fuuka and Junpei would be unfair for one of them. That'd be Junpei, of course, since his room seemed to have suffered the effects of a typhoon. However, they gave each other a hand, so it wasn't all that bad.<p>

In the end, there was only a room left. An empty room.

"We… should clean inside there, too." Minato muttered.

"No!" Hamuko quickly retorted. "Err… no. I didn't have to clean my room, so I'll do it. You all can rest now. I'll handle this."

Conscious of her reasons, the others retreated silently to the living room. Hamuko looked left and right, and then slowly opened the door. It wasn't locked. The room was pitch black, and so she turned on the lights in order to find the window, then, she stared at the room again. It was just as perfectly clean and empty as the last time she saw it, save for one last detail.

All his things were in a box. There were some things which he obviously left there, and others which they probably retrieved. Among them, his coat, the beanie and even a completely shattered watch with a red ribbon still tied to one of the fragments. 'I will always be with you', a promise rang in her head. But she instead opted to…

"H-hey there, Shinji." Hamuko said to the room. "Just wanted to see your room again. You ain't mad at me taking your things, right?" She asked as she picked up the box. "Yeah. That's what I thought."

"Hamuko-san?"

The Fool froze, horrified as she thought that was Shinjiro speaking to her. Impossible, for he was in the hospital, as much as she tried to assume he was already gone.

"Hamuko-san, what are you doing?"

She couldn't avoid heaving a sigh as she identified the voice as Ken's. Of course, he wasn't helping out with the others.

"I was gonna throw this old stuff away, b-but I was too lazy to go downstairs and decided to hide it here." She laughed nervously. "Dang, you found me, I better go get rid of it!"

Ken just stared at her with a troubled expression. He knew.

"I'm… horribly bad at lying, I know." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Say, what about you wait here a moment while I leave this in my room? I think we need to talk about some stuff."

He nodded dryly, and so she carried the box upstairs.

* * *

><p>"So uh." They sat together right in front of the main door. "We haven't talked since we last played some poker. How's life been treating you?"<p>

"Better. I… guess."

"Yeah?" She asked absentmindedly. She then shook her head and focused on the conversation. "Say, are you still going on 'bout that incident?"

"There's no way I can forget it." He muttered to himself.

Hamuko didn't reply, opting instead to stare at her shoes. She couldn't forget and forgive either. They just sat closely in silence. The kind of silence Minato loved. She hated those silences, so she decided to end it resting a hand on his head.

"You are a good boy. Never doubt that." She ruffled his hair. "You were confused because you lost your family. I know how that feels. Everyone in this dorm does. Trust me." As she said these words, she bit her lip, knowing that getting sentimental would get her nowhere. "But not only your relatives are your family. Friends are your family too."

She hugged her knees, while the boy looked at her with sudden curiosity in his eyes.

"No one can replace the family that is gone, but you can always add new members to your new one. Like, um… Mitsuru-senpai would be the mum of the SEES family, and Aki…hiko-senpai the dad. Junpei would be the dumb cousin everyone likes, Yukari that hot cousin everyone is always looking at, and Fuuka-chan would be the nicest cousin ever! AND, Koro-chan could be the dog! Aigis would be the… baby? I mean, we have quite the dysfunctional family but—"

"So what would you be?"

"I…" Hamuko got quiet for a few seconds. Then she gave him a big grin. "I could be your cool, big sister. Then again, I'm not the best role model."

"My… _sister_?"

Hamuko felt the disappointment in his voice. And she knew all too well the reason.

"Yeah. And Minato could be your brother-in-law." She whispered, trying to make her words as soft as possible. "That's the best thing, seeing how different our ages are. You're precious to me, but I don't feel the same kind of affection towards you. If you don't understand this, that's okay. I learnt the difference a couple months ago." She nodded to herself.

"My sister, huh…? That could be nice." Ken said, after a long pause. "Thank you… big sis."

She pulled him into a long hug. It only ended because Minato walked into them and panicked, otherwise it might have dragged on longer. In any case, Justice reached level 8.

And hey. Minato was rather amused at being officially the kid's 'bro-in-law'. Of course, Ken soon went back to his usual gloom, as soon as he found out his 'family' would be all gone with the school trip.

Well screw him.

* * *

><p><strong>The Fools' Tournament! The only fic where both men and women alike fail the Bechdel Test hard! So yeah. Filler. In case you're wondering, Minato was playing music and thus had no time to appear in this chapter.<strong>

**WHO SAID HOTSPRINGS?**


	89. Hotsprings!

**Author note: oh hey people. Less chapters to go. And all that |D**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for writing the trip on Day 2 and beta reading! And forcing me to write 8D  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 1<strong>

"Trainnnns are borrrrriiiiing."

The bullet train advanced restlessly towards Kyoto, at a speed no car would ever reach. But that was still not enough for Hamuko.

"Been forever since I last rode one." She muttered as Minato glared at her for the twentieth time since they left.

"Remind me to never take you to the Shirogane Estate."

Junpei turned towards them and smiled. "Hey, if you're that bored, why don't ya come play strip poker with us?"

Ryoji and Minato looked at each other. Then Minato looked at Hamuko, who was looking at Junpei, who in turn, had no cap on, and then she turned towards her boyfriend.

"O-okay, but I'm playing too." He sentenced, knowing fully well the "skills" of the other Fool.

"Can I play?"

Ryoji's face lit up as Aigis approached. The wiser SEES members paled considerably.

"Only if you bring Fuuka-san and Yukari-san too!" Ryoji exclaimed excitedly, earning a glare from the robot.

That android was a devil, only stopped by the opportune intervention of Miss Toriumi… who had to leave real quick when she stumbled upon a scarfless Ryoji about to remove his suspenders.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to cliché land!" Junpei exclaimed as they got out of the train. "The most typical place on Earth to go on a school trip!"<p>

"So do all earthlings go to Kyoto for school trips?" Aigis inquired. "I thought Tokyo was the center of the Universe."

"Aigis, don't be silly." Minato reproached her.

"Yeah, Aigis! Everyone knows Tokyo's the fireball city, not the center of the Universe." Hamuko shook her head.

"Well, Kyoto's a marvelous place nonetheless!" Ryoji took a deep breath. "Memories, memories! We need to create memories which we'll look at with fondness when we're old!"

"Yeah, ya whippersnappers wouldn't appreciate the value of… oh, what were we talkin' about?" Junpei imitated, earning a laugh from the group. "You sound ancient, man."

"He's got the right idea, though." Fuuka agreed. "We are going to have a great time together, right?"

"Oh, but Fuuka-chan, I'd have a great time with you anywhere…"

Ryoji's words made Fuuka tilt her head in confusion, unaware of his less than courteous flirting. Aigis then walked in and snatched her away from the pervert.

"Yukari-chan?"

"H-huh?" Said girl suddenly snapped out.

"You're making a habit out of daydreaming." Minato pointed out, smiling. "You'll get left behind if we don't get going."

"Oh, um… have you seen Senpai by any chance…?"

Minato didn't have to say anything. He only nodded towards a mass of unusual red hair walking next to someone with grey hair. "You did a good job talking to her."

"HUH? W-who—"

"Ryoji."

With that, he invited her to move along and stop blocking the doors of the train.

* * *

><p>The dorm was empty. Completely void of life. Save for a ten years old boy and the team pet. Both were sitting at the sofa, side by side, watching TV. Ken looked askance at the dog, who seemed more interested in the program than he was.<p>

"_I'm bored. It's so lonely in here_." He complained internally. He took another glance, and Koromaru was looking at the TV with curious eyes. "…_Hamuko-san and Minato-san talk to him, and Aigis-san too. Maybe…_"

"H-hey, um…"

The dog turned to him. For some reason, he seemed to be glaring at him. M-maybe he was really interested in that program? Huh…

* * *

><p>They didn't arrive to the hotel until late into the night, and so everyone was ordered to head to their own rooms immediately. Of course they weren't going to do this, but eh. Teachers can dream.<p>

"Yukata, yukata, yukata." Aigis moved her arms as she ran around. "This is the perfect camouflage. Everyone is wearing a yukata. I am a tree in a forest."

"Yesss. Yukataland." Junpei drooled.

"Yukarikataland." Ryoji replied, nudging him.

"You two are awful." Hamuko shook her head. "I mean, c'mon, there's nothing like kimonos."

"Kimukomono!" The new boy exclaimed, flushed.

"Oh yes, indeed." Minato nodded slowly, perhaps recalling fond memories.

"We should get going to bed before the teachers get mad." Fuuka interrupted. "After all, we still have three days ahead, right?"

Ryoji advanced towards her. "Fuuka-chan, my dear, we can have a whole li—"

A shoe met his face, and his ear was soon pinched. Yukari could only huff as he dragged him towards the boys' floor.

Fuuka just stared from afar, and then turned to Aigis. "Well then, let's go back, yes?"

Aigis turned to The Ninjas. "I will be… in your heart."

"I'm sure you will." Minato concluded, following Junpei upstairs.

* * *

><p>Long long ago, once upon a time, there was a little place in Japan in which a race was celebrated every year. Only ninjas could join, or the fastest of the villagers. And so two ninjas and a girl joined the race.<p>

They ran and ran, avoiding the rocks, and crossing through the unexplored lands. It was easy, she thought, for she was the fastest of the village. She was going to win!

But just then, a third ninja appeared, and made her trip. She fell face first on the ground and the third ninja ran ahead of her. And so the ninja won the race, running faster than the other two.

However, the girl was not going to give up just like that. She would try again and again… until she won. No matter how many times she had to fall.

She would definitely win in the end.

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 2<strong>

Kyoto was a beautiful city. Hamuko admired the scenery, breathing deeply of the air around. Everything was peaceful, and fairly quiet. She looked around one last time and nodded decisively.

"I'm bored."

Minato looked at her, sighing. "Just appreciate the shrine, Hamuko."

"I appreciated the last three!" she hissed. "Come on, let's go see the city! We could go shopping or something."

"Mitsuru-senpai would kill us if we tried to leave the group," he whispered back. "And so would Toriumi."

"Maya's busy guiding the field trip, and Senpai is up at the front moping still," she replied dismissively, ignoring Minato's frantic waving at her not to use that name. Her look turned sly. "You know, I bet there's some good lingerie stores in the city."

The blue-haired Fool opened his mouth, then shut it. He pursed his lips for a moment.

"Well... perhaps the city would be nice to see. We can be back before we're missed, I'm certain of it."

"There ya go!" Hamuko cheered. "Alright, let's ditch these guys already. No one is looking at u-"

"Did I hear mention of lingerie stores?"

Ryoji's sudden appearance behind them had each of their hearts pounding.

"Gah! Don't... don't scare us like that, you damn ninja!" Hamuko scolded, her face flushed.

"Did I hear mention of ninjas?"

* * *

><p>And so two Fools, a robot, and an oddly-attractive lech separated from the group and made their way into a road lined with shops. Minato comforted himself with knowing that as odd as the group was, no one ever pays any mind to weirdos inside large cities.<p>

"Ninjas-san, take cover! I detect weapons fire!"

Aigis hurled the three to the ground, raising her arms. Every eye in the area was on them.

"Aigis..." Minato mumbled from underneath Ryoji. "That's noise from an arcade."

"I comprehend. May we go and investigate?"

"...I suppose. As soon as Ryoji-kun gets off of me."

"Oh, your concern is touching, lovely ones, but I promise that I am unharmed!" Ryoji seemed distracted talking to a pair of girls who had seen fit to ensure that no one was injured by Aigis's... protection. "Perhaps you would like to accompany my handsome friend here below me and myself as we walk these streets? We could use a guide, and I could use the company of such beautiful women."

"Hey!" Oddly, the outrage seemed to come from two sources simultaneously.

* * *

><p>After the arcade, the four actually managed to find a lingerie store. And there was much rejoicing.<p>

"Hamuko-san, I'm afraid I cannot see the function of such an article of clothing. It offers less in terms of support than even Junpei-san does in battle."

"Huh? Oh, well, um... it's more for... Charming opponents than actually offering support, yanno?"

"I understand. The pink color is indicative of a Charm enchantment, then?"

"Sure! And the lace doesn't hurt, either!"

"What of your waist undergarments, Hamuko-san? They seem to be missing a vital piece at the front. Does that not defeat the purpose of even wearing such an article? Minato-san's school tie contains more fabric."

Minato sat at the entrance to the changing rooms, his face buried in his hands.

"Excuse me, miss. I would like to purchase one of these sets of lingerie as a gift, but I don't know how it would look on that person. Would you be willing to model it for me?"

He managed a long-suffering sigh, and then cast a last hopeful look at the changing room door. The room had been declared off-limits, as Hamuko didn't want Aigis corrupted.

"Hamuko, are you going to be buying anything?"

"Nah, I didn't bring any cash on me."

"We're leaving."

* * *

><p>The four left the shop, beginning to make their way back to the hotel, where the group would soon be arriving, hoping to slip back in surreptitiously.<p>

"I am never taking the three of you anywhere public again," Minato vowed. "Especially you, Ryoji-kun."

"What, you don't want to hang out any more?"

"Nowhere public," he affirmed. "If we hang out, it's gonna have to be somewhere private, with not many p-" He cut himself off suddenly in a fit of coughing. "And Aigis, y-you need to quit causing trouble, too!" he said hurriedly.

"Don't scold Aigis!" Hamuko said, whirling on him.

"She threw us all to the ground because she heard gunfire from an arcade!"

"I didn't hear you complaining while Ryoji was on top of you!"

"I- I told him to get off!"

"Oh, were you finished by then?"

As their shouting reached a breaking point, the two oblivious to much of anything other than their argument, two young men rounded the corner, dressed in poorly-fitting suits. Hamuko bumped solidly into one, knocking him down.

"Ow!" she complained. "Oh, sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention and-"

"You're paying for this suit, girly!" the one on the ground shouted angrily. A small amount of dust from the street had marked it.

"...Cant'tcha just brush that off?" she asked in confusion.

"Look, maybe ya don't understand," the thug who remained standing sneered. "If we don't get our way, you might have some... trouble in the future."

Hamuko opened her mouth to retort, but a sharp voice, carrying the promise of death, stole the breath from her lungs.

"EXECUTION."

"Aigis, we need an escape route!" Minato shouted in panic.

"Impossible without severe collateral damage, Minato-san. The crowds are too thick."

"Then we die here today."

The redhead carried herself as elegantly as ever. She would not stomp towards them. But despite that, every motion seemed furious. Even the thugs stepped back slightly. She reached the four truants, paying no one else any mind.

"What on Earth possessed you to leave the group?" she demanded. "Are you a pack of imbeciles? Did you think you wouldn't be missed? As though you're somehow hard to notice?"

"Hey lady, who the hell are you? _We're_ trying to harass these morons!" one of the thugs cut in.

The feeling of impending doom lifted like a weight, passed from one target to another, unsuspecting one.

"I was not speaking to you. Furthermore, although I am frustrated at this pack of imbeciles, I won't have two thugs in bad suits harassing them. Go elsewhere."

One of them started forward. He stretched his arm out threateningly, attempting to grab Mitsuru. In one smooth motion, she whipped her own arm up, the point of a rapier quivering at the thug's throat.

"Go. Elsewhere. Executing you here is the kindest thing I could do. Unless you wish to continue aggravating me?"

The one without the deadly weapon aimed at his vitals seemed to have had a realization.

"Hey, I recognize you! Aren't you Kirijo? Saw ya in a magazine somewhere! Didn't your dad-"

The rapier switched targets faster than one could blink.

"Leave."

The two ran off in panic, leaving a small puddle where the first was standing. Mitsuru stood there silently a moment, hiding her rapier upon herself once more.

"Um, Senpai?" Hamuko asked hesitantly.

"Go back to the group, Seikatsu. The rest of you as well." Her voice was steady, but she did not turn to face them.

As they left, Minato mused on the advantages of using small swords like those.

* * *

><p>Yukari had been ogling Mitsuru all day long. She just wouldn't take her eyes off her. And so when everyone was finally allowed to go their separate ways, she began looking after her. She didn't find her alone until much later, when the sun was already going to sleep.<p>

"It's about time to go back." She muttered to her senpai, who had been staring at the river for at least half an hour. "After all, the later it gets, the more crowded the Shijou becomes." She insisted, once and again.

Mitsuru finally turned to her, with deep dark circles under her eyes. She hadn't slept well in days and it showed. Her life had given a sudden twist no one had seen coming. And with that she just huffed and rubbed her arm.

"I'll go back later. I need to think."

"What about?"

The red head grimaced. That was probably supposed to be a smile. "Insistent, aren't we? Return to the hotel before the teachers get mad. I'll respond before them for you."

"No. I'm not gonna let a friend suffer their rambling."

"Friend…?" She seemed to gasp. "You… call me your friend?"

Yukari stepped back. "Of course. I mean… I know I'm your kohai and all, but—"

"I know you don't like me. You don't have to do all this just for pity."

The fashionable brunette was a bit confounded. She really didn't like her at first but… now…

"Why are we still together in this? Is there anything left to fight against? Over? I don't know if there indeed is any such thing. However, I can tell you for sure: I already failed."

Failed? "You failed to what? To protect the most important person in your life? Is that what you're trying to say?" She was being harsh. "You said you were atoning for what the Kirijo Group did in the past, but that's not true." She knew she was being too harsh. "You were only fighting to protect your father."

"That's right!" She admitted easily. "I fought to protect him, and look what happened! My trust for the Chairman blinded me, and I fell right into his trap! There was nothing I could do! We fought during all this time, and it was for naught! Who knows if his ramblings were true? What really mattered to me, was helping my father. He placed the onus of responsibility all upon himself. And ever since the incident, he looked as if he was dead inside." Mitsuru gritted his teeth, trying to hold back her tears. "I fought so that he could release the shame and guilt that burdened him so!"

Yukari knew she was being too harsh, but…

"But my efforts were futile... and now my life is without meaning. I'm not but a failure, to him and to you all. Right?"

But sometimes the truth is harsh and painful, much like the slap Yukari gave her.

Saying that Mitsuru was puzzled as she took a hand to her cheek would be quite an understatement.

"I'm sorry. But, we don't know that for sure yet." The brunette only offered as an answer. Then, she promptly changed the subject, lest she'd be returned the favour. "Hey, did you know that I used to live around here?"

"I… did. Your records said as much." Mitsuru muttered, still shocked.

"I bet my records didn't say that after my dad died, my mom spent all her time throwing herself at random men." Yukari shook her head. "I couldn't stand to see her acting like that, so I used to come out here to the river bank to get away. My belief in my dad was all I had..."

Mitsuru didn't know the truth. No one showed her the true video. "Your father was only doing what he thought was best..." And yet she tried to defend him.

"Yes, but it was still wrong. So he fought to the end to try and make it right again. He never gave up." She smiled. "He believed Shadows were dangerous, and they needed to be stopped, even if it meant losing his life..."

With this she turned to the river bank, a determined grin on her face. "That's why I fight. I want to eliminate the Dark Hour and fulfill my dad's final wish."

"Fulfill his final wish..."

"That's all I- no, we, can do." Perhaps it wasn't the best Aesop. Or maybe it was just a crazy dream. But, still… "...Right, Senpai?"

"Yes..." She muttered. "Yes, I agree, Takeba..." Mitsuru gave a sharp nod. "It's not over yet. Nothing has been decided. We must put an end to this. For the sake of my father... and yours."

"Senpai..." Yukari mouthed, speechless.

"Yukari," she suddenly exclaimed, using her NAME, no honorifics at all, "will you stand with me until the end?"

Taken aback as she was, Yukari still could only smile and nod. "...Of course."

That moment couldn't be explained with words. The bond she suddenly felt with a person she once hated… it really had no comparison. If it wasn't so terribly awkward, Yukari would have even given her a hug.

"Well, I guess we should go and take a bath together now." She suggested cheerfully.

"T-take a bath together?" Mitsuru stammered.

"Yeah, in the outdoor hot spring back at the hotel. It's really nice. Now that we have everything out in the open, there's nothing left for us to hide!" She laughed.

"...Nothing?" Her senpai asked, her cheeks beginning to match her hair.

"H-hey, stop blushing! I didn't mean it like that!" But like everything she said, it sounded weird. "Anyways, we should really get going. It's already past curfew."

She pretended she was running off, but she knew Mitsuru would still stay there a little longer.

The red head looked up, and so she talked to the heavens.

"There is no need to worry, Father... I am not alone." She said. "...And I'll never look back again. ...Please watch over me."

Yukari wouldn't know how to describe it, but… it seemed like Mitsuru was radiating energy, at that point. Maybe her Persona…?

* * *

><p>Meanwhile...<p>

"So, what do we do now?" Minato asked, looking around the 'traditional' hotel.

"Get in rooms which aren't ours despite it is specifically prohibited to do so, for no real reason other than boredom?"

Hamuko blinked in confusion. "Really, Minato?"

"Hey, this is a school trip and we already did something stupid today. May as well loosen up a bit."

"I like how you think, Mister Shirogane."

"Please, call me Kitaro."

As they were heading upstairs, Hamuko caught a glimpse of Yuko standing by the vending machines. She halted in the spot.

"I'm… gonna pass on gossiping this time." She apologized. "I just remembered I promised Ken I'd buy him some souvenir."

She walked downstairs while he only muttered an 'oh okay'. She didn't want to meddle. Minato really needed to mend things with Yuko, and he had to do it alone, no better chance than this to begin.

Minato promptly turned towards the vending machine, wondering why she'd left like that when… he finally saw her.

And she saw him too.

"Hey, wait—"

And with that she was already gone, while he only balled his hand near his heart. Yuko, huh…?

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 3<strong>

The third day was just some more walking around. Shrines and all. You'd think there was more to see in Kyoto. No geishas. Things and stuff happened. References to anime and manga were made.

Mitsuru was happy again. Yukari had made friends with her. And in the end, the group separated, nobody cared, and Ryoji somehow tricked Hamuko into walking along the bank of the Kamogawa river. Crepes were involved in the event. Fortunately Minato noticed soon enough and prevented one lech from making advances on the other.

And so they ate crepes and looked at the water flowing down the river.

"Why me?"

Both Fools turned their heads to Ryoji, but only one stopped munching their food. Said guy glared at the other Fool and turned to the new guy. "Why you?"

"I mean… you two are really amusing, you know?" He chuckled. "You have this… aura that attracts people to you. I've seen you talk to pretty much everyone in the school, and they all greet you and talk about you two every time you pass by, yet you seem to keep a distance with them. So… why me? How comes you've let me be so close to you two?"

Minato turned back to his crepe in silence, whereas Hamuko peeked at Ryoji.

"You remind me of a ghost." She mumbled. "I KINDA miss him."

Both guys seemed rather surprised at the answer, but only Minato seemed to understand after glancing at Ryoji for a long while.

"You know, you just began tagging along uninvited and—"

"And then Minato checked you out and immediately set out to let you in… the group."

"I DID NO SUCH THING."

"Oh, yes you did!"

"NO."

"Then why do you always hang out with us?"

"B-because I love you, of course!"

It was in that precise moment that Ryoji's face went pale.

"I-is this a sudden love confession or was it something you already knew?"

Hamuko got uncharacteristically red and looked at her feet. "The latter."

"Hm." Minato nodded, glancing away.

"Well." Ryoji nibbled his crepe.

The tension which suddenly ensued was almost palpable.

"It's always great to love someone… And I… I" He suddenly exclaimed, red as a tomato. "And I can't help but love both of you! Let's go out together!"

"Eh."

"EH."

Minato and Hamuko shared a flabbergasted expression. Ryoji looked like he was about to suffer a stroke. Somewhere in the world a monkey was covering his mouth in dismay.

"…Okay?" Minato muttered.

"H-Hey, wait, no…" Hamuko tried to complain. "This wouldn't be the first group date, but…"

"That's not a group date." He spluttered. "And uh, it's nothing like that. You didn't mean 'going out' like 'going out together', riiight—"

"Indeed!"

Minato nodded slowly. "This conversation stopped interesting me five minutes ago."

"But! I'd feel lonely if you weren't there too." Ryoji tried to convince him. "We're a group after all…"

"Ryoji-kun…"

"So it's a yes then?" Hamuko quickly asked.

"IT'S NOTHING LIKE THAT!" He yelled. "I just…"

"Like him?" She sneered.

"I-I-I… SCREW YOU TWO. NOT LIKE THAT."

The female Fool and the lech saw Minato leave stomping. And so Fortune reached level 5.

Hamuko couldn't hold back a sigh. "God, and you just know he'll lock that in his heart forever. I'd better go think of something to cheer him up."

"You're right! I'll cheer him up like no one has ever!"

However, something went wrong. Very wrong.

* * *

><p>And so hours later… A life or death situation arrived, fruit of Ryoji and Junpei's machinations, and the sudden appearance of Mitsuru amongst the female side of SEES.<p>

"Crew, we're about to embark on what will possibly be the most dangerous mission we have ever faced." Minato announced solemnly, casting glances around his group.

"Mission? What are you—"

"Ryoji, this was your idea, so you're now part of the group." Junpei proclaimed, as he laid a hand on his shoulder.

"What we're about to face, my dear gentlemen, are not monsters or lunatics. They're women, and they're NAKED and EQUIPPED, oh god so well equipped." The bluenet harrumphed. "We only have one chance to get alive out of this. The strategy will be the follo—"

"I'm sure I've heard something!" Yukari's voice was heard in the distance.

"SCRAM!" Akihiko ordered, and soon all the boys were holding onto their towels for dear life as they sneaked around the rock.

"Left or right?" Junpei asked with a thread of voice.

"THAT'S YUKARI! GO LEFT!" The Fool commanded.

"_D-dddamn! Mitsuru's there_!" Akihiko whimpered.

"Just go left!" Minato cried out. "I'm the leader here, I—"

"We can avoid them diving!" Ryoji suggested. "And maybe emerge under some towel!"

"Good idea!" Junpei agreed. Soon, both tied their towels strongly around their waists and dived in, away from them.

"No, wait!" Minato growled again. "You'll suffocate and—argh, Senpai, what in the name of the moon are you doing?"

"_I don't want to be executed_." He whispered as he hid in a crevasse of the boulder which separated them from the girls. "_I don't want to suffer that again_."

"S-senpai! It's not the moment for traumas!"

"_You're making too much noise!_" He complained, pushing him away as the bluenet tried to drag him along.

Minato suddenly found himself alone, and too late to move anywhere, for he could hear both Yukari and Fuuka whispering and asking if there was anyone there. Even Aigis was talking about her cannons!

"_This is it_." He thought as he backpedaled towards the rocks that surrounded the pool. "_I'm not going survive another execution_."

He took a deep breath and gulped. "Goodbye, woooUH-OH!"

Out of the blue, he was pulled outside the pool, away from the girls' sight field due to the censoring effect of the steam. "What in the…?"

When he was beginning to think that he was suffering hallucinations due to spending too much time at such high temperature, someone placed a finger on his lips. Minato opened his eyes just enough to tell apart the silhouette of a girl he knew all too well.

"Hamu—!" He yelled happily, only to be interrupted by the same insistent digit. Of course, if they heard him, he'd be dead and she'd be a traitor. Still… "_I-I didn't do it on purpose. They dragged me into this! Ryoji and_—"

"_Shut up, I know._" She chided him. Then she giggled softly. "_I think that Ryoji clown was just trying to cheer 'you' up. 'You' being 'himself', of course, hah._ _You and my brother are too naïve for your own good. _"

Then it hit him. "_Senpai! Aren't you going to help him?_"

"_Ah, he'll be fine_." She shrugged in a way that would have revealed a lot under her towel if it wasn't for the hideous amount of steam. _"…So_."

She finally moved the finger away from his mouth. "_You owe me one now_."

"_H-huh_…?"

"_You're free to go now, but… you'd better come back once this mess is over_."

Before he could articulate a single word, she leaned over him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. "_I love you_."

And with that, she had to go back into the hot spring, for they were already beginning to miss her after two successful detections.

Minato just laid there a bit longer, convinced that he really was too dizzy from spending so much time in there. Once he felt a bit better, he rushed away, determined to go back the very instant the others left.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile…<p>

Akihiko was shivering, still hidden in the crack when he heard the squelch of someone walking in the water.

"_One, two, Mitsuru's coming for you._"

He gasped and tried to blend into the darkness of the crevice as well as he could to hide from the robotic voice who was singing, but alas… _**she**_ found him.

"NO, WAIT, MITSURU! I was dragged into this, I—!"

"Senpai!" Hamuko suddenly exclaimed. "We have two suffocated peeping Toms here!"

"Traitor!" Junpei let out a chocked scream. "I hate you, Ryoji! Where the hell's Minato?"

Using her sister's distraction, Akihiko tried to swim away… only to stumble into Aigis, who had shut her emotion display subroutines down.

"Here's Aigis."

Having to suffer a water cannon was still better than being turned into a block of ice.

"Surrender! You are cornered." Mitsuru growled at the two boys, who were rather literally between a rock and a hard place. Or two.

"What do we do now?" Junpei cried.

"Take refuge… in audacity!"

Ryoji used Flash!

…

…

Trainer Junpei was executed.

_**Mission failed.**_

* * *

><p>"Hamu?"<p>

Minato had had to go back to his room, afraid that the girls would try to look for him. He had seen the girls carrying away the lifeless (maybe) bodies of the male portion of SEES, plus the gatecrasher chivalrous pervert, and how Hamuko told them that she'd like to stay there for a while, but they could go.

And now, there he was. Talking to the hot springs, for he couldn't catch a glimpse of Hamuko. Aigis was right when she said they were ninjas, hah.

"Boo!" She suddenly pulled him into the pool, regretting it just a second later because they hit a rock.

"Augh, Hamuko." He rubbed his arm. "Grow up, will you?"

They both walked towards a somewhat deeper zone and sat down. "You know we'll be in a lot of trouble if anyone finds us, right?" He asked, concerned.

"Hm, yeah." She shrugged as it was usual of her.

"So? Haven't you stayed here long enough? Is spending a few minutes more here worth the risk?"

She seemed bewildered for a moment, but then she just began laughing rather loud. "And I'm the one who needs to grow up, right?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes, effectively adding more water instead of drying them.

Minato needed a few moments to process what she was implying. Then it hit him and he clung to his towel. "H-HELL NO." He shouted as he began swimming towards the edge and got out of the water.

"Aww, c'mon! I've never…" Hamuko suddenly closed her mouth and rubbed her chin. "Well, except that one time with—"

"La, la, la, I don't hear you." He repeated once and again as she tried to tell him that anecdote. "And just for your interest, you're getting wrinkled like a raisin. You are going to look like an old lady if you don't get out of there."

"I never get old. I mature." She ran a hand up her wet hair. "But you got a point there. This can't be too good for the scars, right?"

"Yeah…"

They looked at each other with troubled expressions. "So young, and already so scarred, huh?" She muttered, sinking half of her head in the water afterwards.

"We aren't that young either." He sighed. "We only have a year of school left after this, and then we'll be off to college."

"I'm not." She corrected. "Ain't gonna go there. Studying is not my thing, yanno."

"What? But that's stupid! Do you want to be a parasite your whole life?"

She knit her eyebrows together and sank a little deeper.

Poor, poor Fools. They forgot a crucial fact: the Dark Hour happens everywhere.

Good thing no one could hear Hamuko's ear piercing shrill.

* * *

><p>The following morning.<p>

"Well."

"Well…"

"Well!"

The boys sighed in unison as they tried fruitlessly to form a coherent thing to say about the situation. Another sigh joined them, albeit a few seconds later.

"Why you…" Junpei muttered under his breath as he wiggled his fingers as if he was strangulating the air. "What kind of leader are ya? You were the first to leave the ship, man!"

"Yeah?" He chuckled. "Well, I have contacts, you know."

"I hope ya enjoyed the night, 'cause—"

"Oh, I enjoyed it. Very, very much." Truly, he had quite a good laugh. At everyone's expenses. "How did you like the execution?"

"I remember cold. Coooold. And then everything turned black." Ryoji shivered.

Akihiko nodded. Aigis's attack saved him from anything major. But the other soldiers fell and he was heavily threatened, nonetheless.

Just then, the girls walked into the scene. The league of the extraordinary glares!

Yukari, expert on sharp frowns! She stabbed Ryoji multiple times trying to prove looks can kill.

Mitsuru, master of acquiescent askance glances! Looked down so hard on Akihiko that his soul was crushed beyond repair.

Fuuka, doctor on pitiful looks! She stared at Junpei like he was a puppy killer. His heart was broken from three different angles!

Hamuko, seductress from hell! Too much trauma the previous night led to horrible dark circles which crept the shit out of everyone.

Aigis… probably knew Minato was there too, but she said nothing. She was on Ignore Mode.

"Get in the train losers, we're goin' home." Yukari spluttered. "…Oh, Minato-kun. You shouldn't sit with them, you don't know what they tried to do."

"My! What could be so grievous to earn the ire from—" No, okay, he knew when to stop. The others knew where he lived.

And so they departed later that morning, trying to leave behind the horrible events of the previous night. What happens in Kyoto, stays in Kyoto.

If the girls decided to stop reminding them, that is.

* * *

><p>That night in the dorm, a thick invisible barrier was erected between the girls, Minato and a robot, and the boys.<p>

"_I'm still so lonely._" A young boy complained to himself, as his pet ran towards the robot.

* * *

><p><strong>Hotsprings, hell yeah. As if :3<strong>


	90. The traveler and his dog

**Author note: THE END IS NIGH 8U Nigh as in, in four chapters. Four chapters as in, a month per chapter 8D Yeah, "nigh".**

**Thanks to SaintDeltora for updating the TVTropes article, and to ****Định Trần for a cute fanart I found in the internet 8D I put a link to the image in the journal of my gallery, thanks a lot! And Evilshroom beta read and wrote the battle scenes (the end too) as usual *w*d**

* * *

><p>The next day, Saturday, everyone was pretty tired because of the hotsprings incident. … and that's why Hamuko and Minato decided to call in sick and not show up to school. However, one of them was more calm about it than the other.<p>

"I mean, it ain't that I don't wanna have lunch with ya, but…" Hamuko looked left and right as they walked through the Strip Mall. "If Senpai finds out somehow she's gonna tear us a new behind. One thing is Kyoto and the yakuza; this is suicide we're talking 'bout." She insisted.

"We've done this a million times and no one's ever found us. And today probably consists of nothing more than Miss Toriumi complaining. When did you get this responsible?" Minato laughed.

"Been training to be a cool big sister for Ken. Role models and all." She answered proudly. "When did you get this irresponsible?"

"The moment I saw my life pass before my eyes yesterday." He sighed happily. "And… well, getting executed would be fine, if we take into account that we escaped the hotspri—"

"LALALALALALA…" She sang loudly as she rushed towards Hagakure. Oh, right. Dark Hour bloodsprings. Poor girl. However, something occurred: she stopped upon reaching the door to Hagakure.

Mitsuru and Hamuko entailed a staring contest neither of them was aware had begun. In the end, the brunette was the first to scream.

"WE'RENOTPLAYINGHOOKIE, I SWEAR! DON'T TELL KEN!" Hamuko yelled defensively.

"W-what…?" Mitsuru asked, still clutching her shirt in surprise.

"Um, she said 'how comes you're here, Senpai?'." Minato intervened, trying to save the situation.

"I-I… uh… Uh…"

Her face turned the shade of her hair in a couple seconds, as she timidly nodded her head to her chopsticks.

"I… was trying to decipher how to eat 'ramen'." She said the last word as it was some weird alien invention.

Minato and Hamuko became really silent. "W-we'll be back in a second, pft, S-Senpai."

The Fools ran downstairs and began cackling so hard that every passerby stared at them.

"Okay, we could give you some tips for eating… _**ramen**_!" Hamuko said as dramatically as she could, earning a whack from Minato, who was trying to keep a straight face.

"You'd spend your extracurricular hours doing something so futile for me?" Mitsuru asked, concerned.

"Err, extracurricular, yeah." Minato cleared his throat.

Well. Good to know classes had already ended.

And so, the lessons began.

* * *

><p>"You see, Senpai, ramen is not a thing you eat… it's a thing you LIVE!" Hamuko exclaimed as she began gulping down soup and noodles alike, leaving her chopsticks untouched.<p>

"Rule number one: we don't eat like Hamuko."

The brunette kept feasting like a savage while Mitsuru observed in fear.

"Rule number two: we DON'T eat like Hamuko."

* * *

><p>Step by step, The Fools showed Mitsuru the art of eating noodles. Meanwhile, their Senpai just seemed overwhelmed by their almost-extraterrestrial-to-her manners.<p>

In the end, she paid for everyone's bowls and they all walked out of Hagakure.

* * *

><p>"Spending my first afterhours time with you has been pretty nice and instructive. Maybe we should repeat it so you can teach me more about culinary manners."<p>

"_Elizabeth 2.0._" Minato thought as he looked askance at Hamuko.

"_They even have the same voice_." She nodded.

"I'm positive I must seem bizarre in your eyes… being Japanese and having never tried ramen…"

"Well, I have never tried anything like foie gras." Minato commented.

Mitsuru gasped. "That is a sacrilege!"

"…Is it sacrilicious?" Hamuko asked.

The three shared a chuckle and then smiled. "Thank you very much for spending time with me."

Empress Social Link formed, the weird voice in their heads which hadn't talked in a while informed. Both Minato and Hamuko shared her smile, and that made them exchange a surprised look.

Mitsuru's expression suddenly turned dark. "I'll let it pass this time to show my gratitude, but if I ever hear again you've been playing hookie I'll execute you two."

With that, they went back to the dorm in a spectral silence.

* * *

><p>"Well, Chidorita, it's about time I go home." Junpei said as he stretched his sore limbs.<p>

"Leave me alone already." Chidori growled.

"Have a good night! I'll come back tomorrow!" He jumped to his feet and crossed the door.

"Don't…!" She yelled as he closed the door. "Don't… please."

The silence was almost spectral in Chidori's room. She looked left and right, completely alone. With some difficulty, she reached out for her sketchbook and pencil. She contemplated calmly a blank page for a while, but then she gritted her teeth.

"That idiot…!"

She began pressing her pencil strongly against the page, about to tear it. The graphite left incomprehensible traces, sketchy lines which crossed once and again without making any sense. She was just trying to vent her frustration on a sheet.

However, Chidori stopped for a moment and left her pencil aside. …What was that pattern on the paper? …A silhouette?

Serenity came back to her as she grabbed her pencil again and pressed it against the sketchbook, much softer this time. She began drawing slowly, with determined movements, completely differently from her previous attack. All the lines made sense. They connected to form a face, a neck, a cap… and so she drew almost unconsciously for hours.

"What am I even doing?" She asked to herself, as she finished her work. Rage wasn't coming to her this time, but sadness. Nostalgia? She wasn't sure. "Why am I…?"

Before a single thought could cross her mind, the lights went out. She quickly hid the sketchbook, in fear her latest picture of him would be discovered before she could tear it up into pieces, and looked around. "What the?"

A window was broken, and the hospital's alarm began ringing loudly. Someone crossed the door using that distraction.

"It has been a while."

Chidori sat up when hearing the familiar voice. He… he'd really come back! They hadn't forgotten about her.

"I'm glad to see you again." Takaya muttered, with his usual smile. He seemed to be waiting for an answer, but Chidori couldn't bring herself to talk. Why…? "Jin, the instruments if you would."

"Here."

Jin tossed something onto her hospital bed. The gloomy moon reflected on its metallic surface easily revealed what it was. However, Chidori couldn't help but stare, shocked.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten what your Evoker looks like." Jin mocked.

The lack of response from her made Takaya's expression turn sour. "I trust you do not need to be restrained?"

"Takaya..." She whispered, confused, and at the same time hurt by his doubts.

"Surely you understand... There is nowhere for you to go... You must come with us." He gritted his teeth as his warm voice became more imposing. Yet all he spoke were truths. "Death is not to be feared. You need only fear—"

"Yes, I know." She interrupted, now holding her Evoker close.

A grin returned to Takaya's face. "...Excellent."

Strega walked out of the familiar hospital room swiftly, lest they'd be found. Nonetheless, Chidori had to stop at the threshold and look back. She took a quick glance at the sketchbook hidden in her plastic, white nightstand, right under a vase with yellow flowers.

"_It's all his fault..._" She told herself. "Since _the day I met him, I've experienced nothing but pain..._" She convinced herself. "_And I've become afraid of dying..._"

"_Hey, hurry up, Chidori._" Jin insisted.

Chidori nodded, and then clutched her Evoker against her hospital gown. "_Medea... Let's go._"

* * *

><p>"Man, that date with Ryoji wasn't bad at all. However, he kept moaning about how you hadn't appeared… and if you were angry at him and all. But then I said 'man, he's Minato. He'll come'. But you didn't, you dick. But that's okay, he said he'd like me even if I was a guy, so why wouldn't he keep liking you, huh?"<p>

Sunday. They had a day off (for real) after some… interesting days in Kyoto. A day to relax. Unwind. Pray that they'd get a good job during the Career Experience week. Visit their sick friend, once again absent. But instead, Minato had to stand Hamuko's ramblings and poorly disguised innuendo.

"But yeah, I mean, I feel like I haven't been doing any progress at all with other people, yanno? Like I'm only hanging out with a person."

"That's because you HAVE been hanging out ONLY with Ryoji." Minato accused her.

"You're right. I'm hogging him too much, hmm?" She looked at him with shifty eyes.

"No, Hamu. Stop. I know you're provoking me. And I won't fall for it." He sank his face in his laptop and typed quicker. "You can go wag your tail or whatever around him for all I care, I'm busy."

"Wow, someone is getting offended." She chuckled. "What in the name of the Velvet Room are you even doing, anyway?"

"List."

"List what?"

"List a list."

"Genius."

Seeing that the blue haired boy wasn't going to get any more specific, Hamuko got up from his bed and swiftly pushed his head away from her field of vision.

"Yuko-san, we need to talk. Yuko… I need to speak with you for a moment. Yuko, wait! Yu…"

The female got shoved away quickly as Minato covered the screen, flustered.

"This is none of you—"

"KO!"

The silence became denser than quicksilver after her unfunny pun.

"I assume you saw me the other day…" He sighed.

"You ass-ume correctly." She said as she folded her arms. "I know I'm not the only one who hasn't been paying much attention to building up Social Links."

"I see." He adjusted his turtle neck. "I really have been busy. It's not that I haven't been looking out for Social Links, it's just…"

"You don't feel it anymore."

Minato looked at Hamuko, and nodded quickly. "I don't feel Social Links anymore. I mean, I KNOW there must be some left, but it's like I was unaffected. Like, yesterday with Mitsuru. I didn't give half a damn!"

She patted his shoulder and smiled. "I know the feeling, bro. I really don't give half a shit about getting power anymore. It's weird."

"Indeed, I was wondering why you still weren't licking Ryoji's ass after so many levels." He snorted.

"I'll leave that honor to you, Mr. Heartbreaker." She retorted quickly. "Now, seriously, when did this happen?"

They both sat down to think. "…Maybe we really have nothing left to fight against?"

"Wouldn't that be great?" Hamuko sighed, not too convinced. "Maybe this is that 'change' Igor was talking about?"

"Maybe."

They both heaved a sigh.

"Now get out, I need to mend my past." Minato got up and began pushing Hamuko out of his room.

"But I haven't made enough jokes at your expense!"

* * *

><p>The evening went by without any weird events, but when the Dark Hour arrived…<p>

"What in the name of the world is going on here?" Yukari asked as everyone got to the fourth floor. She had some green cream mask on her face…

"Yamagishi sensed something!" Mitsuru barked. "...Other Persona-users. They're outside Tartarus!"

"Other Persona-users...?" Ken startled. "Don't tell me it's..."

"...Strega. They're still alive." Akihiko clutched his fist.

"Wait. Wait a second right there. HOW?" Hamuko yelled. "I mean, they fell into a sea of BLOOD. Off a BRIDGE. A MOTHER—" Akihiko's harsh stare on her made her stop talking for a second. "—LOVING BRIDGE."

"Those bastards...!" Ken growled.

He got whacked by the female Fool.

"Let's think about the chances of surviving such a fall in another moment." Minato requested. "Fuuka?"

"Ah , yeah. There's only one person, but..." She looked nervous. "I thought she was in the hospital..."

Junpei startled at these words.

"No... she's... she's inside..." Fuuka held her head, as she shrieked. Everyone rushed towards her to ask her what was wrong, but suddenly…

"...Long time no see."

That voice… "Chidori?" Junpei yelled.

"She's speaking through Yamagishi?" Mitsuru asked, shocked.

"I can't stand the sight of you all anymore... So, I've decided to do something about it. Come to me..." She ordered.

Once she finished her message, Fuuka stopped clutching her head. She assured everyone she was alright, but she looked a bit tired.

"What the heck...? I thought she was..." Yukari looked at Junpei. "Junpei, do you know what's going on?"

The guy with the cap only stood there, with a blank face.

"Junpei!" She insisted.

"No, dammit! I have no idea!" He yelled. "Just leave me the hell alone!"

With that, he ran away, while the brunette called out for him.

"C'mon, let's chase him!" Hamuko barked, ready to sprint. Someone then put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hamu." Minato said simply.

"Right, that… that didn't work last time." She turned towards everyone.

"This is most likely a trap. But, we're dealing with Strega, so we must pursue this." Mitsuru announced. "...And if we confront them, we may gain some insight into our current situation."

"Alright, we'll go in two different groups." Minato announced. "Let's go, everyone."

* * *

><p>Pretty much as soon as I heard her, I was out the door. I didn't stop to think it through or anything. It was all reflex. I've never really been that great at staying cool and thinking things through when under pressure. That's more Mitsuru-senpai's thing.<p>

I knew the others wouldn't be too far behind, despite my lead. I wasn't going to have much time to talk to her. I've never been as fast as, say, Akihiko-senpai.

I did get there first, though. She was there, too. Right in front of Tartarus, lookin' as pretty as ever... except maybe a little less than ever, since she looked so unhappy. I didn't know what to say to her. I never could say the right thing. Not like Minato.

I'm not that smooth. I'm not that strong. I'm not that fast. I'm not really that great in a fight. I'm not that smart. I'm not that popular, not that kind, not that good-looking. I don't have anything, not when you look at everyone else in the dorm.

But I had Chidori. And if she could like me, then that was better than anything they had.

All I could ask her before everyone else ran up behind me was "why." She... she said something. Something about death, and attachment. It got hard to think after she threw that hatchet thing at me. I... I don't think she meant it, though. I'm not that fast, so I wouldn't have been able to dodge it if she really wanted to hurt me. I know she didn't.

There... there was a fight. It wasn't much of one. I think everyone else was holding back too, actually. Didn't see too much flashy stuff from the leaders. No big moves from the others. And nothing from me. Couldn't even call out Hermes past the lump in my throat. It ended pretty quick, I guess.

That albino son of a bitch wasn't happy about that. Like he did any better when they fought us. Said some crap I didn't care about, raised that same gun of his that killed Shinji, and... well. He killed me, too. Kinda felt right, the weakest link on the team getting gunned down without a fight. Like I was an expendable dude in a red shirt or something.

I had the weirdest dream when I was dead. Not really a dream, but not real either. Like I was back at that hospital room, where I spent all my after-school time. And hell, a little of my school time, too. Except I was in the bed, and she was sitting next to me, holding my hand, talking all softly. That would have been a nicer thing to do for her than being all loud and trying to be funny, like an idiot. Like Stupei.

It was nice. It didn't last long enough. I came back, but I'm not sure I did. 'Cause kinda like how in the dream hospital, I switched places with Chidori, when I woke up, our places were switched. I was fine, and she was dying. But she was still... still talking all softly. She had a nice voice. She said... she said she loved me. And then she died.

I don't remember much of anything that bastard of a ghost said. But the one thing I remember him saying was that her death was meaningless. Like he didn't think I was good enough for her life. Like her dying wasn't anything important, just sort of a shame.

Something in my mind just clicked. And then it was like, all of a sudden, my arm was strong enough to grab my Evoker, and get Hermes to make sure he stayed dead this time. Hermes didn't answer my call, though. Trismegistus did. And he blew that glasses-wearing son of a bitch, who decided to take the hit, back into Tartarus's wall. They got away after that. Specs used smoke grenades like he thought he was a ninja. I'd have chased them down, but Akihiko-senpai made a good point. It wasn't just my life any more.

I can feel her still. Wish I could talk to her. It's just sort of a presence. I'm still not that smooth, or strong, or smart, or fast, or anything. But Chidori liked me. Chidori loved me. And I still have her. I wish I could see her, or hear her, or something, but... maybe I can be something special, too. So she didn't waste this.

* * *

><p>Monday arrived. A day off. Junpei didn't get out of his room.<p>

Life went on.

* * *

><p>"Well, students. Are you all ready for the beginning of career experience week?" Miss Toriumi asked on Tuesday, rather enthusiastically. "Remember to get on the buses for the group which was assigned to you. I wouldn't want to have to deal with the extra paperwork I'd get if any of you gets lost, so you'd better be careful!"<p>

The students uttered a tired 'yes…'. She looked satisfied at the group gathered in front of the school gates. "Any questions?"

A single hand was risen amongst the crowd. It belonged to a guy with blue eyes. "Err, yeah, Teach, is there any way I can skip a whole week making cardboard boxes?"

"No." She glared at Ryoji. "And there's no such job!"

The same hand was risen again.. "Can I choose where I'll work? Can it be a stript—"

"NO."

With that, Mitsuru, Minato, and the rest of the Student Council began giving out some kind of IDs with the name of the student and the place where they were going to work. Once the task was over, Minato headed towards the group.

"Whatddya get?" Hamuko asked, not too eager.

"Waiter." He answered.

"Sounds fun. I got lab scholar. Trade?"

"I don't see why not." They exchanged cards and then joined fists.

"Anyone want an 'aquarium cleaner'?" Ryoji pouted as he wandered amongst the crowd. "Fuuka-chan?"

"But… I'll be helping an engineer…" Fuuka muttered.

"Yukari-chan?"

"Medic scholar." She replied simply. Then she quickly added: "And NO, that's NOT a nurse!"

"AIGIS?" Ryoji cried out.

"I… I cannot demolish constructions with a head full of eyes…" She lamented as she exchanged cards with him.

"Yeeeeesss—Wait here's written 'Cardboard box assembler'! AIGIS!"

Junpei simply accepted his card, without any ado.

* * *

><p>"Alright, so your name is Seikatsu…" The man in a lab coat looked up from the card to Minato and then back to the card. "Hamuko?"<p>

"Yes?" 'Hamuko' replied.

"Oh… There must be a mistake in the li—"

"No." The boy answered dryly.

"But…"

"My parents always wanted a hamster."

"But—"

"A female hamster."

Minato narrowed his eyes until the scientist just shrugged and motioned him to follow him into the lab.

* * *

><p>"Arisato Minato, huh? That… doesn't seem a very appropriate name." Wakatsu's waiter whispered as he arched an eyebrow.<p>

"Why'd you say that?" Hamuko asked with a voice as deep as she could. It wasn't very convincing. She wasn't really trying.

"…Guess this was better than assembling cardboard boxes or whatever you had before trading jobs." He remarked.

* * *

><p>"If you direct your sight to the ground, you'll see a yellow line…"<p>

"Kill me." Ryoji commanded.

"…" Junpei just looked away.

"A-ee-gees, please, stop talking!"

* * *

><p>The week advanced fast, and at the same time slowly. Probably more so for ones than for others.<p>

The phone rang on Friday. Ryoji's voice rang through it. He wanted to talk. With both of them.

* * *

><p>"Junpei hasn't been coming to work." Ryoji explained, bothered. "And the one day he did, he seemed to be elsewhere. What's wrong with him?"<p>

"He lost someone." Hamuko explained, directing her sight to Minato, who was looking away. "Someone very precious."

"Is that… it?"

His voice sounded cold, beyond any inexpressiveness Minato could have ever imagined.

"People… die. They die continuously. There's… there's no helping that. So why…?"

Hamuko rubbed the bridge of her nose, glancing away as well as Ryoji stared at them, looking really confused.

"I'd be sad if you died." Minato's voice sounded a bit too loud amongst the low music of Café Chagall. "Wouldn't you?"

The other boy looked down. Was… was he smiling? "I'm sorry for sounding so cold. I… really didn't mean…"

The three returned to their coffee or chocolate, musing quietly about many things. In the end, Ryoji apologized for having such a dark conversation, and they parted ways.

* * *

><p>Saturday. Classes went on normally and… they found Mitsuru in the entrance. She requested their help for an utmost important matter.<p>

* * *

><p>"Yes, that IS meat."<p>

Mitsuru stared at the hamburger with narrow eyes.

"And no, it WON'T eat you." Minato sighed.

"But…" She muttered. "What is this yellowish sauce coming out of it? Molten cheese?"

"I think it's mustard." He answered.

"Looks like custard to me." Hamuko added. "…I feel like having custard hamburgers."

"And next you'll be asking for ice cream and pickles." Minato cackled nervously.

"So may I at least hold it with a napkin?"

"You may only hold it with nuggets." Hamuko commanded harshly.

"Ah—was that an order, perhaps?" Mitsuru smiled, bemused.

"_A-bloo-bluh-no…?_" The brunette blabbered, scared, until Mitsuru reassured her that she was only kidding.

* * *

><p>A whole hour went by between the first bite Mitsuru took, and the last. When they were done, she received a phone call. It seemed to remind her of something.<p>

"Um, wait. Teaching me wasn't the actual reason I needed you. Before you return…" Mitsuru reached out for her school bag and produced something out of it. "It arrived today. I… thought he'd like it."

"I'm… I'm sure he will!" Hamuko answered, smiling as she appreciated the sketchbook Mitsuru was showing them. "He'll be really glad when—"

"Maybe, you should give it to him… after all, you two are his friends, and I have some matters to attend."

And with that, they said their goodbyes.

* * *

><p>Going back to the dorm hadn't been a good experience any day since Chidori's death. Junpei… was rather absent. However, today they had a surprise for him.<p>

Everyone congregated around him, to present him with the sketchbook. He didn't even look at it, for 'her drawings were too complex'. And it was true. Things were as abstract as they could get.

However, there was one picture that stood out among the others.

"Wow, it's really good..." Fuuka commented.

"This is amazing...who wouldn't be able to understand it?" Yukari exclaimed.

"Whoa." Hamuko marveled.

"Impressing." Minato praised as well.

"You… do not look that symmetric." Aigis added at the end. "But it is a detailed portrait of Junpei-san."

Tears appeared in Junpei's eyes as he looked at the picture. And when they cleared, he seemed to have a new resolve in his heart.

"I promise to get rid of the Shadows!" He announced, making a smile appear on everyone's faces. "I'm glad I have you all." He added, still teary.

Indeed… despite people kept leaving their life… they still had SEES to cheer them up… And so they grew even closer…

Hamuko's face, however, was far from happy, being instead more reflexive.

* * *

><p>Sunday. The Fools and Ryoji laid quietly on the rooftop of the school, staring at the ethereal clouds which travelled the skies following the wind currents.<p>

"I wish I could stay like this forever." Minato yawned.

"That'd be boring." Hamuko mused, turning her head to him. She crossed her arms behind her head as a pillow, and closed her eyes. "Those seagulls, though? Man, I'd give anything to fly like a bird."

"You two have no ambitions." Ryoji laughed. "I, on the other hand… I'd like to be like the wind."

"To rise skirts, am I right?" The girl grinned maliciously before Ryoji could elaborate.

"…Is there any reason you asked us to sneak into school and climb to the rooftop?" Minato interrupted.

"Do I need a reason for wanting to see my friends?"

The other boy shook his head, concerned. Ryoji then sat up. "I'm sorry, I… I just don't like being alone. It doesn't feel right."

Hamuko opened an eye to look at him.

"I'm… scared."

"No one likes being alone." She commented. "I'm scared too. Lots of people disappear… everyday. Many of them are my friends."

"Yet, you wouldn't understand." He smiled. "You have each other. I…? I wish I could say the same…"

"...You asked once why we spent so much time with you, but you have a lot of people around you, too." Minato spoke up. "Why do you insist on being with us?"

"I don't have a reason." He breathed. "I have many. Dozens. Hundreds, maybe." Laying back again, he looked up. "But none I'd ever dare tell you."

"Why?" Hamuko asked.

"I told you… I'm afraid of being alone. I don't want to lose you. I want to spend more time with you. Just… just a little longer. I'll tell you then. Let me—"

"Tell us, please." Minato commanded. "We're your friends. I want to help in anything I can. I know I've jested, but, I… wouldn't truly be mad at anything you said." He looked away, slightly flustered.

"That'd be really hypocritical of us." The female Fool finished.

Ryoji closed his eyes, a smile adorned his face. "You two are really something… you still make me smile every time. I'll say it again, then."

"I love you two. That hasn't changed. And it will never change. So, please… stay with me."

Once again, there was a deep silence.

"I think that you can love two people at once." Hamuko muttered.

"But that's because you love everybody." Minato pondered. "I…"

The silence continued. Everyone laid still.

"You haven't gone anywhere." Ryoji observed a few moments later.

They said nothing, opting instead to stare at the sky until the moment a guard caught them up there and sent them with Kurosawa.

* * *

><p>During the whole week, The Fools weren't the only ones to become really close with Ryoji; no, another person did as well. And that was Junpei, being in true need for a friend.<p>

And that was okay. Ryoji was a great boy who was helping him get over Chidori's death much faster than anyone could have imagined. That was good, but still a bit cold by his part.

Ryoji visited the dorm the next Monday, during the evening. It came out as quite a surprise for The Fools, for visits had never been permitted. In any case, the two teens who had had a busy day wandering around the school clubs were promptly dragged into playing Human 4 The Golden on the new COMPP ALIVE.

* * *

><p>Once it got late, Ryoji got up from the sofa, and asked them to accompany him to the door.<p>

"I'd like to come over tomorrow." He mentioned. 'Okay', they answered obviously. Ryoji then got a bit closer to them. "I'd like to talk to you. Somewhere private."

"Don't forget to study!" Junpei yelled without looking away from his videogame.

"Yeah, yeah…" And with that he left, leaving two shocked Fools behind.

"Ninja." Aigis observed as the door closed. "He is dangerous. He punched Minato-san's face."

"What?" Fuuka jumped in. "Minato-kun, are you okay? When did that happen?"

"Pun—" Minato quickly covered his nose. "N-NO AIGIS. I… I was…"

"He was drinking tomato juice and then I tickled him and it came out of his nose!"

Hamuko's statement was wholly ignored.

"I guess he really is dangerous." Yukari sneered, earning a deadly glare from Minato. Hamuko raised her thumbs in approval.

Aigis cast her eyes down and walked away. "Why is it that I am the only one without a life, and yet I am the one most conscious about its delicacy?" They knew Aigis didn't breathe, but that almost sounded like a sigh.

"Don't worry, Aigis!" Fuuka cheered her. "If you ever end up damaged, I'll be there to repair you!"

The end of Aigis's latex lips perked up ever so slightly.

"I gotta study."

Junpei announced as he walked away. The others promptly followed, except for Minato and Hamuko.

"What are you afraid of, Aigis?"

She tilted her face towards Minato upon hearing his voice. She quickly shook her head. "I am a robot; therefore, I am incapable of processing emotions such as fear. I apologize for worrying you, please, do return to your studies."

With that, she left the lounge as well.

"She's hiding something."

Minato looked at Hamuko, then back at the stairs. "She's a robot."

Hamuko knit her eyebrows together. "She's more than that to me."

"…Let's go grab a kleenex."

* * *

><p>"So like, uh…"<p>

'Tense'.

"Yeah um…"

Could not define.

"Why did you even…?"

This moment.

Minato was sitting on Hamuko's chair, his face hidden in a face palm. Hamuko was laying on her bed, admiring the texture of the wall, apparently. Ryoji was sitting on the edge of the bed, bouncing a few times.

"This seems familiar." Hamuko commented. "Right, Minato?"

"Huh." He pulled his hand away. "…Kind of."

"Am I missing something?" Ryoji asked, rising an eyebrow.

"No, just… you look like a friend of ours. Pharos. Was a nice kid." Hamuko smiled. "Rather creepy, though."

Ryoji sank his elbows on his knees and linked his hands under his chin. "I wasn't lying when I said I feel I know you from before."

"Pft, yeah, right." Minato shook his head.

"But… have you never had the feeling you knew someone, only by looking at them in the eyes?"

"Never had the feeling you have shared a bond with someone before you met them?"

Minato perked his head up. Hamuko turned her face towards him.

"Ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have fallen in love with?"

Hamuko sat up slowly. Minato continued eyeing him cautiously.

"I love you. I love you two so much, you'd never even get close to imagining how powerful my love is. But the more my love towards you grows… the more my fear of losing you does… and even more so, that of losing myself."

"Why would you…?"

Ryoji shook his head, hiding his face in his scarf. "…You know, I have a collection of scarves. They all look like this. I like yellow."

"I have a pet persimmon." Hamuko replied. "So what?"

"…" He closed his eyes.

The silence became dense. Hamuko and Minato shared a sorrowful look, and then nodded. They both jumped out of their respective seats and sat down next to him.

"We are no one to give you advice over life, death, and all that…" Minato begun.

"But we can guarantee that, no matter what, you'll always have us by your side."

Hamuko reached out for his scarf, lowering it so she could see his face.

…The atmosphere became really different all of a sudden.

Everyone was still in a deep silence but…

Let's say that Platonic stopped defining their love.

* * *

><p>No one cared about Wednesday, The Fools were still thinking about the previous evening. Lessons what lessons, Social Links what Social Links.<p>

However... they were unaware about something crucial.

Lost in thought as they were, they did not notice the absence of their two best friends, until it was already too late to stop them.

* * *

><p>The moon, larger than life in its fullness, loomed ominously over the world. It glowed not with its usual paleness, but with a sickly green light that was uncomfortable to behold. It was a light that defied life, that defied nature. The sea below the bridge stood completely still. Not a single wave or ripple disturbed its crimson surface. Throughout the city, nearly every single human, with the exception of a special few, rested unaware in a coffin, blissful in their ignorance of the world around them becoming something that they were not meant to walk.<p>

Upon the bridge, gazing calmly at the eerie moon above, someone sat in complete peace with that world. This one was not one of those special few. Nor was he human at all, despite his appearance. He sat on a rail, more utterly relaxed then he could ever remember feeling.

"Ryoji."

A voice broke the stillness of that verdant night, drawing his attention. Another figure, so similar to him in her apparent humanity, stood at some distance.

"Aigis."

He stood up, brushing his pants off in an offhand gesture. They regarded each other for a few silent moments.

"This scenery is pretty familiar, huh?" he said, his voice taking on a melancholy tone as he tilted his head back up to stare at the moon. "We've been here before. Both of us, right?"

"That is correct," she replied stiffly. "You and I have met here before. You are the Thirteenth Arcana, Death. You are a Shadow. And you and I... are combatants."

"I know, Aigis," he mumbled. "After all this time, of course I remember. We've fought here before, on this very bridge. It never ended well, did it?"

She remained silent.

"Why must we fight, if you know that? I've only gotten stronger, you know. Just like them, I only improved as time went on. Why do we have to fight? Aren't we friends? Do you really think you can win? I don't want to fight you, Aigis!" he shouted.

"I... I have no choice," she said, her eyes clouding over slightly. Her voice grew tighter. "I have to try to stop you. I know what you will bring, if left unchecked. Protecting them is my highest priority. And I will fulfill that directive, at whatever cost!"

And thus, the blond android darted off.

* * *

><p><strong>CLIFFHANGER! And foreshadowhat?<strong>

_Beta Note: Eheh, no points for guessing where I contributed some writing... guess my style kinda sticks out. Anyway! SHTF for real next chapter, and each subsequent one brings an increasingly high magnitude of said S. And while I'm sure you (as I) are eager to strap on those raincoats and galoshes to brace against the shitstorm, I am but one man, and cannot hold our dear Shenjay's nose to the grindstone hard enough to pump these chapters out at a satisfying rate. Buuuuuuut, perhaps if she had some further encouragement from vocal fans cheering her on, hm? Remember! She feasts on reviews. And you just can't do jack shit without a good meal in your stomach._

_In short, drop some encouragement and your thoughts, critical or otherwise. If you give her hers, she'll make sure you get yours, hm~_


	91. Revelations

**Author note: my beta reader Evilshroom's writings inspired me to work faster and also helped fill the quota: the battle, the dream, and the last scene in the hospital. That's about 5 pages out of 29. Teehee 8D;**

**I beg you read the 'canon' scenes, as they really aren't canon at all :I**

* * *

><p>Aigis darted in, surprising Ryoji, who had been expecting a long-range assault. Her strikes were batted aside with an ease that belied his lack of humanity.<p>

"Why are you bothering?" he asked calmly, avoiding a series of unarmed attacks. The fans to either side of Aigis's head whirled quickly, emitting huge amounts of heat due to her Orgia Mode. "I am no stranger to fighting a losing battle, but Aigis, this is just... pointless, isn't it?"

The android said nothing, only gritting her teeth and continuing her feeble attacks on the young man she had befriended. Before long, her body overheated and her attacks ceased. She stood immobile with her arms dangling limply to either side.

"Are you finished?" Ryoji asked calmly, not bothering to take advantage of her inability to resist. "I'd rather talk this out, you know. I don't enjoy the idea of hurting you."

"I cannot allow you to accomplish what you are planning," the Anti-Shadow weapon ground out, her face contorted with effort, trying to expedite her cooling.

"Aigis..." Ryoji sighed. "Why do you designate me your enemy? We both want the same thing, don't we? Don't we both want them to be happy, and at peace?"

"I do not want them to be dead."

He scoffed. "Humans die, Aigis. All of them. Your attempts to prolong your time with them by keeping this painful existence going are selfish. At least let me give them the choice, so that they can choose whether or not they go peacefully or struggle for even longer."

"You are not allowing them to make an informed choice."

"They can not be allowed to know-"

"Why do you lie to them, Ryoji?" Aigis interrupted. "You will make them believe that they cannot win, that this being cannot be defeated."

"She _can't _be defeated!"

"With enough time, she can be."

"You're only prolonging their suffering. Let them be at peace, Aigis."

"They have been lied to long enough, Ryoji. If you wish to give them the choice, then fine. But they will know all the facts for once."

On that note, she turned on one heel, her body cooled enough to move once more.

"I will not let you tell them, Aigis."

Aigis's synthetic lips drew together into a tight line, a remarkably human expression of determination.

"You may try to stop me, Ryoji."

With that, she once again reactivated her Orgia Mode, uncaring of the potential damage to her internal circuitry from the constant overworking. She raced off across the bridge at breakneck speeds, her sights set on the dormitory building in the distance. A white-and-yellow bullet, she could not be stopped.

She could, however, be redirected.

Plucked from her trajectory as easily as one might pluck a fruit from a vine, all of Aigis's momentum was reversed by an effortless one-handed hammer throw. Ryoji stood where she had been, having closed the widening gap between them in less time then it had taken for him to sigh and begin pursuit. She rolled clumsily, skidding across the bridge in the opposite direction she intended to go. Ryoji now stood between her and her goal.

"As I said," Ryoji said, his calm voice tinged slightly with a dark anger. "I will _not_ let you tell them, Aigis. I don't intend to hurt you, but there are some things they do not need to know."

The android rose to her feet.

"On that, we disagree."

**"So be it."**

Aigis barely registered his charge. She had just enough time to utter a surprised "Ah" and raise her grenade launcher in defense before he stood in front of her. He grasped the weaponised arm in a firm grasp, holding it pointed away from his head.

**"Yield, please, Aigis."**

"No."

A pain response is a deceptively necessary attribute for most beings. The ability to know when your body has been damaged is key to avoiding further damage. For an android whose operating system included internal diagnostics, no such thing was needed. As such, Aigis felt no real pain when her right arm was torn off. Nor when the left followed suit. Her diagnostics blared warnings. As with the pain response, this was a key warning that she should remove herself from the situation to avoid further damage. This became more difficult when Ryoji thrust his own arm through her chest, crushing her internal power supply.

The world and her thoughts dimmed.

* * *

><p>"AIGIS! AIGIS!"<p>

Hamuko's cries received no response as she and Koromaru led the group towards the bridge, sliding on every blood pool as she rushed to find the android.

The dorm alarm had wakened them once more, for Fuuka had decided to stay up in case something would happen that night… a full moon, once again. However, it wasn't a Shadow what she found. Or it was. That they had not enough time to decide.

"SHE'S THERE!" She crowed, making a last sprint. "No… no, Aigis!"

The robot… the TRUNK of the robot was laying there, her limbs scattered nearby.

"Aigis! No… you can't…"

"I c-c-can-n-not." She managed to stutter, her vocal module alternating between her usual voice and a screechy one. "I… b-b-baAAcK."

Hamuko had to leave the mechanical body, for it was way too hot to hold. Koromaru nuzzled it softly as he whimpered. The group finally arrived, and Minato took as his first course of action gathering all the ripped up parts.

The brunette looked away from the robot, her sight too blurry from all the tears to see anything other than a snowy shadow approaching. "YOU! YOU DID THIS!" She reached for her holster, only to get her hand grabbed by someone else.

"That's no Shadow!" Yukari intervened. "That's…"

"Ryoji?" Junpei's unbelieving screech finally made the figure look up.

"Hey." He greeted them with barely a thread of voice. "Sorry for breaking your robot."

"What in the name of… How can you…?" Akihiko stared at the boy, speechless.

"Yamagishi?" Mitsuru commanded.

"He feels like a Shadow… but he's not just a Shadow… his aura is… unbearable." She muttered, almost scared.

"Allow me." Ryoji approached the group, rising his arms so that they could see he meant no harm. "I'm indeed a Shadow. I'm the union of all of them."

He lowered his arms and hid his face in his scarf.

"You may call me Death."

He plopped on a rail, too tired to hold his own body.

"Death…?" Minato asked, incredulous. "Like… the Reaper?"

"No. That is just a lonely hunter, no more than a trace of myself. I am the one who will bring the end of the world. The Appriser, a beacon of light for the maternal being to reach our world."

"YOU'RE. A. SON OF A BITCH."

Under this war cry, Hamuko ran to him and punched his face, almost making him fall down the rail as he presented no opposition. She probably would have continued if it wasn't for the whole SEES ganging up on her to stop her. "GIMME BACK MY AIGIS! TRAITOR! DEATHMYASS!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, rather nonsensically.

"…Who or what is this 'maternal being'?" Mitsuru asked, bringing some sense into the situation.

"Maternal being, Nyx…" He just sighed as he rubbed his cheek. "Call her as you may, but think of it of a concept, rather than a being. Death de-facto, coming to turn this world into one of darkness, perfect for a humankind unwilling to keep living."

"So… I guess you must be a product of my grandfather's work." She mused, sadly.

"Indeed. I came to be from his experiments."

"But…!" Minato looked desperate. "You're… a human! A transfer student who came from overseas!"

"Lies. All of them." He stood up, showing his body. "This is not my real appearance… it's just a reflection. Have you never thought about how similar our voices are? Or how much we look like each other?"

"What…?" He asked, shocked. He looked for a negation among the others. They seemed to agree. "…Why?"

"You probably heard about the explosion that took place where your school is currently located. It was supposed to finish my existence, yet I escaped from it, incomplete, and found myself wandering this same bridge. However, a unit detected me, and the battle ensued all over the zone. Port Island became a fireball, merely our track of destruction. It was my fault. Your circumstances."

"What…?" He insisted.

"Aigis eventually realized that there was no way to put an end to my existence, and so she reached a decision: she needed to seal me away. But for that, a vessel was needed. And the closest one… was a child escaping from a car whose occupants had been killed by stray bullets."

"No."

"'It's for a greater good,' I heard her say as she pointed her gun to you. It may have been. A sacrifice too big, if you ask me. And she fell to me as I fell to her."

"No..."

"The essence of Death ran through your veins from that very moment… until you finally united all the parts."

"The twelve Shadows?" Fuuka asked.

"…ALL of the parts." He directed his sight to Hamuko. "I don't know how I ever arrived to you, but here's the answer to your questions; you both were technically Shadows. It is thanks to me that your power was so superior, and it's thanks to you that I am a human. But you were really nothing but Shadows. Trying to eat each other. Unite."

This was way too much to take at once.

"Why don't you EAT your bullshit!" Hamuko growled, still being hold. "No one is buying this, right?"

Silence.

"Right?"

The silence was broken when the Appriser fell to the ground, exhausted.

"We'll… continue this later."

At Mitsuru's command, they finished rescuing what was left of Aigis, picked up Ryoji and left.

* * *

><p>Everyone was at a loss in the dorm. More so the ones gathered in the Command Room.<p>

"_I am Death. The Appriser._"

"He was fucking delirious." Hamuko barked, now somewhat more calm.

Minato only hid his face in his hands, trying to bring some sense into the situation.

"_Incomplete being… sacrifice…_"

"I don't know what the hell he'd been smoking, but Ryoji fucking had to be high on something!" She mumbled as she walked in circles around the room, looking once and again at the sleeping boy.

"_Sealed inside Minato… living inside them… Shadows…_"

"No, no, I just… this makes no sense! I have fought fucking Hulk Hogan shadows, but this makes just no—"

"WILL YOU SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH FOR A SECOND?"

Minato's sudden outburst made everyone's eyes focus on him. He stammered, apologized, and sat down again. Hamuko just stared wide-eyed.

"I'm… NO! What the hell, NO!" She yelled back. "That bastard broke Aigis! I want a goddamn explanation NOW."

"So do WE!" Akihiko growled, grabbing Hamuko's collar. "But Ryoji's not even conscious! There's no helping that! So CALM DOWN and go to your room before you do something stupid."

Akihiko released Hamuko, who glared at him as she gritted her teeth. He escorted her away.

Minato just sighed once again as Mitsuru looked at him with a difficult expression, torn between asking again.

"I don't have a clue of what's going on." He clutched his head as his voice began breaking. "I really don't know. I swear."

"It's alright, Arisato." Mitsuru patted his shoulder. "We'll wait until Mochizuki's awakening. Go to bed… we all need some rest."

* * *

><p>Pain. Horrible, horrible pain. Oh God, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, please stop. Why was she doing this?<p>

It lessened just enough for his muscles, locked in place, to loosen and relax, and he collapsed to the ground, his breath heaving, silent tears leaking out. His voice was too damaged from screaming to even whimper at his release from the torment.

But he wasn't released, was he? No, the worst of it was gone, but there was this... bloated feeling, as though he had eaten far too much. It felt wrong. There was something that shouldn't be there inside of him. There was too much within his soul.

With time, his soul would have grown to accommodate the new entity, even growing as the entity did. The pressure would have lessened. But out of his mind with pain, he sought nothing but respite. And it showed itself before him, with brown hair and a slight overbite.

"Are... you okay?"

He was. He was, now. This person could shoulder some of the burden, some of the thing within him. And perhaps, some of that other, less alien thing that had stirred to life at the stranger one's intrusion.

"Hey, are you okay?"

But she was too full too, wasn't she? It would take more room to lessen the pressure. So he just had to wring some out. Just a little.

"Uh, wai- what are you d-?"

Her meaningless words were cut off sharply as his hands wrapped around her throat with strength unnatural for one as young as he. His eyes, cold and gray, watched impassively as her feeble slaps and struggles lessened. As she emptied.

There was nothing left when he finished. All the more room to use. He smiled placidly as he lowered his face to hers, making contact between his cold lips and her cooling ones. That alien presence began to flow from him to her, but it didn't leave without taking its toll. The second presence, the one that felt more familiar, was torn out and flowed into the girl's shell, filling it, suffusing it which that which she had lost.

The boy frowned. He hadn't removed all of that alien presence, only about half of it. Perhaps another vessel could hold the rest. And this time, no troublesome consciousness would hold it back from taking control of the shell. So go, go and k-

The Dark Hour ended, and the boy collapsed instantly as the presence faded from his consciousness. Sirens could be heard shortly thereafter.

* * *

><p>Minato opened his eyes. A siren could be heard in the distance, taking a victim of the Apathy Syndrome who'd fallen to starvation, unattended as the new theory was that 'they were just okay'.<p>

He shivered a little as he looked at the big, empty space on his bed. Not having Hamuko in his arms felt rather lonely.

* * *

><p>The situation didn't change when he dressed up and made to leave to school. He was used to taking news seriously, stoically. Hamuko was not. He was used to taking losses in life without faltering. Hamuko did not possess such an ability.<p>

He halted for a second, his hand pressed firmly against his chest. Only one beat there. Nothing strange, nothing out of the norm. But he knew he had had death itself flooding his veins. His explanation to all his acts was right there. He didn't need to keep looking for reasons or mortifying himself in silence.

Then, why did it feel like something was amiss…? How did Hamuko get a share of the same in the first place, if he was the only one attacked?

"Minato-kun!"

A familiar voice brought Minato out of his thoughts. "…Keisuke-senpai!" He exclaimed, surprised at seeing the boy right in front of him. "Oh, right! There's practice today, right?"

"That's not it! You've been standing in the middle of the street for a good while!" He reproached. "Are you okay? Did you suffer from anything?" He looked at him so closely it made Minato feel uncomfortable. "Hmm… your pupils don't seem dilated so… Can you walk?"

"Y-yeah, I just have a bad case of… convoluted thoughts."

"Oh, I know the feeling." Keisuke sighed.

"Huh? Did your father changed his opinion about letting you study music abroad?"

"No, that's not it… it's just… ah, nothing. I must be feeling nervous. We're on December already, so…" He rubbed the back of his head. "I just have some doubts, you know?"

"_Maybe he's sad I haven't finished his Social Link yet_." Minato amused himself with the thought, finally allowing himself a break from the events of the previous night. "…I guess you're nervous because the exams are near, huh?"

"N-no! Nothing of the sort! Ahaha…"

"You haven't even begun studying, have you?"

"E-eh… h-hey that's no way to talk to your Senpai!" He laughed heartedly, while Minato just shook his head. "Well, um… we'd better get going to school. Be careful, alright? I… wouldn't know what to do if I lost you."

Minato linked his hands together as he awaited an explanation. Officially everyone was attracted to him.

"Not like that!" He kept laughing. "It's just… my dad told me that he was playing with a friend, when he fainted. When the paramedics arrived, he… was already gone."

The Fool suddenly regretted having continued the conversation, as he was reminded of many things.

"That made him decide he wanted to be a—"

The first ring of the school bell could be heard in the distance. The conversation stopped immediately, leaving Minato with the feeling they had become closer.

And it was the only good feeling he got in the whole day, since that afternoon they were called back to the dorm immediately after Ryoji woke up. He had important news.

* * *

><p>"Sorry about yesterday. I hadn't slept in quite a few days." He sighed. "There's more I need to tell you. I know you all. I know what kind of people you are. So before you do something brash and stupid, listen: Nyx is what you may call a goddess. Someone you will not defeat. EVER. As much as you may try, you cannot oppose Nyx. I have awakened, and so there is no path left… but The Fall."<p>

"The Fall…!" Mitsuru muttered. "That's what obsessed Mr. Chairman."

"The bells of Tartarus. The beginning of the end." Ryoji concluded. "The Fall will turn this world into a dystopia: there'll be no more fights. No more horrible acts. At the very price of your freedom and humanity; you will become what you call 'The Lost'."

No one could find anything to say. Akihiko was the first to dare ask something.

"When? When will that happen?"

"You will not live to see spring." He answered.

"There MUST be a way to stop it!" Minato stated. "What does Nyx have against us?"

"What does a human have against the ants they step on?" Ryoji asked, coldly. "Nyx is not something your minds can grasp. She's undefeatable. You are all going to die."

These words weight heavily on SEES. They had fought for so long… only to be told they were going to die irremediably?

"However," he spoke up again, "there's an alternative to waiting for an inevitable fate."

Everyone stared at him, waiting for a spark of hope.

"I am a Shadow. But thanks to them, I am a human as well. It is only because of this that I give you this chance." He took a deep breath. "Kill me."

The chorus of 'what's that sprung from the people present left very clear their opposition… or their curiosity.

"Nyx's coming cannot be avoided. But it may be delayed." Ryoji offered. "…And made painless."

He shifted on his seat. "Kill me. The Dark Hour will disappear. Your memories full of pain will vanish with it. You will have the life you deserve, the one which was taken from you unfairly. And in the end… leave without even knowing it."

"…No." Minato shook his head. "I don't want to lose my memories and I'm NOT going to kill you."

"He's right!" Akihiko crowed. "I ain't goin' down without a fight!"

The others, however, didn't seem so sure.

"Always playing difficult, Minato." Ryoji smiled, shaking his head as the Fool seemed taken aback. "I'm the same as Nyx. And I'm the same as you. Only a Fool may try to give death to the human part, so that I can reunite with Nyx instantaneously."

"What are you, instant noodles?" Hamuko seemed to bite every word. "I despise you. Every part of you, liar. I should have trusted Aigis when she warned us about you. However…"

"Are you going to tell me that you're not a murderer?"

His words were sharp as a knife to her.

"You… didn't do anything to deserve it." Minato tried to defend her.

"Really? If you let me live, I will bring you a world of suffering as you futilely try to battle against the form Nyx will bestow to me. Other than the psychological catastrophe you'll suffer from waiting every day for your impending death, I will make sure personally you truly repent your choice. You'll think that Aigis's fate was compassionate." His expression softened all of a sudden. "And I do not wish that upon you."

"I don't want to forget everything, either." Yukari agreed, somewhat more hesitatingly.

"Ignorance is bliss." Ryoji offered, as if guessing her thoughts. "The difference between dying knowing and dying without notice is how much despair you feel; humans fear death more than anything. You try to escape it in every way, and pretend it's still far when it's looming nearer with every year. But then again, that's in your nature too, so I can't force a decision upon you so easily."

He stood up and cast a glance around the room. "You have until the next full moon to think about it. If by New Years' Eve you haven't made up your minds, I'm afraid that I'll have to decide for you, since that very night, at midnight, I'll dissolve into the blackness of the Dark Hour… and with me, any chance you might have to repent."

He headed to the door slowly. "So don't worry about me. I'll die regardless of what you do. And so will you. All you can hope for it is to be meritorious."

With that, he opened the door, amongst yells telling him that they still had question. A cold breeze blew in the room all of a sudden. Fuuka announced that Ryoji had left.

"We will see him again in New Year's Eve." Mitsuru concluded. "Meeting dismissed, I suppose…"

The dorm members walked away, the feeling of impending doom sunk deep in their hearts.

A month. That was all they had until Ryoji came back.

…Minato _**needed**_ to do some things before that time arrived.

And so he decided to commence his mission on Friday, the following day.

* * *

><p>It was quite a cold day, so he found the perfect reason to go have a run with the Track Club, and check on Kazushi. The first on his list, since he talked to Kenji quite a lot in class. It'd been a while since they last chatted.<p>

"See this, man?" Kazushi asked as he jogged. "My leg is almost good as new! Give it a few weeks and I'll be running with you all! And you'll have NO excuse not to come everyday!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Minato laughed as he ran. He hadn't been to Tartarus in quite a long while, and the cold wasn't doing him any favor. Still, he was having a lot of fun with the others.

And then, suddenly, an unidentified flying object raised high into the skies, falling somewhere outside.

"What was that?" Some guy asked.

"If that's a spaceship that's the smallest I've ever seen." Another commented.

"I think it was a tennis ball." Minato observed, his theory soon confirmed by the group of girls running towards them.

"Hamuko! First you don't hit a single one, and now you send that flying?" Rio yelled.

"I'm sorry, okay? I told you I wasn't in the mood to play." She sighed.

Yuko shook her head as she ran with them. "If it fell into the sea, you'll be in a lot of—"

She was rendered speechless as the bluenet ran towards her.

"I… uh… got it." Minato handed out the ball awkwardly to Yuko. "Here."

"…Thanks." She muttered back, not very convinced.

"Hahaha, that's my Minato!" Kazushi rubbed his head. "Fast as a lightning bolt, even after skipping practice for months!"

"Hah… yeah…"

When he looked again, she was gone.

"…Maybe you should leave practice for today, Hamuko." Rio offered as she looked at the taciturn girl.

"Yeah…" She shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry again. Later, everyone."

* * *

><p>"You look like a ghost."<p>

The familiar deep voice got Hamuko's attention as she was about to leave.

"Said the white haired pretty boy." She retorted, going ahead. She then stopped and turned back. "Sorry. I'm… not very sure about how to feel."

"No one does." Akihiko patted her shoulder… and then rubbed her hair, surprising her. "Doesn't mean you can go around swearing like a sailor and punching people. Don't make me wash your mouth with soap."

She opened her eyes in surprise as he walked away.

Akihiko was an awkward boy. Even more so, seeing their circumstances. However, Hamuko could read between the lines.

…He really was a good brother.

* * *

><p>Saturday was the day Minato chose to visit two old friends of his: Bunkichi and his wife. He hadn't visited them since… since Hamuko got Kaki-kun, basically. So now he didn't have much to do, he decided to pay them a visit. Ask how things were going. Maybe get Hamuko something to cheer her up.<p>

Upon entering, however, he remembered the key reason of his absence.

"Minato-san?" Chihiro asked, surprised.

"H-hello." Minato managed to answer with a really strained voice. He then backpedaled out of the store before the owners even noticed his presence.

"Minato-san, wait!" She exclaimed, running out of the bookstore after him. When he finally stopped, she gave him a determined look. Maybe. "I need to talk to you."

"Oh, jolly." He laughed nervously. "Want some takoyaki? I'm craving some takoyaki. Takoyaki is good. Like bananas. Bananas are good and—"

"I know why you've been avoiding me." Chihiro suddenly stated.

"I—do you?" He asked, suspicious.

"Hm!" She nodded. "And you don't have to hide it anymore from me… oh, Minato-kun, I'm so sorry for not noticing earlier…"

"Ah… um… really?" He really was at a loss of words in that moment. Well, wasn't that just fantastic…?

"Haha, yes… And to think that it took me so long to notice… I didn't even think of it, until Mochizuki-san appeared!"

Wait. Wait a second there.

"You don't have to keep your mask around me any longer, Minato-san." The girl in glasses said happily. "I know you've just been trying to save your appearance, and seeing how much you've helped me, I'm only glad to have helped. Acting like a player to disguise yourself… you're so smart, Minato-san!"

Minato stood petrified for a few seconds. Then he gave her a big smile. "Yeah. Yeah, exactly! You got me, Chihiro-san! I didn't think you'd ever figure it out, but, yikes! You really got me!"

"Teehee." She laughed. "I'm glad you can accept yourself now! However… it's such a pity Mochizuki-san got transferred again…" She gave him a happy grin. "Well, if you ever feel down, you can count on me to cheer you up! Or, maybe we can have some tea together, or read BL manga together some time!"

She ran towards him, put her face right in front of his and pried his hands strongly. "Thanks to you, I'm not afraid of men anymore! I'll never be thankful enough, Minato-san."

With that she ran away, whereas Minato kept frozen in the spot, wondering about what just happened and how he'd just maxed a Social Link.

"Oh, Minato." Hamuko greeted him as she walked by a few minutes later. She waited patiently as he stood in the doorway to Bookworms. "…Goin' to the bookstore?"

He finally blinked and shook his head. He looked one side and the other and then gave her a bear hug.

"Come to my room later. I'll buy champagne."

And thus he put closure to the relationship with the person he feared the most.

Minato didn't get out of his room for the rest of the day. He drank the champagne by himself since the girl didn't really appear.

* * *

><p>Seeing the hangover he got, it was no surprise Minato spent yet another Sunday without Akinari. However, it was somewhat more remarkable that Minato went alone yet another Sunday.<p>

He walked around the shrine, trying to find a hint that his friend was there. And some peace to calm his headache. Nothing to be found.

Minato headed to the offertory, and looked around. "Hey, uh…" He said in a low voice. "I… don't particularly believe in things such as gods, ghosts, spirits or whatever so uh… I'm praying to you, Igor. Or the Universe. Or whoever may listen to me." He looked down, trying to lessen his embarrassment, before continuing. "Please, let Akinari be fine. I want to see Akinari again. Please let me see him again to check he's fine."

He moved a pair of steps back. "And here's an incentive. Maybe you can give me a hand mending my life as well."

He didn't exactly count the amount he had in his wallet, but he calculated there was about 100,000 yens or so. He clutched his head as the money falling resonated loudly against the box.

With that, he left the shrine, unsure about what to do next.

…Albeit sleeping would be a fine action. Specially seeing that everyone in the dorm let themselves sink deeply in the commotion.

…It made sense that only he could find a chance to make all his plans true in such a situation, but he'd already made up his mind, the very first moment the truth was revealed.

It wasn't his fault, nor Hamuko's. It wasn't Aigis's either. Not even Ryoji's. So he'd harm no one. He'd fight Nyx, Apollo, and whatever god decided to get in his path.

* * *

><p>Monday began with Ms. Ounishi reminding them that exams were near. Final exams when the world is about to be destroyed? Sure, why not?<p>

* * *

><p>Hamuko dragged her feet towards the tennis field. She didn't want to think. Doing sport helped her forget for a moment. Forget that Ryoji had lied to her, and everyone as well. He was a traitor. Fuck, she was thinking about it again.<p>

As she approached the tennis field, she noticed a guy with blue hair stretching nearby, his eyes fixed on someone in the distance as he did his exercises. Yuko, she guessed easily, shaking her head at the incapability of the bluenet to get her to have a conversation with him.

She appreciated his vision on the circumstances: "if the world's about to end, may as well spend my last moments making others happy". Beautiful as that was, she didn't share his opinion. However… she could give him a hand.

She'd think of a plan. After smashing balls into the stratosphere.

* * *

><p>On Tuesday… Minato finally got to talk for a while with the owners of Bookworms, and drag Hamuko along to choose any book she wanted. But it was mostly cheek-pinching so you'll be spared of the details.<p>

Likewise, Minato finally obtained his precious takoyaki… with Mitsuru, whom they found trying to find out what were they made of, if it wasn't octopus. They had to treat her after she found out that takoyaki stands don't accept credit cards.

"I'd heard you ate a lot from Akihiko and Shinjiro. However, since I'm with you, it doesn't seem the case." Mitsuru commented as she observed the snacks. "In fact, even the food expenses went down. Do you happen to be in some sort of diet?"

"It's probably all the stress we're suffering." Hamuko lamented. "Normally I'd eat like a dozen dozens of this stuff, I guarantee."

"We are all indeed under a lot of pressure." Mitsuru agreed. "…Some more than others, I guess. Akihiko and Takeba look rather fine."

"Akihiko is very brave." She commented proudly.

"So is Yukari." Minato added. "And so should all of us be."

"Indeed, but it is quite a difficult task." The redhead sighed. "All the more so seeing that exams are just around the corner…"

The Fools paled, not for fear of the exams, but fearing what Mitsuru would do if she found out they hadn't even begun studying a single page yet.

Better go home before she began asking questions.

* * *

><p>Wednesday. Yet another day being reminded that exams were near and that was 'ooh, so scary!'. It didn't sound as scary when Mr. Takenozuka said it, anyway.<p>

* * *

><p>Hamuko waltzed into the tennis field, a few minutes late, ready to begin her plan.<p>

"Hey, Yuko." She yelled, trying to get the attention of the girl she'd more or less befriended since August. "The teacher in charge of the club wants to speak with you. She said she'll wait in the gym after training."

"Huh? Why would she?" She asked, confused. "Is this about our request to get a shed where to keep all the equipment, instead of leaving it to them?"

"Yeah, probably." She shrugged. "I'll go with you if you want."

"Eh… sure."

First part of her plan, complete.

The second one started when she oh-so-casually smashed a ball right into the track field.

"I'm so sorry!" She laughed as Minato got the ball for her. "Hey, Minato… Why don't you come to the gym after practice?"

"Huh? Why would I?"

The look she gave him was enough to make him nod quickly. However, he probably knew something fishy was going on. Minato always knew everything.

Second part complete. Smashtime!

* * *

><p>Once practice was over, Hamuko led Yuko to the gym.<p>

"There's no one here…" She said, looking left and right.

"She must be on the way." Hamuko offered, peeking outside to see where Minato was.

"Hamuko?" Minato asked as he entered. "…Yuko?"

"Minato?"

"Goodbye!"

Hamuko ran out of the gym and closed the door.

"HEY, HAMUKO!" Minato yelled. "What are you doing?"

"LEMME OUT!" Yuko demanded as she smashed the door.

"I'm helping you two!" Hamuko's voice sounded muffled through the door. "Yuko, Minato's been trying to apologize for a long time! And I ain't letting any of you out till you talk some things out. So you can try to get out, or—"

The smashing against the door increased its rhythm so much that Hamuko threatened with calling a teacher if they didn't stop. It finally seemed to calm them down.

Minato sat on the ground, against the door. "Sorry." He said. "I had nothing to do with this, I swear."

"Whatever you say." Yuko growled.

Eventually, she sat down as well. Everything was silent, save for Hamuko's occasional whistling.

"Life is a weird thing, you know?" Minato mused. "When you think all's settled down, and everything will go fine, problems run past you. And when you finally get a hold and run past them, you find they somehow got the energy to run still harder. After running for a few years, you realize that you've been doing laps, running in circle. Getting nowhere."

"Are you done with the track metaphor?" The tanned girl asked, looking away.

"Yeah, sorry." He sighed. "What I mean is… everything in life is a cycle… for as long as we want it to be that way."

Silence appeared again.

"…What do you mean?" Yuko asked a few minutes later.

"I don't know if you believe in people changing. I didn't." Minato moved the hair out of his face. "One day, not that long ago, I decided to change things. Break the cycle. Open a new path, to make the circle a spiral. I was a bad person. I don't know if I'm one still, but I'm trying. When you're in a spiral, you know that eventually you'll find an exit. Call it a goal. Mine is being a good person."

Yuko didn't say anything, but she looked at him intently.

"When I met you, I was an uncaring person. I didn't give half a damn about the others, I only cared about me… and someone else. However things happened. Lots of things. Bad things. Can't say they were my fault, nor anyone's, but they still weigh heavily in my chest. But, back on track… all that made her want to forget me. And that made me… furious, I guess. I don't recall those days very well. I only know that you happened to be in the way. And that… was really bad luck for you. _**I**_ was the most unfair thing which could have happened to you."

Still no words from her.

"I can't get out of the spiral if I don't figure out how to make a hole in the wall of the circle, and you're the biggest wall left in my heart. I have been meaning to apologize for a really long time. I'm really, REALLY sorry about what I did, and I don't expect you to forgive me. I didn't forgive myself. But I want you to know that that was a really dark time of my life, and I apologize with all my strength for hurting your feelings." He took a deep breath. "I really needed to say so."

As he leaned back against the door, he fell on his back, the door opened all of a sudden.

"Guess that birdbrain finally let us free." He sighed as he rubbed his head and walked a few steps away. "Sorry about that. Sometimes you just have to wonder what's going on in her head."

"Hey, Minato." She stopped him.

Yuko hesitated a bit before speaking again. "My life is really good now. I have Kazushi, the tennis team, and all my friends. Maybe I wouldn't have ended up with Kaz if it hadn't been for the time we spent together. I'm… not gonna forget what happened. You meant something to me. But… I think you really meant what you said. If this will let you go on, I… think I'm ready to forgive you."

Minato's expression lit up, a trembling smile formed on his face. "T…Thank you so much."

He bowed once and again, not for courtesy nor gratefulness, but to hide the tears forming in his eyes.

Soon they parted ways, running out of school. Faster, you may say, now that both of their hearts were somewhat lighter.

…Or some fussiness like that.

* * *

><p>Returning to the dorm, however, put a damper on his mood. Everyone was depressed as usual. The only little isle of happiness seemed to be Hamuko, really proud of having helped them.<p>

It was such the situation, that Mitsuru decided to convoke a meeting the following day, trying to search for a solution and see the progress of their decisions.

* * *

><p>All the dorm members, gathered by Mitsuru, simply sat around the table. There was some tea for everyone. Pastries in the center. She foresaw it'd be a long talk.<p>

"It's been a week." Yukari was the one to break the ice. "…Have any of you made up your minds?"

Fuuka clung to her teacup for life. Akihiko sat at the edge of the sofa, his hands linked between his knees and a strong look in his eyes.

"That is the very reason I summoned you here. This is a crucial situation. The fate of every human on this world is in our hands. We should reach a consensus before proceeding." She offered.

Ken was sitting on the armchair, holding Koromaru in his arms as usual. Minato stood up, observing the lounge silently.

"Nyx is supposedly unbeatable, right? Well… I'm in for a challenge." Akihiko stated.

"If Sanada-san goes, I go too." Ken supported him.

Hamuko was leaning against the same armchair. Yukari seemed to want to jump to her feet, nervously looking left and right.

"Fighting the very idea of 'Death'…" Mitsuru pondered, her eyebrows knit together in an expression of utmost despair. "Or killing a friend… a human."

"I quite doubt his status as a human." Minato intervened, finally adopting a more active position towards the conversation. "But I'd never, ever hurt a friend."

"A traitor." Hamuko spluttered, tensing her folded arms as she unwillingly sank her nails in her elbows. "…But I value my memories."

Mitsuru was in the armchair closest to the door, just pondering in silence to keep everyone away from her inner pain. Junpei was sitting next to Yukari, his head hidden in his hands, in a expression which only gave away how defeated he felt.

"What about you, Junpei?" Yukari asked in a rather tactful way. "What do you want to do?"

"…Does it matter what I WANT…?" Junpei inquired, dragging his hands down his face. "When there's nothing I CAN do?"

"Well, we can always—"

"NO, WE CAN'T." Junpei stood up. "We're fighting DEATH. Everything. DIES. There's no way we can win! I can't kill Death! You can't kill Death!"

He looked left and right, at two specific objectives. "And the ones who can… are the ones at fault for everything!"

"Excuse me?" Minato yelled. "It's only because of the time we spent together that we even have this chance!"

"Iori!" Mitsuru reproached. "It was my grandfather who started this—"

"But they raised it! If they hadn't come to this place, none of this would have even started!" He accused. Lowering the lid of his hat, he added. "It… it was all your fault man… I'm sorry, I just dunno how to feel right now… It's like back to the days I was with my dad…"

No one was aware of what he meant, save for Hamuko, who righted herself as a wrinkle began forming below her nose. "So you really think it's OUR fault? Like we wanted this to happen?" Hamuko walked slowly towards Junpei. "You think we knew?" She put her face right in front of Junpei's as she poked strongly his chest. "You think YOU'RE the only who's lost people?"

"The only one who cares." He muttered, glaring at her menacingly without even inching away.

"YOU-!" She bit her lip. "Now, that's okay. It's okay. You didn't even know most of them. But… Shinji. We all know Shinji. _Remember_ him?"

"Yes." He stated brashly. "Do YOU?"

Hamuko was taken back by this answer.

"Say. Do you?" He insisted. "Have you visited him a single time since **that** day?"

"O-OF COURSE!" She yelled. Then her voice became barely a thread. "I… I… j-just…"

"You fucking haven't." Junpei sentenced harshly stepping ahead so she'd step back. "You act like he'd kicked the bucket. As soon as he fell in that coma, you just raaaan into Minato's arms. Well, here's the big news, Hamu. He AIN'T dead."

Several members of SEES had clearly displeased expressions, but they didn't interfere, unsure about the consequences of siding up with one of them.

"…You are one to talk?" She asked, incredulous. "You never stopped trying to get it on with others, from the moment you met her. Or now you'll say the hotsprings thing was an accident? Oh, MY. Chidori is in a bed, cutting herself! I'm sure that the best I can do is try to fuck someone else! Didn't you love her so much? Huh? Think that was okay for her?"

"No." Junpei was gritting his teeth strongly. "No, it wasn't. And I only realized this in the end. But you know what? YOU KNOW FUCKIN' WHAT?"

Iwatodai seemed to become silent all of a sudden, with the only ambient noise coming from the fluorescents in the ceiling.

"She's gone. She's gone for real."

Junpei didn't even bother saying goodbye. He just left Hamuko standing immobile like a stake in the middle of the room as he headed upstairs.

"…I suppose it's not yet the adequate time to make decisions." Mitsuru lamented, once Junpei's steps could no longer be heard. "We have until New Year's Eve. Twenty days." She got up and cast a glance around. "Let's try to continue with our lives until then. Meeting dismissed."

While everyone else marched on to their own rooms, probably not in the mood to sit around discussing it, Minato walked towards Hamuko.

"Why didn't you defend me, Minato?" She asked, without even turning around. "Why didn't you say a single thing in YOUR defense?"

He quietly wrapped his arms around her as he whispered in her ear: "You know he was right."

With that, he gently took her hand and they headed upstairs as well.

* * *

><p>The following day, nothing much happened. But that had been the rule, for a long time. The classes were slow. People seemed slow. Like a long row of slowpokes battling against each other. Or dittos. Dittos who don't know who they're even copying. Just standing there, living their lives without fear of tomorrow, only worried about some or other gossip, or looking at the guy they like, or being all crazy about the latest videogame.<p>

They don't know what's coming. They aren't responsible for it. They don't have the power to stop it.

Did she even, anyway?

* * *

><p>When the bell rang, she didn't head to the tennis field. She didn't go ask Mitsuru if she wanted some food. She didn't run to the dorm to ask Ken to hang out. She waited for someone in the school gates. An upperclassman with gray hair.<p>

"No. I have to train."

"But you said…"

He walked away, saying that he wasn't going to make it easier. She just sat there after he did.

"Come on." Another one said, with blue hair. "He's waiting for you."

She stood up and ran after him.

* * *

><p>"What… should I do?" She asked, worried.<p>

"Just go inside and talk." Minato answered, set on not accompanying her.

The hospital door slid open. Hamuko walked in.

"Hey, Shinji... I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?" She giggled a bit, the sound horribly forced. "Haha, now I'm sounding like my brother. He misses you too, you know, but… he's busy. Jeez, come on down to the dorm sometime, won't ya? You spend all your time here. What, did a hot nurse catch your eye? If I knew that was your thing, I coulda gotten an outfit."

She walked over to his bedside and looked down at his face, still and peaceful.

"...You don't always hafta ignore me when I'm being dumb, you know. Sometimes a girl likes you to pay attention, even if you do pull off that uncaring badass thing pretty well."

Shinji, of course, said nothing. The steady rise and fall of his chest and the unceasing rhythmic beeps of the monitors were the only clue he was alive at all. Telling Hamuko things she already knew.

"Aw come on, Shinji, say somethin'! If you don't, I'll make Fuuka cook you your meals. I bet even hospital food isn't that bad, huh? You know the other day, she tried to put coffee milk in curry? I mean, she's improved a lot, but… hahaha, oh man, I wish you'd have been... there..."

Her smile stayed plastered on her face, but something in her eyes broke. She began blinking rapidly, clenching her fists.

"Heh heh... just remembering it brings tears to my eyes... you... you shoulda..."

She suddenly screamed incoherently, slamming both her fists down next to his head, making the bed shake lightly. Her smile had warped into a grimace.

"Say something! Wake up! You're here, aren't you? You're right here, on this bed, I can FUCKING SEE YOU! You aren't gone! You aren't Ryoji, or Chidori, or Aigis. You're RIGHT FUCKING HERE! Wake up! Call me an idiot! Grumble, or swear, or be crabby, or something! Please, just...! Just..."

She broke down completely, hunching forward over him.

"...Just prove me wrong."

She began crying herself out, wetting the front of the hospital gown he was in. That was no Shinji. That was just a shadow of the man she loved.

But like a signal sent from beyond, a louder beep than the others echoed in the room. Hamuko turned around, her face red and eyes swollen from crying her heart out. She couldn't stop looking at the machine connected to Shinji. Was that… perhaps…?

After a while, she leaned back, righting herself.

"Sorry I haven't come in before. I wanted to pretend you were gone, yanno? It was easier. Or I guess I thought it was. But people actually ARE gone, now, and it's so much worse than anything else. Some of them might come back, but some of them won't. Junpei was right. You aren't gone. You're just... kinda far away."

She grinned as she looked at him nostalgically.

"Ya better be doing your best to come back, you hear me? I'll be sure and help you out. I know you're bad at finding things, so I'll come back and talk to you, so you can find your way."

She placed one hand on his cheek gently, managing a genuine smile at the warmth beneath her palm.

"It makes me sick, the idea that you won't come back. Like some coma could keep you down."

She stood and made to leave, turning one last time to look at him.

"See you tomorrow, Shinji."

Hamuko walked out. The hospital door slid closed.

Two different sets of steps walked away.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was written faster and in a much less rushed way, yet in less time, thanks to not having my nose ground against the paper by my beta reader 8D<strong>

**Hope you liked it!**


	92. Saa Christmas!

**Author note: Hi yes, I know I take forever with each update, but what about someone updates the fanfic rec in TVTropes? It says this is 81 chapters long 8D;**

**Hey if when this is over you feel like 'geez, this fanfic would have been good without all that stupid drama', well… you'll have to check out the VN Evilshroom and I are doing! Protagonists as charismatic and well defined as the ones in TFT, but 0% drama, 100% humor and 15% failing at maths. But we will need musicians. **

**Also I'm writing a novel. Just saiyan.**

* * *

><p>"How did it go?"<p>

Hamuko closed the hospital door with a sigh and looked at Minato. "Well, I always knew he was a heavy sleeper." She shrugged carelessly. "But he could at least have a nervous tick or something for me after three days."

"Just give it time." Minato ruffled her hair. "I'm sure he'll be very proud of you when he wakes up."

"…Yeah!" She nodded happily.

They were about to leave the floor when they encountered two nurses chatting.

"…Kamiki..."

Minato froze on the spot. "Did you hear that?" He asked.

"N…no." Hamuko lied all too obviously, trying to drag him away.

"Why… why are you doing this, Hamu?" He inquired, harshly. "Don't you want to find out? See him again?"

"…I read once in a book that if you don't see people die, they may still be alive... What if Schro… Schru… Schwarzenegger was right?"

Minato became silent for a moment. "…Schrödinger only wanted to kill cats." With that, he sprinted back to the nurses. "Excuse my intromission, but are you speaking of Akinari Kamiki, by any chance?"

"Oh, you knew him?" One nurse with black hair and a mole asked.

"…Knew?"

"Yeah, we received a notice from his mother. The poor boy died on his bed, yesterday. He refused to walk into the hospital, even though he had been lying there for weeks, you kn—"

Minato and Hamuko left in a rush.

* * *

><p>Hamuko stood by silently as Minato punched the wall of the hospital, once and again. Silently. Rhythmically. "Goddamn it…" He uttered to himself. "I even prayed…"<p>

There was no emotion in his voice. It was cold beyond words.

The brunette looked at him askance, and rather hesitatingly walked towards him. She opened her arms wide.

"C'mon. We r-really need it." She offered with a trembling grin.

"Crying… solves nothing." He answered, defeated.

"Neither does praying. So if you don't want to cry… well…" She gulped tugging at his sleeve. "I guess you'd say we should do something about it."

Minato looked at her quizzically after that statement, even more so as she grabbed his hand and began walking away from the hospital, eyes red as she tried to hold back to stand up to her companion.

They didn't go back to the dorm that afternoon, roaming the streets of Iwatodai looking for the Kamiki residence. They didn't have a clue about where to look, and the nurses weren't very helpful. They didn't have a destination, but they sure had a lot of rumors from the people they found.

* * *

><p>The shrine ended up being their stronghold in an uneventful evening. It was empty. Devoid of life, once decorated by the grin of a child who used to play around.<p>

"Where do you think people go when they're… gone?"

Hamuko's question got Minato, who'd already recovered his composure quite a long while before, by surprise.

"The grave." He answered bitterly.

"And the ones Kirijo has to hide?"

"A secret grave." He sighed.

"That can't be helped?"

"Well, you can incinerate them, I guess."

Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm trying to be abstract here, Minato."

"Why?" He asked.

"Well, um. Because that's what you'd do. Well, not that. But you'd try to cheer me up. Or talk 'bout stuff. So I talk 'bout stuff because maybe that'll cheer you up like you do and—"

"Stop. Please." He forced a smile. "I… Look, I appreciate it. I know it's really difficult for you too. But… I don't know, Hamuko. I've been… looking for him week after week. Hoping he'd be alright. You just decided that you'd stay away and… in the end, it was all the same. Neither of us will see him again."

"But that… couldn't be helped."

"Indeed. But…"

"Hey. Shush. I see where you're going there. That's not what you've been teaching me, Minato."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and curled closer to him, hoping to comfort him. "I remember when we used to stay like this for hours. I was so happy back then."

Minato frowned sadly and heaved yet another sigh. "So was I. But… argh… because of Ryoji and…"

"Let's not talk 'bout _that_." She put a finger on his lips and smiled, although it was easy to tell that it wasn't completely sincere.

The silence of the night was absolute, now that summer was far away and it was too cold to hang out so late.

"Actually… We've been doing nothin' but fight all along, huh?"

Minato looked at her, her sight set on the jungle gym. "It wasn't our fault. I… don't have a clue about how all this works, but Ryoji said it was Death inside us. I guess that this isn't too different from blaming Igor, but… we actually have an answer now."

"So if it hadn't been for him… it… we would have been happy."

"What are you implying?"

Hamuko seemed startled for a second. "I was just figuring... Nevermind."

The other Fool moved her softly away from him as he stood up. "…Let's go home. We should at least have a look at what's going to be in the exams tomorrow."

"...Yeah."

Their minds more or less on the same level of despair, yet oddly calm, they walked back to the dorm.

* * *

><p>Exams started on Monday, the fourteenth of December. They finished on Saturday, the nineteenth. Only twelve days more till the avatar of Death itself came back from who knows where to ask them how they preferred to die.<p>

Anyone who'd known about this would think that SEES, carrying such a big responsibility would have been too worried to get good marks.

But no. They all had the best marks they'd had during the whole grade. After all, they'd been doing nothing but study for weeks, trying to get everything else out of their minds. Even Junpei had a relatively high mark.

How did the Fools do? Well… they got a 100. Again. Inexplicably. Too busy finding a new thing to get busy to care, moving on.

…Mitsuru would have been mildly amused if she hadn't been asking every single night about Aigis's status. The Fools were kind of kept in the dark, since they wouldn't understand the process, anyway.

* * *

><p>Akihiko lays on his bed after a hard exams week. Those are fifty times harder than the harsher workout he's ever done and ten times more stressing than any night in Tartarus. But that's just not it, if he was just tense he'd let off some steam with his boxing bag. No. There's so much more going on. There are only… what, ten days or so till that guy comes back? He knew he was gonna fight from the very first moment. He doesn't care about suffering, he's suffered a lot in life already to get where he is. However…<p>

He isn't alone. And he isn't fighting just for himself.

His pillow softens the cranky sigh which escaped his mouth after his red eyed underclassman crosses his mind. Hamuko; Miki. Seikatsu; Sanada. It doesn't sound that different, right? Well there's an abyss between them.

"Shinji…" He pinches the bridge of his nose, thoughtful. "He couldn't have thought that…"

Maybe she is actually crazy, and she ain't no Miki. Maybe. But… why would she lie? She doesn't have a family, just like him, but… And what if… what if Kurosawa was right? He did want to believe he was right.

He still remembers the day he met him, crystal clear. He was only a boy back then. He can no longer imagine himself with brown hair with silver strokes. The boxing captain recommended him the brown dye if he wanted to have fans, of course, but he just went with silver anyway.

Back then, despite being skinny and short, Aki had the strength of an older boy. And seeing how often he got in fights, it was no wonder that he'd end up in the police office about as much as Shinji. Especially because they usually got sent there together.

Kurosawa… is a really cool guy. Less serious back then, though. Life's hard for everyone, it seems. He used to shake his head and sigh when we got there. His partner… Dojima, I think, used to say something like "I'll make sure that those little punks will find the right path" while he prepared some coffee. But he left 'cause his wife said that life in Port Island was too dangerous for their baby. Anyway, Kurosawa took upon him to make this true. And he did. Saving the world, and all.

One day Aki was sent there, all alone, his face a complete mess, he just sat there and linked his hands. They'd never really talked. It was the first time he had to answer before him, other than just being pushed into the car. "Son," he said, looking at him straight in the eye. "Why do you keep doing this?"

"I'm not your son." He growled. "And whyddya care? They pay ya t'arrest me, not be my psy… psych… psychopath!"

The guy just drank some of his coffee and chuckled. It was a sad laugh, and even lil' Aki could see that.

"What?" He asked.

"You reminded me of someone." He explained, righting himself. "A little girl I rescued once. I wonder where she's now."

"Rescue…" The grimace on Aki's face probably told him more than the cryptic repetition.

"_That_'s what I'm paid to do." The officer looked more solemn. "I help people. Everyone. Even at the cost of my own life, because I live to keep everyone safe."

The eyes of the brunette lit up ever so slightly. "I wish I could have that kind of strength."

"Well. Look at you. So young, and coming here so often. If you'd survived all that, I'd say that you're quite—"

"No. I ain't strong." His head hung so low, it almost touched the table. "I couldn't rescue her from… from the fire..."

Akihiko doesn't know what went through his head in that moment. Maybe something just clicked in the brain of the officer. But his following words, marked him forever.

"What if… I told you… I think I know who you mean?"

He told the boy about a girl and a hospital. About how she was sent to another town. About the same exact night his previous life ended.

Akihiko ran to Shinji, but he didn't believe it. With no one else to go to, and no way to find out anything else, he stuck by Kurosawa's side. The guy who'd finally given him a reason to keep his head high again in life. And so he took them out of the orphanage and right into Kirijo's project, following his wish to 'gain more strength'. As it turned out, he did have the potential.

So did another little fellow, who followed him there, because, "what if it's a cult or somethin'?".

By the time Akihiko stopped revising, it was already dark out. He stretched his limbs, and grumbling about not having done any training in a whole day got up from his bed.

…Better go visit someone.

* * *

><p>"So? Are we going to look for him today?"<p>

A reproachful stare from Minato made Hamuko grimace ever so slightly as she turned off his TV.

"Kinda hypocritical of me to ask that…"

"I got what you meant."

Minato got up from the bed and stuck his hands into his pockets. "Yeah. Now we've got some free time we should continue spending it wisely."

"You mean you should keep talking to people you feel bad 'bout instead of actually training to give Nyx a supreme beating?"

"If you want to keep climbing that stupid tower with no guarantee that we'll find anything, then be my guest." He sighed. "But if all fighting fails, I want to go with my conscience clear."

Hamuko walked closely behind him as they left the room. "…You're sad 'cause our team ain't complete too, huh?"

"'Huh', indeed."

She smiled sadly to herself as she grabbed his hand. Before he turned his head, she made sure to turn that tiny smile into a wide grin. "'Tis a noble quest! I shalt imitateh theetheth andeth…eth…"

He was trying to mend everything, but lost in that mission, he just flew away from her.

And as she headed downstairs, she exchanged a brief salute with her female Senpai.

* * *

><p>"Y…Yukari?"<p>

She opened the door for Mitsuru, without even asking who was there. Irresponsible, or was it because she was the only one who didn't use honorifics? In any case, there she was, with her bizarre dress. Fashions… are strange.

"Is something wrong?"

Oh, she caught her staring! "I-I just wanted to talk." She announced as she walked in quickly.

"Talk? About what?"

"I'm not too sure, myself." The weather would be a nice option actually.

"Well um… Oh! I guess I've told ya before, but… I want to fight to the end." She cast her eyes down. "My father gave his life to protect everyone… and doing nothing would be letting him down." Yet a smile suddenly appeared on her face as she looked at the older female. "Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"Ah… y-yes, indeed. I see I could not deceive you." In fact, she wasn't even too sure about why she went to her room, leaving the latest novel Seikatsu had recommended her like that. Perhaps she was just feeling lonely. "I am set on my decision to fight, as well. Albeit my life will be harsher, now that my father is gone. I will have to take care of Kirijo once I graduate…"

No, it wasn't just that.

"If I die, the Kirijo Group will have to go on without me, but I am confident..."

If only it was just that.

"That they will respect my wishes."

"Senpai…?"

As much as Mitsuru commended Yukari for helping her, there were things she had to keep to herself. After all, there was no helping them. She wouldn't understand, either.

"So, I've been thinking… Ryoji said that Nyx is not able to be defeated but… I've seen Minato and Hamuko do great things together."

Ah… those two. …Of course, only a portion of the dorm members were aware of the darker parts of their lives. Then again, did that even matter anymore?

"I know that the moment Nyx laid a single finger on Hamuko, Minato-kun would kick it back into wherever it came from, haha…"

An union so powerful and so bizarre. Could that be love? Or just a link created by Death, as Ryoji said? …Were they so close because they wanted to?

"Um, Senpai."

"Yes?" She asked, focusing once again.

"You… promised me you would stand by my side. Will you?"

"Of course!" Mitsuru almost jumped to her feet. How could she even… how could she doubt that? "I will ALWAYS stand by your side!"

"Yes, we will fight together!" She nodded.

Oh… oh… of course she was talking about fighting.

"If we die, we'll do so being proud of how we lived."

And so she walked out of her room, with strange thoughts wandering her mind.

* * *

><p>Everything was black. Aigis could not be shut down during reparations, for she needed to provide the mechanics and all the other scientists with a detailed report about her malfunctions. This time it was fairly distinctive. Ryoji had truly made a mess. But that was okay. They said they wouldn't only repair her, but improve her. Her limbs did not matter. However…<p>

"…Here." One of them said, pointing a surgical instrument at a point in her Papillion heart, with the help of a magnifying glass. "It's your lucky day, Aigis. It's barely a graze. …Your heart looks somewhat unclean and greasy, though. Have any other wounds exposed it?"

"…Could be so."

The ambiguity of her answer makes the researcher look at her in surprise.

"Have your memories suffered any further damage?"

No answer. They decided to find out anyway.

Of course everything is damaged. She has been hurt so many times. What she has seen goes beyond the capacity of her many hard disks, but they just do not know that.

And images appear from her memory. Just for her to see. Because, for once, she has been so damaged that they need to mend them.

She remembers a young boy. So willing to save the world. So happy. Now sees a boy so tired, so sad.

Images of a girl appear sometimes as well. A hero. Now down to a zero.

She remembers so much. All thanks to Ryoji. Something went wrong when she promised. The people changed and she did not. Selfish, he called her, and he was right. She… she has refused to acknowledge what happened after so much time. Maybe it makes sense for two people at once to haunt her. For putting off the end for so long. The charge on their shoulders, decaying from inside.

"The use of the CPU is way too high. She'll overheat if we don't switch her off."

Her thoughts fade as everything goes black again. But she will not forget her resolve.

* * *

><p>Laying on the sofa that wonderful Wednesday afternoon, covered by a thousand blankets on winter was an unmatchable feeling. One which couldn't even compare to the best night ever.<p>

Until a dark shadow named Akihiko suddenly clouded Hamuko's wish to absorb heat like a sponge.

"Hey. You gonna fight?"

Hamuko opened her eyes and gave her brother an annoyed look. "Of course."

"…So what are you doing?"

"Well, Minato said that going to Tartarus was usel—"

"I don't mean right now."

She gave him a curious look as he shook his head disapprovingly.

"Your powers and all that come from the Social Links, right? I haven't seen you talk to anyone in weeks."

"I'm uh…" She just glanced aside. Good point. "Observing?"

"Observing, huh?" He glared at her in a way that not even his fangirls could probably imitate. "Where's Ken right now?"

"…On Earth!" She quickly answered. "…It wasn't a trick question, right?"

She could only make a gurgling sound as he dragged her out of her blankets and into the streets of Iwatodai.

* * *

><p>"Ken!" Hamuko yelled, unable to hold back when she found the kid sitting on the usual spot, by the ruins of his house. "What… What did I tell you 'bout this place?"<p>

"I…" He muttered, before Akihiko stepped in front of him.

"I thought you wanted to visit your mother's grave today."

"I was planning to, but…" Ken shrugged his shoulders, looking even smaller. "I decided to come here to think."

"You came here to get k—!"

"Hamuko." He said with a reproachful tune. "We two always come here to think about our things.."

"I'm sorry, but..." Ken muttered under his breath, looking away. "I just can't talk to my mother yet. I've things to do before that."

"I can respect that…" The brunette gave him a dubious look, but then she finally calmed down. "…But it ain't no place for a child, though! You should know better than that, Aki!"

"…Maybe." He sounded apologetic.

"This place is really lonely and calm. No one ever comes here." Ken added. "If we didn't come here, my house would be really abandoned."

The image of the current state of her old orphanage crossed Hamuko's mind. "I… understand."

So they just kind of sat there and thought about stuff. Hamuko was thinking about how little she knew about the boy. And her brother. Ten years had gone by, after all…

"We should go to Pawlounia."

Hamuko blinked, surprised. "Huh?"

"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve." He smiled incredulously. "Don't tell me you forgot?"

"Yeah. Totally vanished from my mind. Man, I totally forgot to buy gifts…" She lamented. "F-fortunately Santa never forgets, Ken! I'm sure he'll—"

"I… know he doesn't exist." He replied dryly.

"…Well aren't you just a little killjoy?" She pouted. "Tsk, thinking Santa is a fake… then who leaves the presents, smart boy?" What a naïve boy, hah. "Well no worries! Getting no gifts ain't the end of the world."

Silence.

"Why are you two looking at me like that?" She inquired.

The silence came back, this time stronger.

"Even Shinji is more talkative than you guys."

No response. It must be a corpse.

"…I'm gonna go talk to him. Uh… you two have fun. And don't get killed."

"We'll fight back if they try." Akihiko said solemnly.

Actually she didn't feel all that happy wandering around that place so late, but she left anyway.

* * *

><p>After the previous night with Ken, Hamuko couldn't stop shaking her head at her own reflection. Too many things popping up in her mind. She'd said Minato's was a noble quest… but her first attempt was actually a complete failure. She'd been wallowing in self pity and fear for such a long time that she'd practically lost connection with all her friends. She no longer knew what was going on in their lives, nor how to speak to them.<p>

But that could be mended. Probably. Maybe. The one guy she could always go to was down. The other was on a bed. And the last one was…

Absent. Junpei had been pretty much absent for days. Wandering around the dorm, picking food and leaving. A sad life. So empty since the most important one for him left him… She knew how he felt.

And once school was over, she dragged her backside to the kitchen, for once unoccupied by Fuuka, who'd been pondering about Aigis almost more than herself. With the milk package in one hand and a lot patience in the other, she began making a mess out of the place.

* * *

><p>"Knock knock."<p>

No answer.

"I said knock knock, so move your molasses!"

Only the silence seemed to hear her.

"Well then, I will leave this WONDERFULLY HOMEMADE DELICIOUS CHRISTMAS CAKE somewhere else!"

Soft, unsure steps could finally be heard as the door opened ever so slightly, just to reveal an eye and some unkempt beard.

"So uh… mind lendingd me and Miss Toriumi here a place to sit? It's… kinda chilly out here."

"…Ain't gonna leave no señorita out in the cold." He answered as he made space for her. Hamuko immediately rushed in, a big smile decorating her face.

Hamuko walked into his room, looking around the place or at the cake as she made her way through. That place made her old room look good in comparison.

"This might shock ya, but, uh… not many girls've been here in a while." Junpei chuckled awkwardly, and rather falsely as well as he looked at the mess.

"Oh, any before me?" Hamuko chirped, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well… Senpai once walked in here, cryin' her heart out when I first left the dorm for more than an hour. She knew you girls can't spend a day without me, so we agreed to keep it secret for the team."

"My, my. I'll have to do my best to keep that secret." She hid a smirk, recalling the long nights watching recordings.

They sat on the chairs next to his desk, after Hamuko refused to sit on his bed after finding a Kleenex box. She preferred to think it was there because he'd been crying too much.

She finally left the cake on the desk and the silence returned, as well as the tense atmosphere which had been present between the two for a long time.

"So… why are you so cruel?"

"Huh?" Hamuko startled at the question.

"Bringin' a cake to this old poor Casanova's room, to play me and remind me—"

"Now, don't think wrong, you."

She looked down flustered. "This cake ain't just for us."

It was then time for Junpei to look bemused.

"You see, I went to the hospital and asked a friend to come with me. Told him that he'd be here," she put a hand over her heart, "in my digestive whateveritins to share cake with me." She laughed. "Because, yanno. It wouldn't be fair if you were the only one with company."

She took Junpei's hand to his own chest. "You were the one who said that it's like she's with you, no?"

He kept it there, his eyes cast down in an insecure expression.

"I know I said some unfair things the other day… you as well… and…" She produced a knife out of the pocket of her jacket, in a rather frightening way. "I thought a cake would be good to start a Christmas truce."

He chuckled again as he shifted positions, resting his head on his hand as he looked away. "T-they will start rumors, y'know?"

"You still hung up on that?"

The weird chuckles continued, making Hamuko furrow her eyebrows. She jumped to her feet.

"So. Still partners?"

Junpei gave her a weird look, and lowered his cap as he smiled. A hand met hers in the air.

"Forever."

A guy a girl, and the memories of those they loved having cake.

Three girls chatting happily, on the floor above.

A boy, a child and a dog remising about their pasts as they bought some gifts.

And a Fool, stuck to his phone in his room.

A happy Christmas Eve, for everyone.

And for the gone ones too.

* * *

><p>"And Naoto kept telling me about this one childhood friend of h-his…"<p>

A most terrific image appeared before their eyes. Mitsuru walking into Wild Duck Burger.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

Hamuko tried to run towards the door and jump in front of her.

But she fell some meters too early because she had too much cake.

"…Seikatsu?" Mitsuru asked hesitatingly.

"Good gods, Hamuko." Minato knelt down next to her as he helped her up. "Did that hurt too much?"

"Kinda… ow fu…" She clutched her stomach. Man, she'd really gained some weight. "Ahaha… sorry, guess it's been a while since I last ate too much."

"We… were just…. surprised to see you here… alone." Minato lied. He was more like catatonic.

"Then you'll be delighted to hear that I have been visiting this establishment rather often as of late." She said proudly. "Eating hamburgers is an art I've already dominated."

Hamuko was going to make a comment about Mitsuru and dominating things, but she decided to keep it to herself.

She kept staring at both Fools, still on the ground. "…Perhaps you'd like to accompany me? There are some matters I'd like to discuss about."

"More food?" Hamuko asked happily.

"Weren't you just…?"

"But ice-cream!" She defended herself as she practically pushed Mitsuru into the store.

* * *

><p>"I have been… observing you two for quite a while." Mitsuru confessed, out of the blue.<p>

"Yeah, we know 'bout the recordings."

"…Recordings?"

"Ignore her." Minato intervened, kicking Hamuko's shin.

"In any case… there's something I've been meaning to ask." The redhead looked conflicted for a few seconds, before finally going on. "I don't mean to sound intrusive, but, may I ask what is the relationship between you two?"

The Fools looked at each other. Then at Mitsuru. Then at each other.

"Lovers." They concluded.

"Oh, you mean, a couple?"

They shared an awkward look. Minato decided to go ahead and answer. "Um, not… necessarily."

"Something… looser?" She asked, almost startled.

"Well, we… love each other a lot, but… we understand that under certain circumstances some things may happen and…" Hamuko gesticulated wildly. "…And maybe you can love more than one person, so being 'together-together' ain't for us."

"I see." It was time for the leaders to look surprised. "So, in your opinion, compromise could not lead to love?"

"Love cannot be led by anything." Minato sighed. "Otherwise, how do you explain I keep helping this birdbrain?"

"I'f kick fu iffa han't mah mauf full!" The other girl defended herself.

Minato and Mitsuru shared a silent nod of agreement and decided to drop the subject for the rest of the afternoon. Mitsuru looked really thoughtful when they parted ways.

* * *

><p>"Heeey!"<p>

Fuuka looked around Port Island Station to see who was yelling. …Oh, Junpei!

"What's a girl like you doing in a place like… oh wait, nevermind, I guess you must be taking a train."

"No, I just came back from my home. I was visiting my parents." She smiled, recalling their happy faces upon seeing her.

"Ah, I see. Must've been a while, huh?"

"Yes…" She nodded. "I was a bit nervous, but I told myself that it would be okay. As it turns out, it did."

"That's really good, Fuuka." He dropped the honorifics rather casually as his eyes traveled to the sketchbook he was holding. Oh… was she bothering him? Maybe he just wanted to look at the photos. "I… really admire how much you've changed." H-huh?

"I-I…" She closed her mouth, thinking about it for a second. "…Thank you, Junpei. You've changed a lot too."

"Me?" He grinned, closing the sketchbook. "I dunno what to tell you. I still fail at everything, make lame jokes and… here I am, wasting my time in the street."

"But you've changed as well. The Junpei I used to know would be talking about how great he is."

"I see… HEY!" He startled while Fuuka giggled a little. "Fuuka, you've spent too much time with Aigis-chan!" He pretended to cry to entertain her.

"But uh… now really, I still do pretty stupid stuff. Like, when I got angry the other day. I was really bad." He sighed. "But, I was scared."

"I think we all are scared." Fuuka sat next to him. "The Dark Hour is something no one else knows about. We are the only ones who can make sure that everyone is alright… so being scared is normal. I'm always scared when I see you all fight, because I can't do anything else for you than telling you things you could probably see without me."

"Nah! Ya help us a lot! If it wasn't for you we'd just throw fire at some big… fire… stuff." He scratched the back of his head. "But… I see what you mean. Lookin' while everyone is in danger must be horrible."

"But, that's okay. I trust you all." She gave him a reassuring nod. "That's why I think we all should fight to the end."

"Yeah." He grinned. "People trust us, even if they don't know it. So we gotta fight for them."

"Yep. We can't let people down." He got up from the bench he was sitting on and picked up the sketchbook. "So, wanna grab somethin' to eat?"

* * *

><p>Days passed, things were done. But December was such a boring month that one could almost swear they did nothing but sleep.<p>

* * *

><p>"Aigis will come back tonight!"<p>

That was what Yukari had said in the morning, and frankly, The Fools hadn't dared leave the dorm lest they would miss out on that event. Their beloved robot was back again after a whole month. How would they talk to her, now that they knew what she did ten years prior.

The expectation almost killed them when the door finally opened. Not even Ryoji deserved that much attention.

But the person who walked through the door… was a bit different. Taller stature, slimmer as well, and had bigger wristbands which hid her weapons. Little grey accessories now crowned her headphones, which had changed somewhat as well. Even her joints had been replaced. Only the torso and the face remained the same.

"Good evening." She ushered. "I am sorry for having left you in the middle of an important time."

"You are back, Aigis." Mitsuru said, shaking her head a little. "That is what really matters."

Several welcomes were shared, all of them cheering the return of their beloved robot.

"Looking great, Ai-chan!" Junpei said, checking her out rather indiscreetly.

"My sight has the same reach as before." Aigis explained. "But I thank you."

"I wonder if the uniform will still fit…" Yukari pondered aloud.

"That problem has already been addressed." Mitsuru intervened, signaling a box resting by the door. Clothes and more clothes.

"I… thought we'd lost you." Hamuko stepped in awkwardly. "I dunno what I'd have done if you'd—"

"Hamuko-san… I am an android. Only a human in shape." She spoke up, making a loud noise on the ground with her bare hooves. "I am virtually immortal, for as long as there is anyone out there with the capability to repair me."

The clanking noises stopped as she halted. "Yet you are right in one thing. I have never been closer to oblivion before."

Her metallic hand, usually hid by a glove, traveled to the base of her neck. "My core was barely grazed by an attack. Shall it be altered, I would disappear. And that… that feeling of despair upon realizing I may not see you ever again, that I was at the doors of death… that I may not have another chance… It made me feel _alive_. That is a contradiction, a paradox in itself. How can someone who has never been alive or even felt damage FEEL alive?" She asked herself, confused.

"…Everyone can break down, right?" Hamuko asked, shrugging. "I mean, I ain't no engineer, and I got no clue of how you work, but… but if you got broken, we'd cry. And when people break down, they cry as well. So maybe if we got broken you'd cry as well. Because broken things are sad and sad things make us cry and…" The row of poorly elaborated syllogisms continued as she got more and more nervous. "W-what I'm trying to say here is…!"

Minato was the one to wrap his arms around both females.

"We love you. No matter what you are."

Hamuko nodded quickly, thanking him for his intervention, while Aigis just stood stiffly. "Y-yeah! If you're immortal and what not, then live forever with us! Cause we won't leave you alone, yanno? And when we do uh… someone else will make you company! So if you live with people, then you'll be err… alive! 'cause you live. So you're alive." She looked left and right at the amused looks she was receiving from her team. "Yeah."

"Th-thank you…" Aigis stammered, quite uncharacteristically. "…I should have realized that sooner. It… really was about time."

She ignored the quizzical expressions on everyone's faces.

"Life goes on. No matter what happens."

Everyone could feel the energy emanating from her, her mechanical voice disappeared at the drop of a hat.

"I am a living machine. And as such, I will live. Now I would require some dramatic wind."

With that she walked away, with no dramatic wind tailing her.

"She really needs to stop watching anime." Minato concluded, a little teary-eyed.

"Don't we all?" Hamuko sighed.

SEES disbanded for the night. Everyone needed a long night to make their last decision.

* * *

><p>"Hey. Hey Hamu. Are you awake?"<p>

Hamuko opened her eyes, just barely to see Minato shaking her arm. "Buh… buh… maybe. What… time…"

"It's six a.m."

A pillow flew right into Minato's face, but he shrugged it off. "Come on. I want to talk to you."

"Talk or 'taaaaalk'." She managed to slur as she stretched her arms.

"Talk, you goose."

"Hey, don't start callin' me animals, 'cause that may end up badly." She finally sat up and looked at him. "…Why are you dressed up?"

"I want to go out to talk."

"…And I want to kill you right now." She pressed her lips together and looked away as she realized what she said. "Not. Not. Just kiddin'. I don't wanna kill no one."

"Then put some clothes on and get up already."

"Yes, yes, Mum." She glared at him. "But don't blame me if you don't get lucky next year."

"Like you could bear that." He smirked.

"Like you were the only guy here." She stuck out her tongue.

* * *

><p>The morning was horribly cold, and the female Fool let her partner know that several times throughout the walk.<p>

* * *

><p>"This… this is where it all started."<p>

Minato leaned on the rail of the deserted bridge. Not a soul could be seen in the foggy dawn.

"I think this place must be a tribute to irony, because… I'd just like to congratulate whomever called it 'Moonlight Bridge'."

Hamuko stood, looking around silently. "…This is where you wanted to talk?"

"It's been ten years… and I can finally walk around here with a calm mind." He took a deep breath of the humid winter air.

"Kinda funny you say that after all we've done." Hamuko chuckled sadly. "I wish I remembered anything about this place. I mean… I know so much… but the important piece is missing." Her sight got lost in the sea under their feet.

"Well, we'll find it sooner or later, because—"

"Yanno how many times I've felt like just jumping the rail?"

"What?" Minato turned to her, wide eyed. "You... you never mentioned that!"

"Well duh." Another chuckle escaped her lips. "It ain't the kind of things I'd tell anyone but you. And… you never asked."

She took a coin and made it roll with a finger on the rail. "Sometimes, coming from Paulownia I'd just drop a coin and watch it fall. And then I'd walk into the dorm to meet everyone with a big smile and tell you whatever nonsense."

"But… but you… don't…"

"Those were the days, dude. I could really play the hero and let everyone rely on me. I could make people happy. Look at me now. Brooding all day long. I wish I could go back and—"

Her angst stopped with a strong embrace and a somewhat forceful kiss. "No. NO. Don't say that. Remember what we told Aigis. Remember that I'm the only emo guy here, you idiot."

"Don't call me idiot, you idiot." She frowned trying to hold back the tears. "I'll… I'll show you why I deserve that title!"

She took off her hair pins and messed up her hair, letting her bangs cover one side of her face and covering the back with her scarf. "I am Hamoemuko! Wait no not moe uh… Hamu… emo… quick make a pun with my name!"

"I refuse."

"C'moooon." She gave him an angry look. "Very well, you may call me lord Minato, my good sir."

He took the pins from her hand and put them in his hair, imitating her hairstyle. "So like, I'm da Hamuko, yo man."

"I don't say 'like' like that!" She poked his chest.

"Yes, yes you do!" He poked her forehead.

A second later, they were laughing louder than ever.

"Yoooo Minato-maaaaan! Let's get it rollin' maaaaan!"

"Pffft… D-damn it, Minato!" Hamuko clutched her stomach as she tried to stop laughing. "I don't talk like… hahaha."

"Right, you'd have added_ like,_ twenty blasphemies to that sentence."

They ended up rolling in the ground, laughing. Doing nothing more than laying on the cold sidewalk like hobos.

"I really miss when we did these things all the time." Hamuko sighed, finally regaining some composure.

"Good days will come back, even if we have to fight and cry to reach them. I wanted to tell you that, Emomuko." Minato smiled as he looked at her.

"…And you just had to wake me up at six a.m. for that." She shook her head, grinning as well.

"That and… you look less like a rodent with your hair down."

"Man, if my stomach wasn't sore like this after laughing so freakin' much, I'd…" She knit her eyebrows together. "Good lord."

"Yes." Minato gave her a dry nod. "Let's go back before you remind me my gender or drop a curse again." He propped himself on his elbow.

"Wait."

She rolled on top of him. Thankfully the street was still rather empty and foggy, but they knew some jogger or a worker missing the monorail would eventually pass by.

"Thank you. Thank you for always being my… anchor? Yeah. My anchor of sanity."

"Anchor of sanity? Who's saying funny things now?" Minato jested.

"Someone who plays too much with her COMPP."

She closed the distance between them, slowly, carefully. And then stopped the kiss to look at him as he caressed her cheek.

"Whatever happens tonight…" She said, putting her own hand over his. "Thank you for everything... my love."

"My life." He answered giving her a look full of tenderness.

And so they walked back to the dorm, ready to begin the preparations for that evening.

* * *

><p>A knock at the door stilled all conversation and turned every head. Everyone looked around at each other for a moment, waiting for someone to be the one to admit the one they knew was waiting. At length, Minato rose stiffly and walked to the door, pausing before it with a conflicted look on his face. He turned his head.<p>

"Hamuko..." he began.

"I ain't gonna crack his skull, don't worry," she grumbled. And then softer, under her breath, "Least not 'til we tell him our answer."

The door opened. In walked Ryoji, exactly how he had appeared that night one month ago.

"Ryoji," Minato greeted stiffly, his voice choked slightly.

"Hey," the Shadow replied, wearing a miserable attempt at a smile. He scanned the room, taking in everyone's expression. "You all look like you've made up your minds, huh? Junpei, have you been alright over the past month?"

No reply.

"Aigis, you look like you've had some upgrades. That's... new," he said, sounding genuinely surprised. "Have you had any... enlightening talks since you returned?"

"I have not had the opportunity," she replied, her lips set tight in a most human expression.

"Hamuko, y-"

"Shut up and get to the question," the addressed Fool growled.

"Ah... right..." he murmured quietly, casting his eyes down. "Yeah... guess you don't really want to see any more of me than you have to. Right. Um... maybe... somewhere more private, then? Just for a quick discussion?"

Hamuko opened her mouth to give him her opinion on that idea, when a hand on her shoulder silenced her.

"My room," Minato replied to him, though his eyes were locked on Hamuko's, stifling her retort. "It's closer."

The three walked up the stairs under the gaze of the rest of SEES, Hamuko kept there by Minato's hand in hers, Ryoji trailing closely behind. They made their way into the room that wasn't filled with memories and sat collectively at the edge of the bed, Ryoji at the right, Hamuko at the left, and Minato between them. The quiet hung over them like the sword of Damocles. It was Ryoji who snapped the thread.

"I understand that you both feel that you have to fight. All of you do, I know. But you are failing to understand something here. Nyx isn't... she isn't some enemy that you can fight and beat back. She isn't some Shadow you can destroy. She's a concept. An idea given power. The closest thing she has to a physical form is her Avatar, which is me! So just...! Just kill me now, please," he begged, clenching his fists. "Just kill me and end all of this. It will be better for everyone."

"You wanna die that badly?" Hamuko asked darkly, leaning forward to peer around Minato, looking the Shadow in the eyes. "You'd like that, huh? Yeah, we'd forget all about that Dark Hour and go peacefully. You're just looking out for our best, huh?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Bullshit. You want the best for us, but you destroy Aigis? You stab us in the back? I bet you want to die. Guess that humanity we gave you was just enough to give you a conscience, huh? 'Cause you seem real desperate to not have to think about all the shit you've put us through."

"Hamuko..." Ryoji looked desperately at Minato, not knowing how to deal with her like this. Minato kept his eyes resolutely forward. She had as much of a right to speak her mind as he.

"Well fuck you and the us you rode in on, Death," she spat, uncaring. "You put us through this shit? Made our friends doubt us? Hurt Aigis? And you want the fucking _easy way out? _You don't get it any more than we do. We're gonna fight, and until then, you're gonna suffer."

Ryoji bit his lip, staring down at the ground.

"We've come so far, Ryoji," Minato said in a softer, conciliatory tone. "We made memories with the rest of SEES, and we can't give those up."

"I figured you two would be used to losing memories by now..." he mumbled. "Aren't you tired of struggling and fighting? Aren't you exhausted of it, after so long? It's so easy to end it all. The Dark Hour will end, Nyx's coming will be delayed, and everyone will die in peace. Everything you're tired of will finally come to an end. Why do you keep resisting that? I..." He finally choked and broke down into tears. "I can see how much this torments you! Why are you choosing to prolong it?!"

Minato extended his free hand, grasping Ryoji's.

"Because that is what people do. We fight even when it hurts, and even when we can't win. No one wants to die, and we are going to show Nyx that when she gets here. Besides that, we cannot just let those we've become close to die without fighting on their behalf."

Ryoji sniffed back some of his running tears, and forced a smile.

"Those you've become close to... does that include me?" he asked.

Minato nodded haltingly. Hamuko kept her heated gaze on the floor.

"If... if this form provides you with any hesitation toward killing me... perhaps something closer to my true form would be better?" he offered.

His body shifted and twisted, resolving itself to become a form the both of them knew all too well.

"Thanatos," Minato gasped. Hamuko was struck completely silent. "You..."

**"I am not human."**

"You have saved our lives... far too often to recall!"

**"...Yes. I did so. Howe-"**

"You're really Thanatos?" Hamuko suddenly interjected. He nodded. "You came out against that first Shadow? And the Reaper? That time I was falling off the observatory? You saved us all those times?"

**"I... yes."**

Her face twisted into a grimace, and she walked up to him.

"You... you son of a bitch!" She pounded on him weakly with her fists, her tears finally beginning to flow. "I wanna hate you. I want to! You hurt us! You hurt Aigis! But y-you s-saved us and... and..."

Her voice cracked, the words coming out haltingly between sobs.

"Can't be... simple... bastard..."

She slumped back upon the bed, managing one last anguished yell, slamming her fist into the wall with a boom that resounded along with her cry. A few moments passed where she composed herself.

"Ain't gonna kill ya..." she mumbled, her eyes hidden by her hair. Tear streaks remained on her face. "Not right... can't kill a fr- a former friend."

The Shadow shifted back, sitting this time between the two.

"You... you know then, what you'll be putting yourselves through?"

"It will be an ordeal," Minato admitted. "But it's an ordeal we intend to see through to the end. We won't be dissuaded."

"Alright," he said softly, rubbing his face. "I really can't say I expected anything less, though maybe from Hamuko... still, it was worth a try. Um... next time we see each other, I won't exactly be recognizable."

"And when will that be?" Minato asked.

"January 31st. One month from today, on the next full moon. I'll be... different then. And we won't get to speak until then, so..." he shifted uncomfortably. Minato grabbed his hand again, clasping it reassuringly. Ryoji managed a smile before rising and making towards the door.

"See you later," Minato said, biting the inside of his lip to prevent his tears from spilling.

"...Bye, Ryoji," Hamuko whispered.

Ryoji's mouth quirked oddly, looking at the both of them.

"...Yeah. Best wishes in the coming year, both of you."

He vanished into the Dark Hour, and the final month began to tick down.

* * *

><p><strong>DID SOMEONE SAY DOUBLE CHAPTER?<strong>

_So Shenjay, how come it took so long to post this chapter?_

**Hey, look how long it is! And, AND! Double chapter! No wonder it took so long!**

_But... I wrote the second chapter._

**Well...**

_In like two hours. While you were finishing up this one._

**...December is really boring, alright?**

_Does that mean the next chapters will come out sooner, then?_

**Shut up.**


	93. Extra chapter: Bad End

**Author note: this chapter was written by my beta reader, Evilshroom, while I finished the previous one.**

**He wrote it in two hours. But the idea was mine so bluhbluh getlostNate 8D**

* * *

><p>"Just kill me and end all of this. It will be better for everyone."<p>

"You wanna die that badly?" Hamuko asked darkly, leaning forward to peer around Minato, looking the Shadow in the eyes. "You'd like that, huh? Yeah, we'd forget all about that Dark Hour and go peacefully. You're just looking out for our best, huh?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Bullshit. You want the best for us, but you destroy Aigis? You stab us in the back? I bet you want to die. Guess that humanity we gave you was just enough to give you a conscience, huh? 'Cause you seem real desperate to not have to think about all the shit you've put us through."

"Hamuko..." Ryoji looked desperately at Minato, not knowing how to deal with her like this. Minato kept his eyes resolutely forward. She had as much of a right to speak her mind as he.

"Well fuck you and the us you rode in on, Death," she spat, uncaring. "You put us through this shit? Made our friends doubt us? Hurt Aigis? And you want the fucking _easy way out? _You don't get it any more than we do. We're gonna fight, and until then, you're gonna suffer."

Ryoji chuckled, an oddly melancholy sound.

"You're... really furious at me, aren't you, Hamuko? I figured we'd get along better, with what we had in common, but... I guess the nature of what you are and what I am are still somewhat different."

"What I am?" she repeated.

"Yes, your nature. You haven't... hm." He paused. "I assumed you had learned, though perhaps that was another... it's best I not say, then."

Her lip curled violently, and she rose to her feet, facing him.

"Spit it the fuck out. I don't have time for your cryptic bullshit. Say what you were going to say."

"I..." Ryoji looked helpless. "I don't know how it may affect..."

"Tell me," she hissed darkly, "and I will kill you."

Minato knew her well enough to tell when she was lying. He also knew her well enough to tell when she was angry enough to do something stupid. Venting her spleen was fine, but he had to step in before it got out of hand.

"Hamuko, calm down," he said soothingly. "You're not really giving him a chance t-"

BLAM

An Evoker is not the most gentle tool to bring out a Persona with. Even still, it requires a combination of that rather forceful tool and a strong will to draw out the power of a Persona. To use the Evoker without that will yields no results. To use an Evoker against that will yields horribly painful mental backlash. Minato collapsed, a small bloody mark on his forehead. Fusion spells with no coordination had hurt them before, and their connection ensured a double knockout. No such connection existed any more. Hamuko remained standing. And angry.

"Spit. It. Out."

Ryoji's eyes were wide, but he acquiesced.

"When I was born, I waged a battle with Aigis that led to my defeat. I was not as strong then. She had no means of killing me permanently, so she sealed me into a young boy."

Hamuko's impatient glare spoke volumes.

"Yes, you know this much. However, you do not know this. My intrusion on that boy's... on Minato's soul, stirred something else to life. Though he was young, his personality was developed enough to have birthed a Shadow. The repressed parts of our selves, those parts we shun and hide and mask. Our true selves. At the time of the sealing, I was in a rather primal state. I hadn't been granted the humanity from being sealed within him yet. That came with time. So, this poor boy with an overfull soul received my urgings for release, to find me a new vessel from which I could escape."

He paused, looking down.

"A young girl his age happened upon the scene. Miki Sanada."

"Me."

"No. Not yet."

Her open mouth was silenced by Ryoji's tight-lipped look.

"Not yet she wasn't. She was Miki Sanada. And with my strength infusing him, and my will guiding him, the poor overtaxed boy, Minato, choked her to death on that bridge, and attempted to pour me out into her corpse. Without a soul, I could have had complete command of the body. But as he poured, something escaped with me. His Shadow. The Shadow filled the body, and took the place of its soul, and prevented me from filling it entirely. And in the place where Miki Sanada died, Hamuko Seikatsu was born."

He looked her in the eye.

"You are not Miki Sanada. You have her body, yes. You may have some of her residual memories, sure. But your soul is that of the Shadow of Minato Arisato. And a Shadow you are. You are no more human than Ryoji Mochizuki."

She staggered back, snarling at him.

"D-Don't you fucking lie to me! THAT'S NOT GODDAMN FUNNY!"

"It's not a lie, and it's not a joke. You are, quite literally, Minato's missing half. The passion to his apathy. The naivety to his world-weariness. The tendency to leap first to his tendency to look first."

"No," she mumbled, shaking her head violently. "No, shut up."

"His inner child. His sexual aggressiveness. His tumultuous emotion."

"No, _no, no, SHUT UP!"_

"You wanted to know, then know!" he roared back, rising to his feet, matching her height. "Shadow! You are a Shadow! You are not Miki Sanada! You are not Akihiko's sister! You aren't an orphan, you were never even born! If you wanted this knowledge bad enough that you'd hurt Minato for it, then you damn well live with the consequences!"

"_NO!"_

BANG

* * *

><p>This time, it was triggered all too willingly, and Sandalphon answered her call. The fist of the Persona tore easily through Ryoji's head. And in that instant, he, and the Dark Hour, disappeared to the minds of everyone.<p>

A knock on the door had Hamuko sigh. She stepped over and opened it.

"Do ya really hafta knock anymore? It's not like I'll think it's someone else coming into my room at almost midnight," she pointed out to the sheepish blunet on the other side.

"It's only polite," he said with a shrug and a smile. "Now, do you mind if I...?"

"Oh, not at all, good sir," she said with a teasing smile and a curtsey that seemed to lift more of her short skirt than would be appropriate.

He laughed, walking in.

"So, that graduation ceremony..." he began.

"God, so long, right?" Hamuko enthused, rolling her eyes. "I swear, Kirijo-senpai is so smart, but she doesn't really know how to dumb a speech down for us."

"Well, she's high-class," Minato said, shrugging. "I can't imagi-"

With no fanfare, the world shifted. A green tint covered everything he could see, shining most brilliantly from the window pointed outside.

"What the fuck?" Hamuko gasped. "What kind of crazy bullshit is this?"

"We need to go outside and see this," Minato announced, peering out the window. "It is... bizarre."

So the two rushed, tearing down the stairs. No one else was awake, it seemed. Or perhaps they had no interest in investigating. Either way, they were the only two to walk out the front door of the dormitory and peer up, in the direction of the school. A massive, twisting tower rose from the site, its peak resting far above where the clouds would be, had it been a cloudy night. And there, at its peak, a tiny black dot stood connected by a brilliantly shining line to the moon itself.

"What on Earth is h-" Minato started. His sentence was cut off violently by the tide of memories slamming through his brain.

"Oh god," he whispered. "Hamuko, what did you _do_?"

"I..." she stammered, looking frightfully at the skies above, as the moon seemed to open up before them. A single eye stared down at the entirety of the Earth, somehow taking in every soul on its surface in its gaze.

"Your actions caused this, Hamuko-san."

The voice was no more robotic than it was just before Hamuko's fateful choice, making it all the more chilling for the lack of emotion.

"A-Aigis!" she gasped as the android walked up. Her face was unreadable. She had no warmth in her gaze for the female Fool. "Where... where have you been?"

"You all forgot about me," she said simply. "So I left, knowing that this day would come, and that there was nothing my power alone could do to stop it. This is, and will be, a world of your creation, Hamuko-san."

"Aigis, I'm sorry," Minato said.

She turned to him, her expression softening slightly.

"I hold you no malice, Minato. Your choice was taken from you. You could not help forgetting me. I'm sorry I could not protect you when it mattered most."

Hamuko stood locked in place, tears falling silently from her eyes as the great being above seemed to gather in power. What could she say? What would excuse her from... from this?

"Wh-Wh-What d-did I..." she whispered, distraught.

A familiar pair of arms wrapped around her.

"Minato, I... I'm so sorry."

He just held her tighter as Nyx above pulsed once, a wave expanding out from it.

"I love you," he said gently.

The wave struck, a deluge of power that drew the life from every being on the planet. People in the streets, gawking at the primordial being above. People in their beds, blissfully unaware. People on the other side of the world. Animals. Plants. Bacteria. The planet that was full of such bounty, harvested in a single swoop. Those without sentience died outright, their corpses decomposing at an unbelievable rate, so much dust in the wind in seconds. Humans, however...

They were victims of a worse fate. Their humanity, their egos, their souls, stripped from them, only one thing remained- their Shadows. Mayas crawled along the ground in teeming hordes- creatures that needed no nutrition, that felt nothing, that did not even truly live.

It was on that barren, brown, Shadow-strewn planet that Hamuko Seikatsu opened her eyes, having shut them tightly against the terror of the Fall. Only Shadows could walk that world that she had formed with a single choice. If she needed any more proof of Ryoji's words, here it was. She stood alone. A single Maya sat placidly near her legs. Its mask, setting apart from any other, was featureless. The letters XXII were inscribed, the only marking.

Aigis's chassis lay collapsed nearby, almost making Hamuko break out in hysterical laughter. So a robot had enough soul to harvest, but not she. Not a Shadow.

She fell to her knees in the streets, taking in the world around her. Death seemed to hang in the air itself. Somehow, even the planet felt less alive. It was an oppressive feeling, like the feeling within while she carried half of Death, but without, pressing all around her.

It was not a world she could survive in. It was not a world she belonged in. But it was the world she created. Pharos's words to her rang in her head. The contract she signed. Igor's warnings.

_"...saying that you accept responsibility for whatever may happen..."_

_"I, the undersigned, accept this fate..."_

"...of my own free will," she mumbled aloud. And as the enormity of it all sank in, as she knelt alone in a world devoid of life, her only company an unthinking creature born from one she loved and the metallic corpse of another, she opened her mouth.

And she screamed.


	94. Wiping all out

**Author note: what do you mean I didn't even look at this chapter for a whole month? Well uh… WATCH KOTOURA-SAN. It's like the story of my life in an anime, haha 8D; There we go.**

**In other row of news, I am a professional colourist now! I'm working with Jorge Jiménez and Chris Ryall on a comic, so BUY IT when it comes out.**

**Thanks to Evilshroom for beta reading and writing the battle scene, plus Aigis's link 1. And that's like the majority of the chapter. I fail at writing jackshit. **

* * *

><p>"Young boy."<p>

Minato opened his eyes, only to find himself in a familiar place. "Igor…?"

Alone in the dark, the old man smiled, giving him a single nod of affirmation. "It seems you were having a bad dream."

The bluenet, startled, suddenly jumped to his feet. "HAMU—"

"Calm down, I beg you."

Minato looked around. The Velvet Room, no trace of Hamuko, nor Elisabeth, nor anyone for that matter other than they. "It… was just a nightmare? Then is she…? That… What…? Wait, how do you-?"

"I beg you do not lower your opinion of myself for my intromission, but a nightmare is just that. A vision. Something which is not real."

"It felt just real." He muttered, still a little jumpy.

"Yet as you can see, there is none of that happening currently. Years can go by in a dream, but when you open your eyes, not but a few hours have gone by." Igor closed his eyes thoughtfully. "I know it is a hard transition at times for humans, but that is the world I live in at all times. A world between reality and dream. You may call it, 'vigil'."

"I see." He took a few deep breathes to finally calm down. "So, where is Hamuko?"

"Peacefully sleeping. You both are very tired after last night's events, but she had to face a much bigger emotional strain."

Minato's eyes opened wide as memories of the previous night came back to his head.

"_On the night of January 31__st__, Nyx will descend from the skies to the top of Tartarus…_"

"_If you wish to fight…_"

"So… why… did you call me?"

"I wished to congratulate you for reaching Judgment, once Fool." He smiled even wider. "May I offer you some _timely_ collected tea? It's good for the mind, and the soul."

"I'm more of a chocolate person, myself." He excused himself, not to keen on trying anything that might as well have spent eons in the Velvet Room.

"I am sure something could be arranged." He shifted on his seat a little, and merely whispered. "Elisabeth."

"Yes, Master?" A familiar feminine voice suddenly exclaimed from behind Minato.

"Bring Minato-sama some of the best cocoa beans you were offered by that one Mayan emperor."

"Really, it's not—"

"I'm deeply sorry, Master, but we're still busy with the preparations of the new area."

"Sister, bring ten more portals!" Another voice yelled, this time without making presence in the room.

"Right away, Margaret! Sorry, Minato-sama, I'll have new requests for you soon." With that, she disappeared.

Minato and Igor did nothing but stare at each other.

The bluenet looked away. "Another time, perhaps…"

"Another time, indeed."

After that, he was sent back to his room.

* * *

><p>Opening his eyes slightly to make sure he was back to reality, Minato caught a glimpse of a lump under the blankets beside him. Once he made sure that Hamuko was indeed sleeping just fine, he wrapped his arms around her tighter, and so he fell asleep again.<p>

* * *

><p>"Happy New Year everyone!"<p>

The moment Junpei came down everyone greeted him with forced happiness, in the case of Akihiko and Ken, and a gurgling noise while he had some coffee, in the case of Minato.

"Dude, pass me some coffee." Junpei begged.

"No, I need my energy." Minato gurgled again.

"We're on vacations, you're gonna have all day to get your whatever back!" He argued as they struggled in their battle for dominance.

"Huh? You guys ain't gonna go to the Shrine?"

Ten seconds after finally seeing Hamuko in a kimono Minato darted off after her, leaving the cup to Junpei, who vehemently commented on the weirdness of putting 'strawberry syrup' in a cup of coffee before running after them.

…Akihiko went after them too, if only to keep them in check.

And Ken was the tag-along kid as usual.

* * *

><p>"Oh, seems they have arrived."<p>

Mitsuru's comment was Minato's cue to stay still for a second and then turn around.

"Arisato?" She inquired.

"Mitsuru-san, Minato-san does not want you to acknowledge that he is currently experiencing a—"

"AI-GIS, you still hung up on honorifics after so long?" Hamuko managed to silence her before she could bring up any… body functions.

"So, where are the others?"

Yukari's question was answered with a wolf whistle, which led to a simultaneous tired sigh from the group.

"Hold your drool, Stupei." Yukari growled.

"Aw, c'mon, I ain't the one in a kimono here!" He defended himself.

"…I guess I didn't need to sleep today." Akihiko lamented, shivering at the image.

"Teasing aside…" Mitsuru stepped in, her serious expression concealing her worry. "I believe you are all aware that we have just begun what will probably be the most important month of our lives. The fate of every human on this world depends on us."

"I'll pray to every god; we need as much help as we can." Ken muttered, clenching his fists.

"Praying is for the weak; we have to make the effort to improve if we want to achieve it!" Akihiko crowed.

"Or ask Igor for every Persona ever!"

Most of SEES' eyes were suddenly on Hamuko. Minato just looked away and covered his face with a hand.

"Igor is her… imaginary friend." He explained.

"What? No, YOU are an imaginary friend!" She retorted.

"That is a bold accusation." Minato shook his head.

"…" Yukari hesitated to speak. "…Anyway, we really need to do our best. Here's hoping for a great year!"

"Yeah, go us!" Junpei raised his fist. "Hip, hip!"

No one followed him, except Fuuka who whispered a soft 'hurray' and then quickly shut up.

Everyone began laughing together, so they knew that, no matter what, the wish to fight was shared.

Judgment 2…Yet the Fools kept bickering about imaginary stuff in the depths of their hearts.

"Let's get some fortunes!" Fuuka cheered.

"Am I obliged to allow a paper to determine my future?" Aigis whined. "Can I destroy all the bad ones…?"

* * *

><p>"So, Junpei-san." Ken pulled the hem of his shirt. "Should we strike now?"<p>

"Patience, dear boy: a master knows when and where to strike an all-out peeping attack!"

"What are you guys doing?" Hamuko chirped in. Minato followed her mumbling something about assistants.

"We were discussing the relation between feminine underwear and kimonos. Like _**men**_." Ken announced, deepening his slurry voice.

The brunette looked at Ken and blinked. Then at Junpei. "...I am conflicted between applauding you or kicking your face, partner."

"YES, DO IT."

It was now time for Junpei and Minato to share awkward looks and retreat slowly while Hamuko and Ken were left alone.

"So, you see—"

Minato came back quickly enough to pull Hamuko away from the boy.

* * *

><p>Once everyone was done with their various pleas and requests, they all went back together to the dorm.<p>

* * *

><p>Minato's mobile phone rang that afternoon: an urgent call from the Velvet Room.<p>

* * *

><p>"..."<p>

Igor sat in his normal chair, looking placidly forward at Minato. Everything seemed to be in the normal place. With the exception of Elizabeth, who rather than standing beside her master, was on all fours crawling around the Velvet Room, her gaze fixed firmly on the floor.

"...Elizabeth?" Minato inquired.

"Greetings, Minato-sama," she said, sounding troubled, not looking up.

"May... I ask what you are doing?"

"I have lost a button on my coat. I fear it has rolled away beyond my ability to find it."

"Well, it can't have gone far," he pointed out.

"Oh, it may be anywhere," she fretted. "If it rolled between those bars, it could have wound up in any number of places! Or universes! Or dimensions! Or stomachs of hungry creatures!"

She lifted her head to face Minato, tears welling in her eyes.

"This is a tragedy, Minato-sama! My coat will never button fully again, and I will forever be somewhat chilly around the neck when I must leave this room!"

She sat back solidly, rubbing her eyes and sniffling. Frantically, Minato knelt down next to her.

"Ah, ah, wait! Elizabeth! I can get you a button from my world to replace it! Don't cry!"

She sniffed a few more times, looking up at him through watery eyes.

"Do... you mean it, Minato-sama? Will you get me any one I like?"

"Of course!" he assured her.

"Then..." here her voice suddenly cleared, and she stood up straight, "I would like the Bloody Button carried by the Reaper."

It was Minato's turn to sit back, blinking owlishly up at her.

"I find it quite fetching. Really," she said unconvincingly. Behind her back, she crossed her fingers.

Minato exited the Velvet Room shortly thereafter. He worried to himself about how he would tell Hamuko about the suicide mission he had signed them up for. Suddenly, a pair of arms flung around his neck from behind, and a head buried into his back.

"Minato!" Hamuko sobbed. "I just fucked up big time! Theo was sad and it was really sorta cute so I told him I'd help him 'cause I didn't want him to be sad but now we're gonna fucking die and I'm so sorry!"

"...What?" he asked, dumbfounded, turning to face her.

Hamuko looked thoroughly miserable and contrite.

"We gotta fight the Reaper now 'cause I told Theo we would. He wanted some stupid button," she explained.

Minato stared at her a moment.

"Well, if you promised Theo, I suppose it can't be helped."

She gasped, tears welling in her eyes.

"A-Are you really alright? You're not mad?"

"It's alright, Hamuko," he said consolingly, patting her head. "I forgive you."

* * *

><p>"So, why are we taking down all these Guardians again?" Hamuko asked casually, dodging a blistering Agidyne cast from one of the Noble Seekers impeding their progress.<p>

"Training," Minato said shortly, summoning Siegfried to savage the Shadows with Vorpal Blade. "The Reaper is a bit strong for us right now, so we're getting stronger while clearing the way to Nyx for the 31st."

"We're getting through them pretty quickly," she commented, stabbing a writhing Carnal Snake in the face with her naginata, as it dissolved into ichor.

"We've gotten better, but I'm not quite comfortable with fighting the Reaper just yet," Minato said. He leaned on his rapier as Yukari mended some of the group's wounds.

* * *

><p>"You know what would make this even faster? If it was like, a montage or something!"<p>

"Hamuko, that's ridiculous. There are no montages or anything of the sort to accelerate the passage of time in real life. And Junpei, stop playing with that World Balance; it's about to Megidolaon again. Those hurt, you know."

"Aw, but I wanted to see if I weighed more than Akihiko-senpai!"

"Akihiko is not getting on it, so get off."

* * *

><p>"You know, even Rocky had a montage."<p>

"Hell yeah! Take lesson from Rocky, mighty leader!" Junpei agreed.

"Just because I put an Attack Mirror on us is no reason to lose your focus in battle, Hamuko."

"Aw, come on. They're pretty much killing themselves at this point. We can chat, right?"

The Fierce Cyclops targeting Hamuko indeed found itself crushed under its own God Hand. Minato just sighed as Hamuko started humming.

"Rising up, back on the streets..."

* * *

><p>"And he's watching us all with the EYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYE~!"<p>

"Hamuko, Junpei, both of you shut up and kill the Jotun!" Minato snapped at them.

"...Of the tiger," they muttered under their breath.

* * *

><p><em>"I don't sense any more Guardians," <em>Fuuka reported. _"There is a presence on the very top floor, but a barrier will prevent us from getting up there just yet."_

Minato nodded decisively.

"Well done then, everyone. I suppose we're all a little tired, so let's rest for a day or so, then we can take on the Reaper. I'm sure we're strong enough."

**ARE YOU?**

Without even the rattle of chains to warn them, the Reaper glided silently around a corner, firmly planted between SEES and the teleporter.

**ARROGANT. THE PEAK OF PREY'S ARROGANCE, TO DECLARE YOURSELVES ABOVE YOUR HUNTER. I HAVE BEEN CONTENT TO WATCH YOU STRUGGLE UP THE FOOD CHAIN, IF ONLY THAT A GREATER HEIGHT MEANS A GREATER FALL.**

"It... speaks?" Hamuko asked numbly. The Reaper's eye, scarred over with an angry red line, turned upon the two Fools.

**I HAVE COME TO ORCHESTRATE YOUR FALL. I SHALL HAVE RECOMPENSE FOR DAMAGES INCURRED ONTO THIS BEING. I HAVE TAKEN COUNTLESS LIVES IN MY EXISTENCE. BUT YOURS... I SHALL TAKE PARTICULAR PLEASURE IN SNUFFING OUT.**

Minato's eyes darted around for an exit. The group was in no state to take him on as they were, tired and beaten from five Guardians and several floors of Tartarus. If all else failed, perhaps he could engage the Reaper one-on-one and buy the others time to escape...

Aigis strode forward, standing between the two and the Reaper.

"You will not end their lives without taking my own. And I think you will not find me easy prey."

**LIFE? NON-ORGANICS HAVE NOTHING OF THE SORT. AND YET I DO SENSE WITHIN YOU A SPARK.**

"She runs on electricity," Hamuko mumbled.

**TELL ME, HOW DID ONE WITHOUT LIFE GAIN THIS SOUL?**

"I have life because I have decided to live," the android stated firmly.

**THEN AS A LIVING THING, SURELY YOU FEAR LOSING WHAT YOU HAVE OBTAINED. I HAVE NO INTEREST IN ANY BUT THESE TWO, WHO CAME INTO MY DOMAIN BEARING FRAGMENTS OF A BEING THAT EVEN NOW INFRINGES ON MY LAND, ON MY CLAIM. I AM DEATH. NOW IF YOU TREASURE YOUR FALSE LIFE, THEN STAND DOWN.**

"I treasure my life. I treasure their lives. And because I do, I shall stand against you, not run away from you. I will not let Death chase me down these halls any more. I have made the decision to stand and fight."

**FOOL.**

"Yes."

The revolver came up at blinding speed, leveled at Aigis and fired before any could react. Automatically, Athena formed before her, taking the bullet in her shield, to no noticeable effect.

"I have yet to evaluate the combat abilities of this new chassis," Aigis admitted. "In the recent battles, I've kept to using my Persona... it has felt like the return of an old friend. But perhaps something new is needed."

Aigis exploded forward, noting her increased agility owing to the more light-weight body. The distance between the two closed in an instant, leaving the Shadow no time to counterattack as Aigis struck true to his stomach with a crashing punch. The Reaper backed up slightly, unfazed, and raised his revolver to the sky, firing it off once.

Ice rose around the android to hold her in place, thickening rapidly. The improvised Bufudyne failed to inconvenience her, however, being broken off with a small amount of effort. The Reaper floated just out of her reach, eying her carefully. This new Aigis represented an unknown quality.

Aigis flexed her knuckles, relishing the chance to try out her newest additions.

"Weapons systems online: Launch!"

From behind her, a tube rose, pointed slightly forward. A grenade flew from the launcher and landed beneath the Reaper. The projectile exploded on impact, and fulfilled Aigis's command: the Shadow was launched skyward by the force, flipped and confused.

Instantly, Aigis raised an arm, producing an impressively-sized minigun from who knows where upon her body.

"Target!"

The fusillade of bullets impacted upon Death's airborne form, keeping him hanging in the air just a little longer. With a confident gesture from her master, Athena materialized, her bulwark of a shield held in front of her. The Persona launched itself forward as the Reaper descended, and the two collided solidly, the Shadow taking a massive impact from the shield, being thrown back into a wall.

"Full auto!"

Once more, the minigun emerged, whirring violently. Instead of a short burst of bullets, however, the firearm emptied round after round in rapid succession into the Reaper's dazed, defenseless form. Punching into, around, and _through _the Shadow's body, the outpouring of lead produced smoke and debris which obscured her target after only a few seconds of fire. Regardless, the android kept it up, emptying every bullet she had into the dust cloud.

When the roar of the gun had been replaced with a repeating click, she once more stowed it, watching interestedly into the cloud, searching for a sign of motion.

**DAMNED INORGANIC!**

The roar, so full of fury, shaking Tartarus down to its foundation, blew the obscuring particles away from a _very_ angry Reaper. His gun was held high to the sky, and his wounded eye set Aigis with a glare that seemed to be intended to reduce her to slag. A squeeze of the trigger loosed the fury of the heavens, roaring down upon the blonde in a bolt of lightning dwarfing even those used by Minato's Odin.

Aigis fell to her knees, smoke beginning to slowly creep from the fans to either side of her head.

**ARROGANT! ASSUMING! IGNORANT!**

If Death had had teeth to gnash, the sound would have been drowned out over his rage.

**YOU ARE A CREATION OF THOSE I HUNT, BELOW EVEN THEM. A HOMUNCULUS. A DOLL. A FAKE! DO YOU FANCY YOURSELF AN ARMED GUARDIAN ANGEL? YOU ARE HEARTLESS. NO SOUL. NO LIFE, REGARDLESS OF YOUR DELUSIONS.**

The smoke issuing from Aigis increased in thickness, blown out by… the fans whirring?

"Orgia drive activated!"

**SURRENDER TO THE INEV-**

"FIRE!"

If the mortar launcher was odd, and the minigun inexplicable, the following was simply outlandish. Unfolding to either side from behind her back, two truly massive missile launchers emerged, each loaded full with nine missiles apiece. They launched in series, one after the other, unloading a barrage at the Shadow, who hadn't the time to react. Directly behind them, Aigis launched herself forward, propelled by a small rocket pack that had emerged when her new Orgia drive engaged.

Each missile impacted the Reaper, tearing into its body with explosive force, stunning it and creating another smokescreen. Through this one, Aigis tore, hot on the heels of her projectiles. She stopped her momentum suddenly with an outstretched hand, slapping something onto the Reaper's torso.

The beeping satchel charge detonated as if to punctuate the thorough pounding the Reaper had received. The point-blank concussive force blew the Shadow backward.

"I have you!" Aigis crowed, gesturing once more. "Launch!"

From below the Shadow, Athena appeared, her spear pointed skyward, sparking with power. She thrust up, catching Death dead-on, knocking him into and through the ceiling of the floor they were doing battle on.

Aigis tracked the Reaper's form carefully, watching as it rose, rose, and hung for the briefest of moments, before falling, no force to slow it down. Athena dispelled for only a moment.

As the Reaper fell back into the floor, Aigis held out one hand.

"Open fire!"

Athena came forth for a final time, her spear absolutely crackling. The Persona hurled the weapon, catching the Reaper perfectly as it fell into its path, hurling it back and pinning it sharply to the wall. It lifted its head dazedly to see Aigis's calm, if triumphant face.

"I am a creation of those you hunt, and their protector. I do not breathe, and I was not born with a soul, but I am alive. I will not walk fearfully in your shadow. I do not fancy myself an angel, and I recognize that I cannot protect them from everything. But for you, I am heartless. And I am armed."

Athena's form was replaced by that of what appeared to be a modified Palladion, pointed forward at the Reaper, who remained skewered to the wall. Where there was once a point jutting forth from its head, a fierce cannon charged with energy.

"Maximum charge!"

**ANOMALY!**

"Fire!"

The blast did not illuminate so much as it consumed. The light filled the floor, suffused every hidden corner. Everything in its wake was destroyed- the ground below it, the wall before it, and the Shadow stuck between the two. As it faded, everyone would have marveled at what appeared to be a first- a hole blown directly in the seemingly impervious outer walls of Tartarus, where through they could see the city illuminated by the green moon.

All eyes, however, were on Aigis, who stood on shaky legs of steel, clearly exhausted from the effort.

"Have… I protected everyone?" she asked, surveying the group with tired eyes.

Hamuko moved to support her as best she could, struggling with even the lessened weight until Minato, Junpei, and Akihiko assisted her. The brunette settled for rubbing the android's head, drawing a small smile from her.

"You really are our guardian angel, Aigis." Hamuko smiled. She then directed her sight to the ground. "So like, uh…"

There was no button there. Only a… bloody… coin. It gave her some sort of déjà-vu.

* * *

><p><em>Later that night…<em>

A barrel of laughs was coming out of Hamuko's room, with some legible sentences as "thank you"s, and "you're the best"s. However, when Hamuko offered to "thank him properly" he considered it was high time to tell the truth.

The bare truth.

About as bare as he was kicked out.

* * *

><p>As Minato rushed towards his room, he heard voices coming out of Akihiko's room.<p>

"Junpei… with… a kimono… NO! NOOO!"

…Okay.

* * *

><p>Those winter days were cold and harsh for the denizens of the dorm. Their morale was higher, but they knew things wouldn't be as beautiful as they wanted them to be.<p>

Mitsuru was well aware of this, and she knew that if there were two people capable of rising spirits, those were Arisato and Seikatsu. After all, her time with SEES could come to an end soon enough.

And also… she'd come to have a certain fondness for those unhinged leaders.

"I want as many memories of you as I can have. After all, we'll part soon." She confessed, picking up a couple of books the brunette gave her happily.

"Well, there's still a few months until you go to college." Arisato observed.

"College, uh… that's…"

"Wow-wow-whoa. Stop right there." Seikatsu startled. "YOU ain't gonna go to college?" She turned to Arisato. "See? I ain't the only one!"

"Our reasons are surely wildly different." Mitsuru chuckled sadly.

The three exchanged silent looks. They did not even try to conceal the worry in their eyes. Were they really so concerned about her Senpai? After all…

"So like," Seikatsu pondered, "it's 'cause you wanna be free from your company or some other stuff like that?"

Mitsuru smiled at the naïve question. "It's not related to freedom; _that_ is parked outside."

Seeing their quizzical looks, Mitsuru decided to escort them outside to show them.

* * *

><p>"You call your motorbike 'freedom'?" Arisato inquired, letting more amusement into his voice than what was appropriate when talking to an upperclassman.<p>

"It's my idea of it, yes." She closed her eyes to gather her memories easily. "There is absolutely no feeling like driving through the streets or the motorway, feeling the wind mess your hair, and seeing every passerby look, amazed, as you leave everything behind."

"I think the last part is more of a _you_ thing." Seikatsu giggled.

"A 'me' thing?" Mitsuru repeated, confused at the poor construction of that sentence.

"Well, you're just so—"

"_**Stunning**_." Arisato intervened, giving her a bizarre look.

Seikatsu hesitated for a moment. "…Yeah, so _stunning_, that you could have anyone at your feet."

"Hah…" Mitsuru grinned, flustered. Her boost of self-stem decayed quickly enough. "I am a Kirijo. Things aren't just as simple as that."

"Well, I'm a Shirogane."

Mitsuru opened her eyes widely and gave the boy the most bemused look she could manage. "What?"

"My name is Kitaro Shirogane, not Minato Arisato."

"A-a Shirogane? The detective lineage?"

"_And I'm a Sanada_ _andthat'sniceandall_…" She muttered, loud enough so that Mitsuru could hear it.

What? What were they telling her? Fake names? True identities? Wait, she was a Sanada? How… what… when?

"I found out back in summer." Arisato resumed his talk. "I am the grandson of Johei Shirogane, and I'm rather sure your company has a lot to do with him."

"…_ItwasthankstoShinji_…" Seikatsu kept blabbering, probably aware that what they were saying seemed crazy.

"I can call him right now, if you'd like."

Arisato handed her his mobile phone, with the name of that contact ready to call. Raidou Kuzonoha… a true example for the Kirijo's aim to fight Shadows, whose legend had been reduced to merely a few books, at his own choice.

"_AndIguessyoucan… ask Aki or something… butIdunnowhathe'llsay."_

The serious look on Arisato's face reflected no lie; Seikatsu's anxiety was rather worrying, but it still seemed sincere.

"Then, why?" Mitsuru could only ask. "Why do you keep names your old names? Why do you…?"

"You see, my name may be that, but I'm not that person. And I chose this myself. I'd rather be Minato Arisato than Kitaro Shirogane, any day."

"That. What he said." Seikatsu concluded.

"Why… are you telling me all of this?" Mitsuru inquired, somehow moved.

"Your family name doesn't count, what matters is the person you are: and we'll always call you Mitsuru-senpai, not Kirijo."

"That is… beautiful." She smiled. "However… our circumstances are still different… Arisato."

She grabbed her helmet and climbed onto the motorbike. "If you'll excuse me…. I'd require some time alone."

Seeing her disappear into the distance was sad, but they knew they'd got closer to her heart.

"…Yanno, I think I'm gonna go check up on Shinji." Hamuko muttered, looking back to the dorm. "We'll go to the Velvet Room in another occasion, okay?"

"So are you still mad about—"

She just slammed the door in his face.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day, the only thing that could be heard around the dorm were Minato's continuous apologies following Hamuko wherever she went.<p>

* * *

><p>"Akihiko."<p>

The gray haired boy looked up from the gloves he was sewing. "Hey."

Mitsuru took a seat by his side and grabbed one of the books laying in the table. A normal night for them.

"I need you to answer a question, Akihiko."

"Yeah?"

Mitsuru closed the book, and stared at the cover before finally directing her sight to the other boy. "Is Seikatsu your sister?"

Akihiko's expression hardened considerably, but he took it calmly. "Who told you that?"

"She did." Mitsuru replied, thoughtfully. "So is it true?"

Akihiko groaned, running a hand down his face. "I don't know. Shinji believed so, but…" He shuddered, for a second. "If she really is, then I'll never forgive myself."

"But you—"

"You've seen them, Mitsuru!" He exclaimed. "What if she really is my sister? How should I feel? I—I know it's because of all that Death inside them thing, but…. But I doubt they can be even called humans anymore!"

"Akihiko, that's not—!"

"They're just monsters!"

Monsters.

_Monsters._

The sound of something heavy falling to the ground piqued their attention, and Minato's voice screaming "Hamuko, wait!" confirmed their theories.

Akihiko and Mitsuru rushed to the entrance, where they only found Minato desperately looking in the direction she left.

"S-sorry! We didn't mean to spy on you, i-it's just…"

"Call everyone!" Mitsuru commanded. "We have to find her before she—Akihiko?"

The grey head was nowhere to be seen anymore.

* * *

><p>Hamuko was hiding in the bottom of the jungle gym, like a friend so long ago did once. Of course, both had overreactions at their moments. But one was a kid and the other wasn't. She was conscious of that fact, and she always knew what she was, but… she thought… hoped… that her brother would be already over it.<p>

So there she was, hiding in a playground. And when she realized this… she decided to go do something about as useful as that.

* * *

><p>"I knew I'd find you here."<p>

Hamuko shifted her eyes from Shinji's bed to Minato. Then, she smiled weakly.

"I knew you would."

"The others are still looking for you."

"Does that include _him_?" She inquired, a hint of hope in her eyes.

Minato cast his eyes down. "He left right after you did. We have no idea of where he went."

"Maybe he just went to Hagakure to get stuffed on some ramen."

* * *

><p>"<em>What do I do…<em>" A million thoughts roared inside Akihiko's mind. "_Where has she…?_"

He shouldn't have done that. She shouldn't have been spying. But things happen, and he had no solution for them.

He checked on the shrine and in the strip mall. He took the monorail to Port Island station, but still no trace of her.

Akihiko even ran to his old orphanage, the place filled to the brim with punks getting drunk.

But she wasn't there. Of course she wouldn't be there.

So… why bother keep looking? Minato had probably found her already.

The grey head stood there, looking at the burnt remains of what was once his house.

* * *

><p>"<em>What are you doing to my sister? Get away from her!"<em>

_Little Aki ran to the boy whom his sister was embracing, and the battle became imminent. However, Miki burst into tears and began yelling._

"_You wewen't thewe! I didn't know what to do!"_

"_Shinji's my fwiend, don't hit him!"_

* * *

><p>The flashback stopped. Akihiko just stood there, his mind full of the day they met Shinji.<p>

And then he began running again.

* * *

><p>"So, are you ready to leave yet?"<p>

Hamuko smiled tenderly at the bluenet, but her eyes were still sad when she directed her sight back to the boy on the hospital bed. "I'd like to stay here a little longer, if you don't mind."

"Alright." Minato picked up his mobile phone. "I'll call the others so that they will stop looking for you."

"Got it."

With no further warning, the door opened. Minato and Akihiko exchanged silent looks, and then Minato walked out, leaving the two alone.

"You're panting." Hamuko pointed out as her brother approached her, preventing him from saying anything. "Were you trainin'?"

"No."

"Well, that's just what ya shoulda done!" She growled, then quickly changed her demeanor. "I mean, what with us being monsters and all, you should be training so that the moment we get dispatched or eat each others' heads or somethin' you'll be there to take the lead."

"You know I don't want that." Akihiko defended himself.

"I dunno nothing, so, it's all okay." She stopped for a second. "Wait, no, that's like, knowing everything, so 'I dunno no-thing', is that it? Or…"

She bumbled sentences which didn't make much sense. She was trying to ignore Akihiko or taking importance out of the matter. But he wasn't believing that, so he just stood there, right behind her.

"Why did you come here?"

The question took Hamuko by surprise. She smiled derisively. "It's January and I'm probably the spawn of Godzilla or some gigantic lizard, so I decided to come here and steal human heat. I feed on it, ya—"

"Don't talk to me like that."

The angry look on Akihiko's face made her smile vanish completely, replaced instead by a snarl. "Come again, please? YOU're getting angry?"

The boxer relaxed his stance. "I'm not angry."

"Well, you just sounded mad to me." She arched her eyebrows. "But you and your human emotions are probably too complex for my little monster brain."

"Stop it."

"Stop what? Me no speak Japanese, rawr!"

"I said stop it!"

"Bu-ra-in-su! I wantu bu-ra-in-su!"

"MIKI!"

Hamuko closed her eyes and cringed, afraid she would be attacked. But of course he wouldn't do that. No, not her brother. He pulled her against his chest as he embraced her strongly.

"You came running to him, right? You always ran to him when you were mad at me."

"Oh, you rememb…" Her brow and upper lip began trembling. "…er…" Her eyes began getting sore. "…now…"

Her wailing wasn't further postponed, and she began soaking Akihiko's vest, while the boy pressed her strongly against himself.

"You're such a…" He sniffed. "Such a cry baby. You've always been." He didn't seem sure of whether he had to laugh or cry.

"Look who's… talking…" She added between cries. "You haven't been eatin' well, have you?"

Akihiko pulled away, eyes wide open and a strange expression on his face. "So you were the one who asked Shinji for that?"

"Well, duh. You were downright scrawny." She rolled her eyes. "Are."

"What? I'm a boxer! I'm—I'm really strong!"

"Look at that body! You're still a fishbone, and you'll always be if you don't eat right!"

"Again… don't talk to your brother like that!

"Say it." She commanded. "Say it in front of everyone."

She smiled sweetly, but her eyes were still glassy.

"I…."

She shook her head, and in a sudden change of mind whispered. "No, nevermind. Sorry about that."

Akihiko cast his eyes down Then he looked at her directly in the eye.

"I will."

Wait what.

Akihiko walked towards the door, set on telling everyone the next day.

But no. When he opened the door, he found the whole dorm congregated in the waiting room. Minato had called them.

He looked left and right. Then he noticed the brunette following him out of the room.

"…HAMUKO IS MY SISTER." He spluttered, all of a sudden.

Silence.

"What?" Hamuko muttered.

Everyone just looked at him wide eyed as he rushed out of the hospital.

…Judgement reached level 3 for some reason.

"WHAT?"

* * *

><p>"WHAT?"<p>

"Hamuko, is about time you stop yelling that." Minato sighed. "Everyone seemed to accept it. We answered their questions already. Stop saying that."

"BUT WHAT?"

Minato shook his head, and decided to shut Hamuko out of his head for the rest of the lunch break. However, before he could head out of the rooftop, he encountered a blonde robot.

"Minato, Hamuko? May I speak with you?" she inquired.

"Of course," Minato agreed affably, a bit curious.

"Heh, you finally drop the honorifics for us, Aigis?" Hamuko asked, finally out of it.

A small smile appeared on Aigis's face.

"I think I have known the two of you long enough to dispense with formalities."

Upon the rooftop, the three stood, one unaffected by the cold, the other two shivering against the January air. They should have suggested a better place to talk.

"So, ah, what was it you wanted, Aigis?" Minato asked.

She stood silent a moment, gathering her thoughts.

"Aigis?" Hamuko prodded.

"...I realized something the night Ryoji posed his choice to you. Up until now, I have existed under the assumption that I would last forever, if not nearly so," she said. "But I realized that, although I am not as affected by time's flow, even I will cease functioning eventually. I am alive, and as such, I will die."

"You sound kinda upbeat for such a depressing thought," Hamuko noted.

Aigis nodded with a smile.

"Yes. My actions up until now have been affected by this past delusion. I have been desperate to hold onto those I care about for as long as possible, regardless of the quality of their lives," she said, turning to face the ocean. "I have not experienced life because I thought I would have forever to do so. I took it for granted. But this realization has breathed life into an existence that long since grew wearying."

She whirled around, grasping the two's hands.

"Let me experience a life with the two of you. Let us enjoy the time we have, regardless of how much or how little there may be, rather than try to cling to every hour. I realize now that time spent living is far better than a larger amount of time spent merely surviving."

Each Fool smiled, clasping her hands tightly.

"Of course, Aigis," Minato reassured. "We don't have forever, so let's spend the time we have together."

"Yeah, come on and hang out with us!" Hamuko cheered. "Hell, we missed ya while you were gone. I need more Aigis time!"

Aigis positively beamed.

"Thank you both. I shall endeavor to be less selfish and let us all enjoy our remaining time."

_**CRASH**_

The Fools' eyes widened at the formation of a link neither expected to exist. The Aeon link had been born.

"Another shared one," Hamuko commented. "Wish we'd had more of those back then."

The cold wind blew silently and dramatically as it should.

"I'm fucking freezin', let's go home already."

And so with Hamuko's plea, another chapter of their life came to an end, just so another could begin, this time with Aigis by their side.

"Still, what?"

* * *

><p><strong>BONUS MATERIAL: Ask Aigis anything! -By our dear Evilshroom.<strong>

Aigis: Greetings, I am Aigis. I am here to answer all the questions you have never asked. Commence the All-Out Interrogation.

_**Q: Why?**_

Aigis: A profound question. However, I will assume you meant 'why am I answering questions?' It is partially as an apology from the writers for the length of time these chapters have been taking, and partially a chance for them to exercise some silliness in these more solemn chapters.

_**Q: What was with the new appearance and weapons?**_

Aigis: I will assume you are European, as there is no other excuse for not having played Persona 4: Arena. That was my incarnation from that game, and several of my moves.

(_Shenjay: actually as far as I'm concerned, it's already out here in Europe. I need to buy it.)_

_**Q: Why are you in your P4A incarnation?**_

Aigis: During my battle with Ryoji, I suffered extensive enough damage to warrant a complete overhaul. Additionally, this creates a link from this fic to future canonical events of the Persona universe. It was not, in any way, a stupid idea brought up by the beta writer, who is enamored with my incarnation in that game. Why would you even suggest that? _He_ is hurt.

(_Shenjay: He being Evilshroom, who writes most of Aigis's dialogue because he loves her even more I do. Rascal.)_

_**Q: What's with all the cryptic talk coming from you lately?**_

Aigis: If I meant myself to be readily understood by any who could hear, I would not speak cryptically. However, I _can_ be understood by those who _listen_. Or, failing any audio, read carefully. Perhaps you may find a link between the reason, and the explanation behind the mysterious storage space for my new weapons.

_**Q: That Bad End made me feel terrible! Good thing it wasn't the actual end, right?**_

Aigis: Define "actual."

_**Q: So, what's the real ending going to be like?**_

Aigis: Define "real." Also, why have you put "ending" as a singular?

_**Q: How long will it take to get there?**_

Aigis: This fic will be over "soon." The writers work on Valve Time.

(_Shenjay: my fault every time._)

_**Q: Can we expect this from other characters?**_  
>Aigis: There are truly very few chapters left. But perhaps the stars of the story will sit down and answer some questions at the end. I suspect you will have several.<p>

_(Shenjay: feel free to ask more questions if you'd like! These ere all made up by Evilshroom so…)_


	95. Judgment Calls

**B/N: Yeah, this is a beta's note. Sort of. Guess a bit of explanation is owed. Shenjay has become... extremely burnt out, as I'm sure you've noticed. Anyone familiar with fanfiction recognizes the schedule slip leading into a dropped fic. Now, neither of us wants to see this fic dropped, but after 94 chapters and over 450,000 words, our dear author has basically reached the end of her rope. I have brought my own rope.**

**I have volunteered to take over for the final chapters of this story. As the plan stands, that will be this one, as well as 96 and 97, and chapter 98 will be dedicated to January 31st. Fear not, you've not seen the last of Shenjay- she will be writing the ending to this story, and trust me, she's got a damn doozy planned.**

**As a college student with a full-time job, I cannot promise anything resembling regularity or speed, I'm afraid. I truly love to write, and this has become my pet project of sorts, and I promise you I will see it finished. Just... be patient with me, please. And I hope that the quality of my writing stands up to what you're used to from Shenjay.**

**As a final note, if you've got the time, try rereading during the wait. There's things in this story even WE'VE forgotten over the... years? Jesus damn, it's been years... whew. Well, just hopefully I can get this finished up for you in a reasonably short amount of time.**

**A/N: ALL HAIL EVILSHROOM. HAIL I SAY. And hail sillyfudgemonkeys and **DoctorSerenitySquid** for increasing and correcting respectively the article in TVTropes!**

* * *

><p>With the Reaper defeated, the need for SEES to visit Tartarus had somewhat diminished. As such, the Fools found themselves with more free time on their hands than they would have expected in what could very well be the last month of their lives. Much of it, they spent alone with each other. But for the rest, they took to nurturing the few Links remaining to them. The new, more human-seeming Aigis was a source of both amusement and thoughtful discussion.<p>

"What is the feeling most familiar to you?"

Aigis's sudden question made The Fools leave aside their meals and share silent looks.

"I've always felt despair." Minato began, sadly.

"And I've always been alone." Hamuko continued, awkwardly.

Their hands met practically at the same time, making them exchange some giggles.

"Love… changes everything." The bluenet sentenced, a little blushed. "It changes how we act and how we think. It really shapes people. All the time. Your whole life."

"Minato-san, Hamuko-san, do you believe in eternity?"

"As in, afterlife?" Hamuko inquired. "I've seen the god of death wearing straps and a scarf. Why wouldn't I?"

"My skepticism may be somewhat more random, but I don't think the existence of gods guarantees any further supernatural phenomena after our deaths." Minato scratched the back of his head. "I'd really like to believe that everyone gets what they deserve in the end, though."

"I see." Aigis nodded. "…So love is eternal, then?"

The mood varied slightly. The Fools looked somewhat more uncomfortable. "I think we're a little too young to—"

"But if you could make such a good feeling eternal, you would, wouldn't you?"

"Aigis…?"

The android suddenly got quiet, muttering an apology for her insistence.

"I am sorry. I feel I have spent an inane amount of time merely accompanying you, instead of actually developing my knowledge about the world. I wish to understand better what 'life' is, so as to decide how to live."

The rest of the meal passed in more jovial conversation, and the Aeon Link reached 2 almost unnoticed.

* * *

><p>Of course, even in the face of Armageddon, school does not compromise. Everyone had to attend classes. They tended to pass in a blur, none in SEES able to keep their attention on the dull lectures with death hanging over their heads. With Tartarus all but cleared out, their evenings had become a lot freer, as well. As such, an invitation from Aigis the next evening was more than welcome.<p>

* * *

><p>"Karaoke?"<p>

"Is... that not acceptable?" Aigis asked worriedly.

"Karaoke is fine," Minato reassured. "It is a surprising choice, though. What brought it about?"

"I have never done it before," she said with a shrug. "Considering the amount of time I have been here, I felt that should be rectified."

"Well, I'm up for it!" Hamuko cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "Heh, you get to hear my awesome renditions of Risette's songs, Aigis!"

Wordlessly, Minato passed Aigis a pair of earplugs. Aigis turned with some concern to Hamuko, who rolled her eyes.

"Don't pay attention to Minato. My singing will bring you to tears!"

* * *

><p>The three exited the karaoke room after a few hours.<p>

"...Your words were very true, Hamuko," Aigis noted.

"Aw, thanks, Aigis!" Hamuko beamed. "And, _wow!_ I had no idea you could sing so well!"

Minato nodded.

"Maybe it was just the stark contrast to Hamuko, but you really do have a lovely voice. Have you been practicing while we're gone?"

Aigis's face tightened a bit.

"Ah... yes. I've sung a few times... when you leave."

"Well, your practice shows," he noted. "I'd listen to you over Hamuko any day. Then, I'd listen to many thing over Hamuko's singing..."

"Oh, fuck you."

"Not in front of Aigis, dearest. You'll have to wait."

Hamuko pouted, though she seemed to be fighting back a small smile.

"So Aigis," she began with a sly look. "Maybe ya oughta become an idol!"

The robot blinked once. As her eyes didn't ever dry, it could only be yet another human gesture she'd picked up from watching too much TV.

"An idol?"

"Yeah, ya know, like Risette! Singing, and dancing, and all that. I betcha girls would love you!"

"Not to mention the creepy otaku," Minato commented.

"And the creepy otak- wait!" she shouted, alarmed. "No, they can't come near her! They'll steal Aigis's purity! And they aren't good enough for her! None of them allowed at her concerts. They have to stay home. But they can buy her CDs."

She shrugged to punctuate her stream of odd ideas. Minato wisely remained silent instead of bringing up the point that robots did not, in fact, have a "purity."

"Just sayin'. I mean, we can't fight Shadows forever, right? Ya gotta keep your future in mind."

Aigis actually looked troubled at that.

"My future... somehow, I never saw myself as doing much other than what I do now. I've never considered what may happen once it is all done. Maybe I will be shut down and decommissioned..."

"No way!"

"Not going to let that happen."

The two replies came at once, drawing Aigis's attention. She smiled at their reassuring, determined faces.

"Perhaps thinking about my future would be best." She placed a hand on her chin thoughtfully. "Though I may not make much of an idol. The only dance I know is the robot."

She paused for a moment.

"And the macarena."

* * *

><p>Of course, some time had to be spent bonding with their other team members. Much of the team sat in the lounge the next night, chatting idly. Junpei and Hamuko were making terrible jokes back and forth while Yukari and Minato both sighed at them, and Mitsuru sat placidly in her usual chair, reading. Unusually, Ken was preoccupied with something.<p>

The young boy shuffled a deck of cards, looking fondly at the faces. Hamuko eventually pulled herself away from her storm of awful puns, much to the relief of the two suffering in the dining room, and took notice of the cards.

"Hey Ken-kun, those cards..." she spoke up.

"Huh?" He looked up from the deck, smiling sheepishly. "Oh, they're from the Phoenix Ranger Featherman R trading card game. I know, it's pretty childish, but... I put together a really good collection before all of... you know, this."

A mischievous glint came to Hamuko's eye.

"Hm... yanno, I've got a couple cards myself."

"Huh?" Ken said in surprise. "Really?"

"Hey, I love the Featherman merch too," she defended. "Now come on, let's play a game!"

* * *

><p>Five minutes later, the two sat on opposite ends of the dining table, Minato and Yukari effectively displaced from their spots. They stood around to watch, along with Junpei, who was entirely too interested in the game to not be a collector himself.<p>

* * *

><p>Five more minutes later, Hamuko sat with her head in her hands, her side of the playing field a sad sight.<p>

"This game is stupid..." she complained.

"Aw, come on, Hamuko-san!" Ken coaxed. "It's your turn, and you haven't lost yet. Draw a card!"

"You just wanna have the fun of beating me some more..."

"Don't be a whiner, Hamuko," Minato sighed. "You kicked Yukari and I out of our spots for this, now take your beating at this children's card game like an adult."

"Fine," she pouted, drawing her card. She stared at it for a moment, her thorough dejection slowly fading into a maniacal grin. "Ehehehe. Heheheheh. AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Um... did you draw a good card, Hamuko-san?" Ken asked uncertainly, seeming more concerned for her mental well-being than the outcome of the game.

"Heh, you better believe it!" she boasted. "Best card in my deck! Now check this out! ARISE!"

Three seconds later...

"YOU ARE A GODDAMN CHEATER!"

"Trap cards aren't cheating," Ken refuted calmly.

Somehow amongst the ensuing storm of rage (from one) and amusement (from the rest), the Judgment link rose again.

* * *

><p>The next day at school, Minato and Hamuko even spent some time in the library, though the amount of studying getting done was questionable.<p>

"Arisato? Seikatsu? May I sit down and speak with you a moment?"

The two, sitting opposite each other, startled, neither having been paying much attention. Mitsuru stood expectantly nearby.

"Of course, senpai!" Hamuko said brightly, casting a look over at Minato.

Mitsuru nodded gratefully. "Yes, thank you. I just... Arisato, why is your face so red?"

"Ah... Hamuko was stepping on my... feet," he said, fighting down the flush. "It hurt."

"I see." Mitsuru seemed nonplussed. "Seikatsu, do not step on people's feet. Now, I had something I wished to talk to you about."

"How come us?" Hamuko asked.

"Frankly, you two are the only ones I know in a real relationship, no matter how..." she trailed off, either not able or not willing to accurately describe it. "Well, you are the only ones I know in a real relationship."

"Ooh, lookin' for relationship advice, senpai?" Hamuko said slyly. "Got a guy you got your eyes on? If it's my brother, you better be careful. He cries really easily."

"Yes, I know," she said drily. "But, no, it is not about that sort of thing. Rather, I was... well, perhaps I should simply give you the full story. The Kirijo Group is in turmoil over the inheritance issue. I can't quite meet the expectations of the other members, owing to some things out of my control, but I am still expected to lead... even if I have to sacrifice something for it."

She paused, pursing her lips lightly.

"A 'fiance' has been chosen for me. He is the new president of one of our affiliate companies. If I agree to the marriage, the future of the company will no longer be in question. It is... an ideal solution."

"What? No it ain't!" Hamuko raged. "That's crap! You're obviously-!"

"Shh!"

"Gah, fuckin' libraries..." she muttered, cut off by the hissed shush from somewhere in the rows of books. She continued, quieter. "You're obviously not happy about this, right? Like, do you love this guy?"

Mitsuru flinched at that, lowering her gaze to the table.

"I... I would have said that was irrelevant, before I met the two of you. Now... is it really such an important thing? Is it necessary even for a marriage like this? Look at this library," she said, waving an arm around at the shelves. "So many romance novels involving courtship, and yet so few involving married life. It can't be so important... my parents had this same sort of arrangement. It's not, right?"

She was almost pleading at this point, looking truly stricken. She sighed, settling down into her usual, more regal demeanor.

"At any rate, the emotional factor is unimportant. It's not as though I can just run away from this. I've nowhere to go, and no one to bring with me, after all." She forced a smile. "I'm afraid I can't exactly just run off on a journey of self-discovery. I've no one to bring with me, after all."

"We'll do something about it, Mitsuru-senpai," Minato promised, finally speaking up. "I agree with you that sacrifices are sometimes necessary, but the payoff has to be worth the cost."

"Yeah!" Hamuko agreed. "Don'tcha think you being happy is worth more than that?"

The redhead's forced smile became slightly more genuine.

"The two of you should not promise things you can't do. I'm not even certain why I told you both this. Perhaps to shake my own resolve... how weak of me." She sighed, looking less unhappy than her words would indicate. "I am going to go attempt to master the ramen noodles once more. Would you care to join me?"

Hamuko leapt up, always eager at the prospect of food. Minato remained seated.

"Not joining us, Arisato?" Mitsuru asked, confused.

"I... will catch up," he said awkwardly. "My, ah... foot... still hurts."

* * *

><p>On Thursday, the Fools and Aigis walked to the dorm from school together, talking about not much at all. The group had collectively and silently decided to not bring up the looming despair unless necessary.<p>

"So, what's the whole 'being more human-ish' thing like, Aigis?" Hamuko asked casually.

"It is... novel," she said honestly. "Which I must say is overall quite pleasant. I do not think I could provide a useful frame of reference to you, however, Ninjas-sama."

Hamuko hummed thoughtfully.

"Hey, if we're ninjas, do ya think we could hide well enough that you couldn't find us?"

"You are anything but difficult to find, Hamuko," the other Fool remarked dryly.

"Minato is correct," Aigis affirmed. "I could locate you effortlessly, Hamuko."

"You guys are mean," she grumbled. "Come on, I bet Minato and I could hide from you for a while. Here, we won't go further than the shopping strip outside the train station!"

"Are we really doing this?" Minato asked.

"It'll be fun," she waved off. "Come on Aigis, turn around and count to thirty!"

"And shut off your sensors."

With a slight smile, she did so, counting aloud. The Fools ran from the Iwatodai train station toward the strip mall, intent on finding a place to hide.

"So... where'd be somewhere she wouldn't look for us?" Hamuko asked.

"You? You should hide in Bookworms."

"Yeah?!" she shot back. "Well YOU should... ah, fuck it, I'm going to Bookworms."

Shrugging, Minato walked casually into Hagakure. He figured he may as well grab a bite to eat while Aigis and Hamuko had their fun. He walked through the door, and saw a few familiar faces. Akihiko, Junpei, and Yukari sat at the front counter, arguing over some wager.

"Have I missed something?" he asked dryly. The three spun around, and Junpei's face lit up.

"Hey, come get some free ramen Hamuko won us! Come on, have a seat!"

"So... I have missed something?"

"Nah," Junpei said, shaking his head. "Well sorta. Remember that bet we made back at Yakushima? Hamuko technically won, even if it was Aigis. So now Akihiko has to pay up with free ramen. I finally got him to accept that. We'd have gone a couple nights ago, but you all seemed kinda busy with playing cards, so... we set up going after school today."

"Why is Yukari here, then?"

Junpei stopped for a moment, turning towards her.

"Ya know, that doesn't make much sense. But I guess she's getting free stuff from Akihiko too."

The girl in question just shrugged.

"So, would you like me to go get Hamuko?" Minato offered. "Since she technically won us this to begin with?"

"There will be no need. I have apprehended her." Aigis walked in, Hamuko draped over her shoulder, flailing feebly. "Her choice of hiding place was far too obvious."

"Really?" Minato said in surprise. "You expected her to run into a bookstore?"

"Bookstore?" Aigis blinked. "She was eating takoyaki in front of the stand at quite a rapid pace."

"Was hungry... smelled good..."

"Ah, never mind that!" Junpei said cheerfully. "Come get some ramen! Pull up a chair, grab a magazine or something like Akihiko has... huh?"

Aigis peered over Akihiko's shoulder to read the article, which he and Junpei were staring at.

"This article is quite disturbing," she reported. "It mentions the doomsday cult that has been seen around town. The title is 'Emergence of a Messiah,' and the leader of this apparent cult is... it is Takaya, of Strega."

Hamuko snatched the magazine, flipping through it furiously.

"Nyx is coming, blah blah, peace found in Nyx, yadda yadda, those who do not understand the truth despite having power like mine, whatever, miscreants, hey!" she objected. "That's talkin' about us! And what's the crap about Nyx saving the world?"

"Moreover, how does he know about Nyx to begin with?" Minato pointed out.

"And what's with them calling Takaya 'the charismatic one?'" Junpei raged.

"That's probably Jin's doing," Akihiko grumbled. "He's pretty popular on the internet."

"Yeah, I bet he orchestrated Takaya's rise to fame," Yukari agreed. "Ugh... those two make me sick."

"This is a load of crap!" Hamuko shouted, tossing the magazine to the side. "It's even talking about some fucking 'revolution' or something! Like people actually believe this!"

"This doesn't matter at all," Junpei said decisively, getting everyone's attention. "We only need to worry about Nyx. If Strega gets in our way, we'll take care of them then."

"Yeah, that's right," Akihiko agreed.

"That day is coming up soon, though..." Yukari murmured.

"And that's why we need our energy!" Junpei cheered. "So let's eat!"

And with that, he set to annihilating Akihiko's wallet with gusto, helped in no small amount by Hamuko. As everyone eventually stuffed themselves full, they started to disperse back to the dorm. The Fools and Aigis remained behind.

"You are not worried about Strega's involvement," she observed.

"When you're faced with an unbeatable incarnation of death itself, Strega is not really that intimidating," Minato said honestly.

"I just want another shot at kicking Takaya's ass," Hamuko snarled. "He got away that one time..."

Aigis hesitated.

"I do not think they are a great threat. But still, do not be overconfident. I do not want you two hurt."

"Again, I think we have more to worry about from Nyx in that regard," Minato pointed out.

"...We have a great many things to worry about, it seems," Aigis said quietly. "I wish I could encourage you both to run away and be safe. But this isn't something any of us can run from."

"What, run away without you?" Hamuko said with a grin. "Come on, never! What'd we do without our Aigis?"

"It is quite simple," Aigis said with a smile. "You will stay near Minato. And I will easily find you. You are terrible at hide-and-seek."

The three of them laughed, doing their best to lose their fears of what was to come in light jokes. And the Aeon link reached the fourth level.

* * *

><p>The next day was Friday, and after school, Mitsuru again pulled the Fools aside, asking to meet them at the Wild-Duck Burger. There, they sat around a booth, eating happily. Mitsuru even seemed quite more adept with her own burger, though less... enthusiastic... than Hamuko.<p>

"I think I've acquired a taste for fast food," the redhead said between bites.

"Ih's aweshom, huh?"

"Swallow, Hamuko."

"I always do!"

Mitsuru had a sad smile on as she watched their byplay.

"Arisato. Seikatsu."

Her calm voice brought the two out of their banter.

"...Do you want to see how many places we can visit in one day?"

* * *

><p>And so, much as it had with Elizabeth and Theodore, the whirlwind spree of restaurant tours began. While Mitsuru hadn't the stomach their otherworldly dates had, Hamuko and Minato made up for it with their own appetite, and their senpai put forth an impressive effort.<p>

"So, I have heard this sushi makes you smarter..."

"It doesn't," refuted Minato.

"It does!" confirmed Hamuko.

"You're an idiot. Sushi can't make you smarter."

"How am I an idiot," and her she shoved her mouth full, "fif Ah eat sho muf shushi?"

"I will never understand how you score so well on exams."

"Shushi!"

"Swallow!"

"It DOES seem unlikely that a roll of fish, rice, and seaweed would increase one's intelligence," Mitsuru admitted. "Perhaps the corporation should study this..."

* * *

><p>They went all along the strip mall. They visited shops other than restaurants, but hardly ever for as long.<p>

"You guys want some tako-less yaki?"

"No."

"I... will decline, Seikatsu."

"More for me! Ooh, ramen!"

* * *

><p>At the end of the day's events, they all sat down on a bench. The end Hamuko sat on creaked noticeably. She muttered something about crappy wood. Mitsuru smiled wistfully.<p>

"We had a lot of fun, didn't we?" she asked.

"Sure did!"

"I'd say so."

"But..." she paused. "While I'm glad I came along, I feel as though you two would have had fun on your own just as easily. Is your life often like this? Are you so often happy together?"

Minato reached over, clasping Hamuko's hand.

"We are, oddly. The world is rather depressing, but... we find happiness with each other."

Mitsuru's smile turned melancholy.

"Then... I am glad to have shared in your joy. I can make my decision after I've had some fun, after all. Just... so I know both sides of the situation, of course. I have no intention of changing my mind..."

She trailed off, looking awkwardly at the two and excusing herself. As she walked away, the Empress link reached rank 7.

* * *

><p>The next night, SEES was gathered in the dorm at leisure. Of course, no leisure can last long.<p>

"Someone… give me a hand with this thing!" Hamuko groaned from outside the dormitory's front door. The rest of SEES, minus Aigis, at ease in the living room, glanced over to the door, then over at Minato, who sighed and stood to go open the door.

"What is it… now?" he asked, pausing as he saw the massive, round table Hamuko had clearly rolled up to the dorm, its legs folded beneath it. "…What is that?"

"Card table," she grunted, struggling to hold it steady.

"And… what for?"

"Cards. Gonna help?"

"…Right."

Giving himself over to insanity, he helped roll the behemoth over the threshold, pulling its legs out and flipping it over onto an empty space in the dorm's entryway. Every eye was on Hamuko, who, after catching her breath, stood up high and smirked.

"There have been some nasty rumors going around," she began, "that I have lost in a silly trading card game. While I will neither confirm nor deny these rumors, I must say, the fact that they are taken seriously makes me worry about the maturity of those in this dorm."

"You did lose that game," Junpei pointed out. "Like, a lot of us were there."

"HE'S A GODDAMN CHEATER!" she screamed, her "maturity" fading in an instant. She blinked. "I mean, the outcome of that game is in question. But that's not the point! The point is, I'm going to show this dorm what an adult's card game is like."

Having said that, she whipped on a clear-billed visor and pulled a chair up to the table, sitting with a smug grin. As she shuffled a deck of playing cards she had produced from her pocket, she declared,

"Let the SEES High-Stakes Poker Tournament begin!"

"High-stakes?" Mitsuru asked cautiously.

"Yep! 10000 yen buy-in. Once you've lost that, you're out. Winner take all. All members of SEES must participate… unless you're scared you're gonna lose," she said with a wicked grin.

Akihiko snorted.

"With you playing? At least I know I won't be going out first. Let me just get my wallet."

As he went up to his room, Junpei also rose, digging in his pocket.

"Heh, what the hell. Why not have some fun? Not like I'm gonna miss this ten grand if the world ends, after all."

"That's the spirit!" Hamuko cheered. "Yukari? Fuuka? Senpai? You wanna show the boys how to play poker?"

Yukari shrugged, opening her purse. Mitsuru narrowed her eyes.

"I do not approve of gambling in the dorm. However…" She reached into her pocket, pulling out a large bill. "I believe I owe you payback for the last game, Arisato."

"Technically, Aigis beat all of us that game," he pointed out.

"Can I join in on this one?" Ken asked hopefully.

"Can ya keep the cards out of your sleeves?" asked Hamuko, glaring down at him.

"I didn't cheat!" he protested. "Trap cards aren't cheating!"

"My monster was too big to fall down that hole! That card is bullsh-!"

"Children," Minato interrupted. "Enough."

"He started it!"

"Arf!"

"Koro-chan?" Hamuko asked, blinking down at him. The dog held a 10000 yen bill in his mouth.

"You did say all SEES members," Minato pointed out.

"D'aww," Hamuko cooed, taking the somewhat slobbery bill and patting his head. "Well, guess we'll skip his turn for dealing."

"I'll join in as well," Fuuka offered. "I'm actually kind of excited… usually I just have to watch when you all do something together."

"Is it sad that the only thing we really do as a group is kill horrible monsters with manifestations of our psyche in a hellish, labyrinthine tower that our school turns into?" Minato mused.

"What else are we gonna do?" Yukari pointed out.

"…Is it sadder that I really can't think of anything?"

Hamuko frowned.

"Where is that brother of mine?"

"I'm here…" he called, coming down the stairs, looking quite dejected.

"Couldn't find the money?" the brunette Fool asked sympathetically.

"Found it," he said glumly. "Also found something else."

Her steps stood out sharply, metal against wood. She strode confidently past Akihiko, an opponent defeated before the battle had even begun. Good, one less to worry about. Not that she had any need to worry. For she was…

"Aigis, the card shark of Tatsumi Port, has entered the arena," she declared. "You may now commence despairing."

* * *

><p>The group sat around the table, eying each other, measuring their opponents up.<p>

"This battle is mine," Aigis said calmly. "Deactivating facial expression subroutines."

She shut her eyes for a moment, then opened them and frowned.

"…I may have spoken prematurely."

"Somethin' wrong, Aigis?" Hamuko asked in concern.

"I seem to be unable to deactivate the programming that allows me to make the appropriate facial expressions, so that you could not read my, could not read my, no could not read my poker face," she explained.

"You just frowned," Minato observed.

"Yes. That was quite involuntary," she said. "I may have slightly more trouble with you all than I thought. Most of you. I am unconcerned about Junpei-san."

"Hey, I resent that!"

"Now that the traditional pre-game friendly 'smack talking' is complete, let us deal the first hand."

"Friendly my ass… spendin' too much time around Yukari," Junpei grumbled.

* * *

><p>The first few hands went slowly, the group gauging each other carefully. No large bets were made, and little money exchanged hands. The slow pace couldn't hold for long, however. Not with Hamuko at the helm.<p>

"I call, and raise two thousand," she said, looking Ken, the next to bet, in the eye with a confident smirk. He was taken aback.

"Eh? Two… ah…" he stammered. He glanced back and forth between his cards and Hamuko's level stare that dared him to continue. He hung his head. "Fold."

Fuuka, the next in line, folded as well, going on down the table until it reached Minato. He didn't look down at his cards again, only staring Hamuko in the eyes while she smirked at him.

"Your poker face has gotten better," he commented. "Call, and raise five hundred."

Her smirk faltered; she blinked in mild surprise.

"Uh… you sure?" she asked hesitantly.

He shrugged.

"Money is down already. It is your bet."

"I, uh… call, and raise another five hundred."

"You can't scare someone who knows you're bluffing by raising more, Hamuko," Minato sighed. "I call. Show them."

She slowly lowered her cards, showing… two Jacks.

Minato just smiled, showing his own hand.

"Three Fives. Nothing incredible, but better than what I knew you had."

Hamuko groaned and slammed her head on the table as Minato cheerfully raked over nearly half her money. While Mitsuru dealt the next hand, she leaned over to the other Fool, whispering in his ear.

"How could ya tell?"

"Wrong side," he whispered back. At her questioning look, he clarified, "You smirked with the wrong side of your mouth. You always do the cocky smirk with the left side, not the right."

"You notice that?" she whispered incredulously.

He shrugged with a small smile.

"I know you about as well as I know myself. I'm not that easy to bluff."

* * *

><p>With Hamuko's first large bet, the gloves were now off. Money started circling the table in much larger qualities. As such, some players felt slightly less inclined to play fair.<p>

"Arf!"

"Koromaru-san wishes to discard these three cards."

"Grrrrrrrr…"

"Yes, I shall do so for you."

As Aigis reached for the three cards separated from the hand, Koromaru snapped at her fingers.

"Uh, Aigis?" Fuuka said hesitantly. "Are you sure he wanted to get rid of those?"

"Quite certain. Koromaru-san, please release these cards so I may get rid of them for you."

"Aigis, we only need one child at the table," Minato sighed.

"Hey!" Ken objected.

"Not you, Ken. I was referring to the one building a card house with her hand."

"Hey look! I got them to stay up!" Hamuko cheered.

Junpei leaned over and blew. Yukari rested her face in her hands.

"And we're the ones who are gonna try to save the world in a few weeks," she mumbled.

* * *

><p>Soon, players began to fall. Akihiko was, surprisingly, the first to go all-in and fail. Junpei went down shortly after, followed by Ken, who did surprisingly well for one who had not fully grasped the rules yet. Mitsuru was doing rather poorly for one with as good control over her emotions as she had, owing mostly to her overzealous betting.<p>

"To clarify, we cannot use more of our own money to keep playing?" she asked tentatively.

"No, that's unfair, senpai," Hamuko chastised.

"Well, then… what about items that are not money?"

"Eh?"

"I will wager one ride on my motorcycle. What is this worth to you?" she asked desperately.

"Does Mitsuru-senpai have a gambling problem or something?" Junpei whispered to Akihiko. Everyone had remained to watch the proceedings.

"She just wants to beat them for last time," he whispered back.

Hamuko hummed thoughtfully, rubbing her chin.

"Sure, that seems like fun," she agreed. "I'll say that's worth a good coupla thousand yen. I'll call it."

Unfortunately for Mitsuru, her hand was terrible, and Aigis earned the privilege of a ride on Mitsuru's bike.

"Why would a robot want to ride a motorcycle?" Junpei asked. "Shouldn't she be able to, like, transform into one or something?"

"Iori, that's ridiculous," Mitsuru snapped, somewhat aggravated from her loss, and withdrawing from the table. "The Kirijo corporation would never waste money on something as asinine as an android that transforms into a motorbike."

* * *

><p>As people started getting lower on money, some took to betting items to stay in the game longer, following Mitsuru's example. For the most part, they were unsuccessful. However, Fuuka's wager of a meal home-cooked by her got everyone at once to fold. She was proud that they valued it so highly that they didn't want to match the bet, and decided it would be unfair to bet it again. No one was heartless enough to correct her.<p>

Even Aigis went down eventually, owing mostly to her complete lack of poker face. Apparently, her newfound humanity made it quite difficult to disguise her emotions. She had one last wager to play before she went down, however.

"I will bet… the secret of this world," she said, looking meaningfully at the Fools.

Everyone remaining at the table eyed her oddly.

"I will bet a thousand on that," Minato said.

Everyone else called, displaying their hands. Hamuko shrugged.

"Guess this one goes to Koro-chan."

Aigis sighed, looking remarkably disappointed.

"Very well." She leaned down to whisper in the dog's ear. "You see, the secret is that…"

"Arf?"

"That is correct. Several times, actually. And…"

"Arf?"

"No, she only thinks she is. But in reality…"

"Arf!"

"Yes, it shocked me as well."

"Arf arf?"

"I will admit that it got boring for a while. It is not so bad now."

"Arf."

"Well, I cannot tell them now. They did not win the hand."

"Rrrrrr."

"I have been dropping hints for several months. Now, perhaps you should get back to the game. It seems I must withdraw, as I have nothing more to bet."

* * *

><p>Soon there were none left but the Fools, who quickly fell into a dynamic of Hamuko attempting to distract Minato, since she couldn't bluff him. She was remarkably effective at times.<p>

"Now, what to do~" she purred thoughtfully, leaning forward with her arms folded beneath her chest. "Call or fold, hmm…"

Minato's vision tipped downward as she leaned forward. So did his hand. A quick flash of her eyes in that direction, and…

"I'll call."

And so, with a combination of good luck and well-honed seduction tactics, Hamuko took home the crown and the prize money.

"You cheated," Minato grumbled.

"Oh, don't be a sore loser."

And so, Judgment reached rank 5. And another week passed, with only two remaining before that fated day.

* * *

><p><strong>So, hopefully that was up to par with Shenjay's. Feel free to drop a review with anything you think I could refine. I'm trying to improve myself with this, and I don't want to let anyone down. She forwards all the reviews to me anyway. 8D<strong>


	96. Extra chapter 3!

**Author note: Here's a silly little thing to give you something to chew on while Evilshroom works on the next 'll finally have time to write soon enough, so please, don't lose your faith ;w;**

**Until then, you can rest assured: I have already written the final chapter and the third to the last, whereas Nate wrote the one before the last. So this fic is, technically speaking, completed in my computer, save for the last two not-much-plot-so-filler-buh chapters that he is writing for me.**

**And here's a shoutout to sillyfudgemonkeys for being always so awesome to update continuously the tvtropes articles. Thanks! 8D**

* * *

><p>"You know, nobody's ever paid much attention to what I said. Of course, I know: we are a group. We all have our own needs. But I don't ask for much, I enjoy life's little pleasures: Aigis getting some human food for me, having my stomach rubbed every so often, going on a walk with anyone who isn't Junpei trying to use me as a proxy to flirt… you know. That kind of stuff.<p>

But of course, I know: I am a dog. Koromaru, they call me. There are better names out there. Stormaggedon. That is one heck of a name. But Koromaru is the name the priest gave me, and I am very happy about it, because that's the only thing I have from back then.

I mean, we all have memories, yes. I have a lot of them. I remember the smell of my mum and my siblings, for example. And I remember the place where we were born, by a little house, near the sea. I was there not long ago, and the house is gone. But that's okay, the sea is still in its place. It's a very reliable sea. Not like those stupid snakes which shoot water which disappears when I bite it. My relationship with them is very complicated, but showing them who is boss is more than a matter of pride.

I have heard Ken complaining about losing his mother. I lost mine too, and I don't know where she went when she said we were old enough to look after ourselves. And I have heard Yukari complaining about not having a dad. I never knew mine. So what? I can still play catch happily! And eat lots of food!

Oh! Oh! Food! Shinjiro makes great food! I love him because he feeds me well! When the priest died, Shinjiro brought me some food every day. He seemed hungry too, but he still gave me his food. Shinjiro is the greatest human! He's as kind as the priest!

Because, the priest saved me, you know? He found me alone, dirty and hungry, looking in the bags of food that humans don't want in the street. He took me to the lonely shrine and treated me really well! But the shadows attacked him. That's what Mitsuru says they are. Big bad monsters hurting my friend. But I was weak back then. I couldn't do anything to protect him. Then, the new bad monk who was always swallowing stinky grey air and drinking something which didn't smell like water told me to get out. But that's okay. I knew how to live in the street.

I began running after Akihiko every time I saw him run, That helped me get stronger. I also asked for food in Paulownia, and that somehow made Junpei happy once. I was happy that he was happy.

So the next time a shadow appeared, I told it 'You! Yes you! I'm gonna chew you like a bone!' and it didn't seem to scare it, so I attacked. And I won. And now I'm here. End of the story."

"…Are you sure that's what Koromaru really said?" Minato asked, holding Koromaru's leash weakly as the dog ran after and barked at a cyclist who kept trying to escape.

"Minato, are you doubting my capability to understand Koromaru's feelings?" Aigis asked, seemingly offended.

"No, it's just… that was much deeper than I expected." He admitted.

Silence took over. The cold wind made the sand of the shrine park rise slowly.

Hamuko looked up dreamily and muttered:

"Man, I wish _I_ was called Stormaggedon."

* * *

><p><strong>Soon, guys. Very soon ;w;<strong>

**PD. Raise your hands, FF whovians, for here's one of you.**


	97. Crash the Wedding

**Note from the authors: For this chapter, we cheer for the partial return of our favorite recent high school graduate, Shenjay! She wrote the very last scene. In other news, TFT will be celebrating its two year anniversary on June 14****th****. We the authors pledge to you- the final chapter of TFT **_**will**_ **be posted on June 14****th****, 2013. Evilshroom will be writing the two chapters encompassing the next in-plot week and December 31****st****. He will also contribute to the closing segments. However, the final closing chapter will be (or rather, has been) written by Shenjay. We wish to convey that it is a chapter **_**well**_** worth waiting for. **

**In the meantime, enjoy the chapter, and take our word that with both of us now off from classes, the update rate will take a sharp upturn so we can meet our self-imposed deadline.**

* * *

><p>"Two weeks now," Minato mused to himself. He sat at the table, eating breakfast alongside Hamuko. The others in the dorm had gotten up over an hour before and gone to do their own thing, having not had as late a night.<p>

"Don't even bring it up..." Hamuko grumbled into her cup of syrup. "We gotta go do somethin' today. Take our minds off things, yanno?"

Minato hummed in agreement, flipping open his laptop.

"Well, we could go to the movies, I suppose," he proposed. "Seems like the sequel to that one ninja movie you and Junpei watched with Aigis premiered today."

"Yeah, that sounds good," she sighed. "Wonder if Aigis wants to tag along." She opened her mouth to shout for the android, turning from her breakfast toward the stairs. She turned her head, and Aigis filled her vision.

"YAH!" Hamuko fell from her seat in surprise. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Aigis's face bore no expression that they could see. Mostly because the bottom was hidden by a bandanna. Where she normally wore her blue sundress on Sundays, she was outfitted in a tight, black bodysuit. Her bright blonde hair was obscured by a shroud, leaving only her brilliant blue eyes to peer at the two inscrutably.

"I have come prepared for this event," she announced.

"Aigis, don't give Hamuko a heart attack," Minato reprimanded disinterestedly. "She's more prone to them when she drinks that caramel stuff."

"Very well," she said. "However, if we are to attend this 'premiere,' the two of you shall need to hone your detection skills. It is unforgivable that ninjas of your caliber cannot sense my approach. Furthermore, you are clearly not outfitted for this event. Hurry and change, and I shall meet you at the theater. I recommend taking the rooftops to avoid being spotted."

With that, she darted up the stairs, undoubtedly to use that very "route" to reach the theater. Minato and Hamuko met each others' eyes.

"We're takin' the monorail, right?"

"Obviously."

"She gets that childishness from you, yanno."

"Drink your syrup, Hamuko."

* * *

><p>After the movie, the trio walked out of the theater, blinking in the bright light. Hamuko yawned and stretched.<p>

"That was... actually pretty good," she admitted.

"The love story subplot was surprisingly touching," Minato agreed.

"Oh, when the ninja swore his life to the princess?" Hamuko said. "And then when she was running from the evil ninjas, and he stayed behind to sacrifice himself and let her escape later on? Man, I almost cried!"

"Is that realistic?" Aigis asked. Her voice was somewhat muffled through her mask.

"What, ninjas and stuff?" the brunette asked in confusion. "Man, I dunno. Ono only ever talks about samurai."

"No, I mean..." Aigis trailed off hesitantly. "The actions of the characters. Would someone really dedicate their life to someone, or give their life for their sake? Why did that character value the princess's life over his own? Did he not have appreciation for his own life?"

"It's nothing like that, Aigis," Minato said. "It's just... love. Love is one of the only things that can make people not be selfish. I am sure he valued his life quite a bit. He just felt that the sacrifice would be worth the price, because he valued her more."

"I... am not quite certain I understand," Aigis admitted. "The principle seems simple enough, but the concepts are difficult to internalize. There are still so very many things I do not understand, even after all this time."

"Well, we're here to help you out!" Hamuko said cheerfully. "You can ask us anything! Minato is pretty smart about emotional stuff, ya know."

"And when it comes to physical knowledge of love, no one knows more than Hamuko."

The Aeon link reached rank 5 as Aigis smiled fondly at them, her mind processing both new information and old.

* * *

><p>"Arf! Arf!"<p>

The next night at the dorm, the normally solemn quiet was broken by Koromaru's insistent barking. He ran all about the den, grabbing the attention of all gathered there.

"Huh? What is it, Koro-chan?" Fuuka asked, confused.

Aigis bent down to his level, talking quietly with him to settle him down.

"It seems Koromaru-san wishes to go for a walk with everyone tonight," she reported. "He says that if

anyone does not join, he will urinate upon their belongings while they sleep."

"Eh? Man, so it WAS you that did that to my shoes that night I didn't feel like going for a walk!" Junpei exclaimed.

"Who else would it have been…?" Yukari muttered.

Akihiko sighed, and then vaulted from the couch.

"Well, I'm coming along. Nights have been too boring now that we don't need to go to Tartarus as much any more. May as well stretch my legs."

"I agree," Mitsuru said, rising from the couch and stretching. "Let's all go."

"Wait, um…" Ken piped up as everyone started towards the door. "Aren't we forgetting those two?"

Every head turned towards Ken, then hesitantly towards the stairs.

"Well, I'M not interrupting them…" Yukari said.

A general mutter of agreement followed her statement, with Ken looking on in confusion.

"Aren't they just playing, or sleeping? That's what Hamuko-san says they always do."

The awkward silence pressed upon them all so heavily, Junpei had sudden difficulty breathing. Or perhaps he was choking down laughter. Either way, Koromaru broke the atmosphere by charging valiantly up the stairs. Everyone else stood solidly in place, Aigis only raising a hand to her temple crisply in salute. They all strained their ears to hear the sounds coming from the second floor.

"Arf! Arf! Arf!"

A startled shuffling. A sudden thump, as of something heavily impacting the floor above. The creak of a door opening cautiously.

"Eh? Koro-chan? What?"

"Arf!"

"What, you wanna go for a walk or somethin'? We're… kinda busy."

"Bark!"

"No, you don't understand! We're trying to- FUCK! Minato! He just bit me!"

A softer voice they couldn't make out.

"Right on my thigh! I didn't need ANOTHER bite mark there! Damn, he's insistent… alright, alright! We'll get dressed!"

A few minutes later, Koromaru trotted happily down the stairs, two very disheveled Fools in tow. SEES set out into the night, on the familiar path towards Naganaki Shrine, led by their canine friend. They conversed amongst each other cheerfully in groups until they reached the shrine, whereupon Junpei took Hamuko aside.

"We, uh... we haven't talked in a while," he said awkwardly. "We're... alright, right?"

"Of course!" Hamuko assured him emphatically. "Partners!"

"Heh, right..." he trailed off. "You've been busy, I guess. Minato takes up a lot of your time."

"Shinji, too."

"Heh. Glad you haven't forgotten about him," he chuckled. "You've seemed, like, happier than usual lately. Which is weird as hell, but... man, I guess I'm happy _for_ you, you know? Dunno how you can keep your head up with all this crap goin' on, but it helps the rest of us a lot."

"Nothin' weird about takin' strength from other people, man," she reassured, smiling to herself. "S'what I've been doin' this whole time anyway."

"Yeah, figured," Junpei said with a nod. "You two must have had _someone_ lookin' out for you. All that stuff that happened with you two before, and somehow you're all happy at the end. Maybe karma or something."

"Man, if it's karma, I had to have done some _seriously_ messed up shit in a past life," Hamuko laughed. "Like, destroy-the-world bad. Trust me, the bad this past year has outweighed the good. But it's nice t' have some good now. Guess I'll just enjoy it until... until it ends."

"May not be too long now, heh."

She snorted.

"That's cheerful. Thought ya said you liked me havin' my head up, man."

He didn't reply, just looking at the night sky, in the direction of the school. A few moments passed.

"So what do you think is gonna happen?" he asked at last.

A few more moments. She shrugged.

"Man, if there's one thing I've figured out, it's that I can't predict anything. I'm gonna go up there and kick Ryoji's ass around a little bit, and after that, I guess we'll see."

"H-Help! I can't get out!"

The two looked over toward the jungle gym, where Fuuka had managed to get trapped. Minato was attempting to calm her down and guide her out. Hamuko just laughed.

"Ya can't let yourself get too worried about the future, partner" she said, her voice light. "Nyx, old age, disease, some sorta accident... hell, ain't no one gonna get away from dying. Just enjoy what you got. Sure, I wanna enjoy a lot of it, so I'm gonna fight. But I ain't gonna waste a lot of good times by worryin' over it."

Koromaru barked happily, trotting up to her.

"That's what you were tryin' to say, huh Koro-chan?" she asked affectionately, rubbing his head. "Bringin' us out on this walk like this? Smart boy."

The general fuss over by where Fuuka had finally managed to extricate herself fell quiet. Hamuko looked behind her to see the rest of SEES looking at her with varying degrees of surprise, Minato nodding. The familiar sound of a link rising alerted them to Judgment reaching its sixth level. As SEES walked back to the dorm, the atmosphere was perhaps just a little less tense, and the weight over them all, a little less heavy.

* * *

><p>The next day, as school came to a close, Minato and Hamuko chatted lightly on their way to the lockers, nodding in greeting to their friends as they passed by. Upon reaching the lockers at the front doors to the school, they saw Aigis staring in consternation at her own. An envelope dangled halfway out of one of the slots.<p>

"Eh? Hey, whatcha got there, Aigis?" Hamuko asked in curiosity, peering around the blonde android.

"I am not certain," Aigis replied after some deliberation. "I'm wary of it being some sort of weapon. As I am not armed with scissors, I would be at quite the disadvantage. Even though I have been made aware previously of paper's fearsome power, I have not prepared for this eventuality. A glaring oversight on my part."

"A weapon?" Hamuko said in alarm. "Wait, what if it's a bomb? Or ant… anthro…"

"I doubt anyone is sending Aigis anthrax, Hamuko," Minato cut in. "It looks like a love letter."

"A WHAT?!"

"Then… it is not dangerous?" Aigis ventured.

"Not to you," Minato reassured. "Though the sender better hope Hamuko doesn't find him."

"Or her," Hamuko pointed out.

"Do girls really tend to send love letters?"

"Sure, I've gotten some!"

"I see. Anyway, Aigis, it's safe for you to open."

Aigis nodded, gingerly pulling the envelope from the locker, and opening it hesitantly. She pulled out the letter within, and frowned at the contents. She offered it to Minato, shaking her head.

"I require a translator," she lamented. "It appears to be encoded."

Minato scanned it over, raising an eyebrow.

"It is not encoded, but… it sure is cheesy," he chuckled. "'Hair as bright as the sun…' 'Eyes like oceans…' 'Voice like an… angle?' That is not even spelled right…"

"Laaaame," Hamuko complained. "C'mon, love letters are supposed t'be saucier than that! Right? Talkin' 'bout how they wanna meet you behind the school and-"

"Actually, excepting the quality of writing, this seems to be about normal for a love letter," Minato said. "At least, using the ones I've gotten before as a guideline."

Hamuko frowned.

"How can you have gotten any before if you said you didn't think girls sent love letters?"

He remained pointedly silent.

"This letter only mentions my physical attributes, and yet the sender claims to love me," Aigis pondered. "It does not seem that this person is close enough to me to know my other traits. I can rule out, then, that it is someone I know personally."

"You have yourself a secret admirer, Aigis," Minato said with amusement.

"I'll gut 'em," Hamuko growled. "They ain't good enough for my Aigis, sneakin' around like this."

"Sneaking?" Aigis said, perking up slightly.

"You had to say it…"

"I will be on the lookout for ninja secret admirers. They shall not escape my notice," Aigis said. She then paused, her synthetic flesh almost seeming to color slightly. "Though, I would not be… entirely opposed… if ninjas were to take interest in me."

The Aeon link reached rank 6 with that hesitant declaration. At that moment, a bushy-haired boy with glasses went walking quickly by the three of them, his head down.

"Keisuke-senpai?" Minato mused. "He seems troubled…"

"Go catch up with him," Hamuko encouraged. "I gotta go do some things at Paulownia Mall anyway. See ya back at the dorm?"

Minato nodded, taking off after the musician.

* * *

><p>Hamuko stepped into the Velvet Room, intent on making her final preparations for the battle in less than two weeks. However, while both Igor and Theodore were present, there was also a blonde woman dressed as an attendant who was not Elizabeth talking with Igor.<p>

"It has been several attempts thus far," the woman said, her face set in a frown. "He has limitless time in the Desert of Doors, but if he is heading in the entirely wrong direction…"

Igor cut her off with a raised hand as he took notice of Hamuko. The woman's head turned towards her.

"Ah, forgive me," the woman excused herself. "I was not expecting a guest to arrive today. I was simply discussing something with Master Igor."

"Uh… that's alright, I guess," Hamuko said, confused. "So, uh, who're you?"

"I am Margaret," she introduced. "I believe you're more familiar with my younger siblings, Elizabeth and Theodore?"

She gestured beside her to Theodore, who, contrary to his usual demeanor, seemed somewhat guarded.

"Right, nice t' meet ya," the brunette Fool mumbled. "Didn't even know Liz and Theo HAD an older sister… So, uh, what's the Desert of Doors?"

Igor's eyes shifted to Margaret, his brows lowering very slightly. She flinched a bit.

"It is the place where the Vision Quest, a test sometimes assigned to our guests, takes place. A way to conquer one's self and gain increased strength," she explained.

"Eh? Man, how come we ain't heard about this before, Theo?" griped Hamuko. "It sounds really damn useful, and we do kinda gotta fight an unbeatable death thingy!"

"It is currently in use by another guest, and unavailable," Margaret hurriedly explained.

Hamuko shifted her attention to Igor, surprised.

"You guys have ANOTHER guest?"

"You must recall that the Velvet Room operates somewhat outside of time as you are aware of it," Igor said calmly, half his face hidden below his steepled fingers. "The same goes for the Desert of Doors. Though at this point in the timestream you are aware of, the two of you are our only guests, time can be somewhat… nebulous."

Hamuko blinked in confusion.

"Wait, so, we're the only guests now, but you have another guest now in the desert thingy but not now in the Velvet Room, but both are outside of time, which isn't straight but all wibbly and wobbly and crap and…"

"Hamuko-sama, perhaps we could discuss this more during our double date in your world next week?" Theodore interjected suddenly, cutting off the very confused guest's babble.

"A bluh? Date?"

"Yes, my sister and I wish to see your… your dormitory!"

"Uh?"

"Elizabeth, not myself," Margaret specified dryly.

Hamuko emerged from the Velvet Room door a short time later, still entirely confused, and very nearly walked into Minato, who stood outside. He raised his eyebrows.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "You like as though your brain exploded."

"Man, I don't even know…" she complained. "Didja know Liz and Theo have an older sister? And that they're comin' over next week to see our dorm?"

"…I really hope that Mitsuru-senpai isn't there at the time," he sighed. "More to the point, did you know that I just finished the Fortune Social Link with Keisuke?"

"Eh? Oh, uh… congrats!" Hamuko said awkwardly. "You, uh… you get anything good?"

Minato fixed her with a flat stare.

"As good as you are at it, Hamuko, do not play stupid. Whom did you form the Fortune Social Link with? You never mentioned it, not even whenever it was that you maxed it."

"I… I Social Linked Ryoji, alright?" she admitted.

Minato nodded.

"I see. So you maxed it that last night when we-"

"…No, that ain't quite right," she said, looking thoroughly contrite and a bit fearful of his reaction. "It was… a different time."

She searched in her pocket, finally showing a silver ring in the palm of her hand. "He gave me this so that I'd remember him. Sorry for not telling you."

Minato stood silent for a moment.

"That is alright, Hamuko," he said calmly.

"You ain't mad?" she said in surprise.

"I forgive you for… spending time with him apart from me," he said, glancing down and to the right. "Though it is nothing that I would ever do, of course."

"I didn't say ya did."

"That is good. I did not."

"A-Alright…"

As they walked toward the train station on their way back home, Minato sighed.

"If only I had formed the Fortune link with Ryoji instead of Keisuke… perhaps I'd have gotten Norn instead," he said ruefully.

The train ride back was quiet and filled with suspicious, speculative glances from Hamuko.

* * *

><p>"It's going to be Mitsuru."<p>

"No way, I betcha 500 yen it's gonna be Aigis."

"Ridiculous. Aigis has no currently pressing issues, _and_ we spent time with her earlier. What makes you think Aigis will be the one?"

"Female intuition!"

"Your sixth sense is reserved to sniffing out food and men. It's hardly reliable in this sort of matter."

"Hey, I resent that! Trust my Muko-senses! They're all tingly!"

"Well, naturally. We're close to the cafeteria."

"500 yen, Minato!"

"Fine, you're on."

As the two bantering Fools rounded the corner, they very nearly walked into Mitsuru, who was scanning the crowd of students around her.

"Ah, Seikatsu, Arisato," she said, perking up slightly. "I was searching for you."

"Fuckin…" Hamuko grumbled, slapping a bill into Minato's outstretched hand. She then smiled brightly at Mitsuru. "Of course we'll hang out with you today, senpai!"

"How did you…?" Mitsuru trailed off, nonplussed.

"Female intuition," Minato said with a small smirk as he pocketed the cash.

"Yes, well," Mitsuru cleared her throat. "I suppose I shall see you both at the cinema, then?"

"We shall be there."

* * *

><p>After school, once the movie had ended, the three emerged from the movie theater.<p>

"I have been wanting to see that movie for some time," Mitsuru admitted. "It was quite entertaining. From what I understand, it was a typical 'road trip' movie. But the way the characters expressed their emotions was great. The protagonist sacrificed so much to go on a journey with his friends, but in the end…"

Her monologue petered out as her look grew thoughtful.

"In the end, he decided to return to his normal life. I wonder… if he was happy with such a decision." She turned towards the Fools, who watched her. "Have the two of you ever thought of doing something like that? Running somewhere far away, where no one knows who you are?"

"I have," Minato said softly. "In fact, I was given such an opportunity earlier this year, if you'll recall. It wasn't quite somewhere where no one knew who I was, but rather… somewhere where I was someone else entirely. Where I had something I have wanted for quite some time. However…"

He grasped Hamuko's hand and smiled at her.

"I had my reasons for returning, one I'm certain you can easily guess. But just as valid a reason was that I had responsibilities here that, despite being assured I could safely avoid, I did not feel right abandoning."

"Runnin' away like that seems nice," Hamuko added. "I mean, who ain't thought about doin' something like that? But you gotta, ya know, keep at it. There're people that need ya."

Mitsuru smiled sadly.

"I'm a little surprised to hear that from the two of you, but… you truly are more diligent than you appear. I expected you, at least, Seikatsu, to agree wholeheartedly…" She shook her head. "Do not misunderstand me, however. I certainly do not yearn to leave everything behind. To throw away my company… my family name… my responsibilities… it is unthinkable, of course."

She sat at one of the benches around the train station, glancing up at a flock of pigeons.

"I've become so undisciplined," she said with a small laugh. "I must bore you with all of my griping. Some 'senpai' I am… I've been doing nothing but leaning on the both of you for some time now. Despite making my decision, I've only been complaining. I talk about responsibility, but in the end, I don't even have the courage the two of you have."

Her voice choked slightly as the pigeons flew out of sight. She stayed silent for a few moments.

"I refuse to be this weak… to be a woman just looking for someone to support her cowardly second thoughts. If I must look to the two of you for support, I will at least use your courage and responsibility as an example, instead of seeking others to run away with me."

"There you are! Mitsuru!"

A voice cut through the slight buzz of the chatter around the train station. A well-dressed man who appeared to be in his thirties walked quickly up to the three, not paying any mind to the people who had to jump out of his way.

"I've been looking for you," the man sighed upon reaching them. "I didn't expect to find you in… such a place. We're leaving. Let's go."

Mitsuru looked at him questioningly.

"I… did not make any plans with you today," she said hesitantly.

"Well, my business meeting for today was cancelled," he said haughtily, as if such a thing inconvenienced him beyond what anyone could bear. "I _am _a very busy man, Mitsuru. You are just going to have to adjust your schedule to mine."

"I… I see," Mitsuru said, biting back her first reply. "However, I did have a prior engagement. This could not possibly wait?"

"You can break it," the man said simply, still not taking notice of the two Fools. "I sincerely doubt you have anything more important to do than spend time with me."

"…Of course. I was just… spending time with my friends here," she replied, her jaw visibly clenched.

"Don't look so sullen," the man scolded. For the first time, he looked over Minato and Hamuko. "And who, exactly are the two of you? I have certainly never seen either of you in fashionable society, so I can only assume you are a couple of commoners who also happen to go to Mitsuru's school. Do you not see the ocean of difference between the two of you and Mitsuru?"

He turned to Mitsuru.

"The same goes for you. The company you keep becomes my acquaintances as well. If your friends aren't suited for high society, _I_ am the one who will suffer. Bad company ruins good morals, you know." At her shocked look, he said consolingly, "Don't worry, I've selected other friends for you. Some more refined ones. The other two needn't come near you again."

"What the _fuck_ is your problem?" Hamuko snarled. "You take your high society and shove it up your ass, you pompou-mmph!"

Minato clasped a hand over her mouth, but his eyes held no love for the man before them.

"You have no right to limit who Mitsuru associates with," he said calmly. "While Hamuko's sentiments were worded differently than how I would choose to, I have to echo them. Who are you to attempt to rule over her?"

The man seemed utterly unaffected by their combined outrage.

"Do you not grasp the trouble you are causing for Mitsuru?" he asked. "Are you both so simple-minded?"

He glanced over Hamuko.

"You, girl, despite your foul mouth, have at least a pretty face. If you could keep your mouth shut, you could sneak into high society. Is that your ploy? And the boy, what? Trying simply to latch onto Mitsuru? You two are pitiful. I have the Group to look after, and haven't the time for the objections of two low-life school children." He turned sharply and gestured. "Come, Mitsuru. We have much to do today."

Mitsuru hesitated, turning towards the two seething Fools.

"Minato, Hamuko," she said softly, instantly grabbing their attention. "I… am sorry for how this happened. I will… see the two of you later."

With that, she walked away with the man, not beside him, but slightly behind, her head down. The two watched her leave, noting the raising of the Empress link to rank 8, before going to board a train back to the dorm. The train ride back was filled with much invective from Hamuko.

* * *

><p>"Come on Minato, double or nothing! I <em>know<em> it'll be Aigis this time!"

"Could be. I still feel that Mitsuru is the more likely."

"Put your money where your mouth is, smart guy! Come on, wimp!"

"You are clearly just trying to goad me into making the bet so you can get back your 500 yen."

"I bet Ryoji would've bet me!"

"Ryoji, for all his better qualities, was far from a genius. This is the same guy that tried peeping on Yukari and Mitsuru in the hot spring."

"Yeah, well, least he wasn't a pussy."

"…If it will get you off my back, then fine. I'll take the bet."

"Alright!" Hamuko cheered. "Now to go to the cafeteria and collect my money!"

At the cafeteria, Aigis took notice of them and walked over, cocking her head at Hamuko's triumphant dancing.

"Hello Minato, Hamuko," she greeted. "I wish to-"

"Of course we'll hang out with you today, Aigis!" Hamuko cheered, holding out her palm towards Minato.

"-Inform you that Mitsuru-senpai wishes to speak with you on the rooftop after school. She was too busy to tell you personally," Aigis finished.

Minato pulled the 500 yen bill out of Hamuko's other hand while she stood there agape.

"Thank you _very_ much, Aigis," he said, his tone somewhat smug. "We'll be there."

As soon as Aigis left, Hamuko whirled on him.

"That was my lunch money!" she bemoaned. "What am I supposed to eat now?"

"I have one suggestion," he said, smirking.

"Please," she snarled. "I gotta have somethin' a little _bigger_ to fill me up."

"Perhaps if you only _ate_ as much as normal people, it would be perfectly sufficient."

"Yeah, well…!" she started to shoot back, then hung her head. "I really am hungry…"

He sighed.

"I'll buy you lunch…"

* * *

><p>After school, the two made their way up to the rooftop. Mitsuru waited there already, sitting atop the water tower. The two joined her, sitting to either side of their troubled senpai.<p>

"You don't need to worry," she spoke up. "No one will come, I made sure of that. Sometimes I come up here… just to have a look at all the places we all defend."

She looked out at the city, not meeting either Fool's eye.

"I am sorry for what happened yesterday. It must have upset you."

"Eh, I don't care at all what that guy said to us," Hamuko said casually. Minato deigned not to mention that her swearing on the trip back nearly got them banned from the monorail. Mitsuru chuckled.

"I'm glad to hear you say that, but that doesn't excuse it," she said. "The way he judged you, as if you were only worth as much as the value he saw, whether you could benefit him or not… it reminded me that I acted much the same way not so long ago. Your arrivals were convenient to me. You were strong, and suitable to be leaders, so I made you so. The others in SEES were used the same way, like I only thought of them as pawns."

She chuckled at a memory.

"Yukari realized that long before I did, and snapped at me for it. And yet I never even tried to understand her. Perhaps if I had listened to her, I'd not have treated the two of you as I did during the battle with the Fortune and Strength Shadows… I was mistaken then."

Now she turned first towards Hamuko, then Minato.

"Yesterday, I referred to you both by your first names for once. It is… a bit embarrassing, so I shall only do so while we are alone. But I did so for a reason." She paused. "The two of you, despite all the struggles you have endured while here, that I have even exacerbated, have no inclination to run away from your responsibilities. You are stronger and more courageous than I was. Though I was mistaken in my way of thinking, I was certainly not mistaken in making the two of you our leaders. I will use the two of you as an example to harden my resolve. We are equals now, in not running away from our responsibilities, no matter how they shackle or terrify us."

She stood, facing the two of them.

"Regardless of what that man says, I want the two of you by my side as equals. I can be allowed this much defiance, at least. Will you stay by me?"

"Of course… Mitsuru," Hamuko managed.

Mitsuru smiled, looking down.

"…The date for the wedding was moved," she confessed suddenly. "It's why he came to collect me yesterday. Arrangements had to be made."

"When is it now?" Minato asked.

Mitsuru's smile twisted a bit into a grimace.

"The day after tomorrow. In fact, the rehearsal is tomorrow. I won't be at the dorm that night."

"WHAT?!"

Hamuko's shout sent birds flying from rooftops across the city.

"Please," Mitsuru begged, "do not tell anyone else in SEES about it. I am determined to bear this responsibility, but I don't know if my determination could hold out if I saw everyone reacting as I know they would. It will only serve as a distraction from our greater mission, anyway."

"Where is it being held?" Minato asked, after a moment of silence in which Hamuko attempted to get a hold of herself.

"Naganaki Shrine," responded Mitsuru. "It was the only concession I could get him to make, as apparently, 'allowing the uptight commoner and the vulgar low-life to attend is out of the question.' If I cannot have the two of you there, at least I can know that my friends are near me."

"Senpai," Hamuko said desperately. "A-Are you sure about this? I mean, y-"

"Don't," Mitsuru cut her off sternly, her tone brooking no argument, but her eyes horribly conflicted. "Don't now. Let me take my resolve from you. Don't let me second guess myself again. Don't take advantage of my cowardly heart."

She took a key out of her jacket pocket and handed it to them.

"It's the key to my motorbike. I'm not going to need it anymore."

"But—!"

Hamuko shut her mouth, bit her lip, and stepped back as Mitsuru walked past her without meeting her eyes. Despite the cold departure, the Empress link reached rank nine in a bittersweet announcement.

* * *

><p>The Fools were so busy plotting the next day about what to do that they didn't even try socializing at all.<p>

* * *

><p>The night afterwards, while Mitsuru was at her rehearsal, the rest of SEES gathered as usual in the den, talking casually. Hamuko, distracted with thoughts of her senpai, drifted in and out of attention.<p>

"So, where's Mitsuru, anyway?" Akihiko asked, having lost track of the redhead since school had ended.

"She mentioned she had… family business to take care of," Minato answered with some honesty.

"Huh," the boxer grunted. "She usually lets me know 'bout that sort of thing. Wonder why she felt like she had t'keep it a secret."

"Hamuko-chan?" Fuuka asked in concern. "Are you alright? You're sweating."

Hamuko's head snapped up quickly, her eyes panicked.

"Wedding? Wha? Who said anything about that? Can you read minds?" she asked frantically.

"_Sweating_, Hamuko," Minato said firmly. "She said _sweating_. So maybe you should calm down."

That last sentence was punctuated with a meaningful look. The meaning being 'shut up.'

"Right, ahahaha," she laughed nervously. "Sorry, I spaced out."

"Sorry to startle you," Fuuka apologized. "You seemed like you were less engaged in the conversation than usual, so I was worried."

"Engaged?!"

By now, Akihiko had started to narrow his eyes at the flustered brunette.

"Whatever you're hiding, spill it," he said.

Hamuko retreated as far back into the couch cushions as she could, holding her hands up in a warding gesture in front of her.

"Ahaha, what? No! I vow- promise!- I am absolutely not veiling- hiding!- anything! Ehehe… heh…"

She trailed off, looking around the room, where everyone just stared at her with varying degrees of disbelief. Minato sighed, counting silently to himself.

He reached four before she snapped.

"Mitsuru-senpai is getting married to an asshole tomorrow!"

This time, the count only reached two before the dorm exploded.

"Is this true?" Yukari demanded of Minato.

Minato nodded.

"It's true. He _is_ an asshole."

With discretion and secrecy having been hurled bodily out of the front door, the Fools filled in the rest of SEES on Mitsuru's situation over the course of the next few minutes. At the end, the dorm was quiet for a moment.

"Senpai is an idiot!" Yukari shouted finally. A general murmur of agreement followed this.

"Yeah, no kiddin', she really ain't thinking straight," Junpei said with a shrug. "Man, she could run that whole company no problem, as smart as she is. What's she all worried 'bout what this board of whatever thinks of her for?"

"See?" Yukari said vehemently. "Even _Junpei_ is being smarter than Senpai right now!"

"Uh, thanks…?"

"So then, what do you propose, Yukari?" Minato asked.

"Propose?!"

"Shut up, Hamuko."

"Well…" Yukari hesitated. "I say we go smack some sense into her, at least. For that matter… why didn't either of you, when she was telling you about all this?!"

"It was not my business," Minato stated calmly.

"She still kinda scares the hell out of me," Hamuko admitted.

"That as well."

Yukari threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Either way, we need to at least talk to her before she makes a huge mistake," she said.

"The wedding is tomorrow," Minato pointed out. "Are you planning on crashing it?"

"YES!" Hamuko, Junpei, and Aigis exclaimed at once.

"Are those _without _a penchant for melodrama and/or cliché heroism in agreement?"

A similarly determined, if less enthusiastic "yes" followed, and Judgment reached rank 7.

* * *

><p>"<em>I'mu so rasu apu mai fitu, ahh, lukin fo Gorudon Suturitu <em>~"

"Hamuko, stop mangling English or we'll never get there on time!" Minato yelled as he ran past her.

"Hey, what does my excellent Engurishu have to do with running faster? I'm setting up the mood for this!" She defended herself, running faster than him to mock him.

"You two stop being idiots, this is important!" Yukari roared, making both Fools go back to the group behind them.

"…What were you even singing, anyway?" Minato asked in a low voice while the group around them plotted something.

"Dunno. Some song playing in AFN. It seemed fitting."

* * *

><p>A dreadful feeling of despair filled Mitsuru's mind as she walked towards the offertory.<p>

This was a turning point in her life, and she was perfectly conscious of it. Regrets? She had a few. But this was her decision. She decided to give up in an unavoidable battle.

She couldn't do anything more than follow the rules that her society had dictated for her, when so many years abroad turned her into a fierce defender of equality. Hah, if Iori knew, after having been lectured so many times for his often disdainful words about women…

Doing her best to keep a tear from falling, she looked to the sky and sighed. And, for a moment in her life, a single second whose existence she would never admit, she wished for a knight who would save her and take her away from her fate, riding her motorcycle as an omen of freedom.

"Stop that, Mitsuru. You will embarrass me in front of my colleagues if you don't stop that childish behaviour."

"I apologize, there is something in my eye." She lied, trying to dry her moist eyes. She had to be strong, conceal her sadness from everyone. After all, what would her father say if she saw her give her responsibilities up like that…?

…Maybe he would say something along the lines of having tried so hard for her to be happy, all for nil. She could not allow such a thing to happen.

"Don't worry, Mitsuru. I have reserved a five star hotel in the very centre of Tokyo. You will enjoy the sights of the busiest city centre in the world, just a minute away from my entertainment. This fusion is the best option for our families, or should I say, the only for yours, and…"

He kept rambling about their new life and… her new obligations towards him… as her thoughts trailed off towards her dear group. SEES. Was this perhaps the last time she would accompany them? Would she have a chance to join them in the final battle, perhaps?

* * *

><p>"Guys… there's just no way we can get in there."<p>

Everyone agreed with Junpei, observing from afar a couple of men dressed up in tuxedos and sunglasses, standing in front of the stairs leading to the Naganaki shrine.

"We could climb through the sides." Hamuko suggested.

"They'd find us before we even tried, it's way too high for us." Minato intervened, before Aigis could express her appreciation for the idea.

"Well then, what's your big idea, genius detective?" She inquired.

Minato furrowed his eyebrows as he looked down, thoughtfully. He cast a glance towards the bodyguards and shook his head in fear. Nobody seemed to be able to come up with anything that wouldn't involve ending up in jail accused of aggression.

"We need to cause a distraction, AND let Mitsuru… I mean Senpai know we're here at the same time. Without getting caught, preferably." He proposed. "Any ideas?"

"Didn't you say she gave you the keys of her motorbike?" Akihiko asked. "We could use that as a way of letting her know we're here."

"I will be the one to snap her out of it once the path is clear. I won't leave her alone, and no jerkass will keep me from doing that." Yukari said, determined. "…Can any of you ride a bike, then?"

A moment of silence.

Everyone exchanged looks.

A smirk appeared in Hamuko's face.

"We're doomed." Minato punctuated, producing a key out of his pocket.

* * *

><p>There was nothing Mitsuru could do anymore about the situation. Every knot was tied. All her belongings were packed. All her wishes were shut and hidden in the depths of her broken heart.<p>

And so they marched on towards the altar they had set up, for so much time spent abroad had given her a liking for the christian-like weddings, always pictured so dreamily in European fairy tales. She would be happy forever, no? That's what society expected of her… she'd be forever happy once she was married.

Fate, however, is a weird thing, or so she'd heard from the leaders of her squad on occasion. It is not written on stone, for one can always do something to change it.

_And when that one is not willing to do so…_

Mitsuru's mobile phone began beeping insistently, so, apologizing to her angry fiancée, and foreseeing what the email was going to be about, she grabbed it from her handbag in a quick motion.

"We're going to save you."

-SEES

…_She can count on her friends to do it._

Wait, wasn't that the noise of her motorbike?

* * *

><p>"<em>ANDU I'MU GURADU I KURASU DA WEDIN, IT'SU BETA DAN REGURETIN~<em>"

"Hamukoforgod'ssake SHUT UP AND FOCUS!" Minato yelled, desperately holding to the girl riding the motorbike.

"Why? This is easier than I thought!" She answered happily as she barely avoided a car.

"What do you mean easier than you thought? YOU SAID YOU COULD RIDE A BIKE."

"No, I said I could ride the bike, not that I KNEW how to do so! We're _crashing_ the wedding, no?"

"No, Hamuko, that's NOT-!"

She revved up the motorbike as they approached the shrine, silencing any scream with the noise of the escape tube.

"HAMUKO I HATE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

* * *

><p>The metallic sound of a motorbike crashing against a signpost was almost ignored completely by Yukari, but she knew her friends had done a great sacrifice. She had only one objective: saving Mitsuru.<p>

But she wasn't alone: with Junpei and Akihiko making sure nobody would interfere, Koromaru's priceless menacing growls making everyone escape and Fuuka…being distractingly cute for a bunch of businessmen, she guessed. Ken was also around there or something.

She had everyone's assistance to make sure they'd be successful, and she was no longer afraid or ashamed of accepting help; she knew she needed it.

And thus she arrived to Mitsuru. The most benevolent thing she yelled was "Stupid!", going only into harsher stuff from there.

"What did you think you were doing?" or "How could you do this to me?", as well as "Why did you never tell me, you idiot!", crying all the while under the shocked stare of her fiancée.

Of course, that didn't last too long.

"Who—who do you think you are, mongrel?" He yelled as he grabbed Yukari's wrist, pulling her away from Mitsuru. "How dare you cause a commotion in MY wedding like that?"

* * *

><p>Up to this point, Mitsuru had just been standing there, frozen. A battle was taking place inside her: one in which mind and heart rebelled against each other.<p>

Her mind, a cold one, analyzed the situation: despite her begging, Minato and Hamuko had told everyone. And so the situation she imagined had come to be, but a thousand times worse. If she was to speak a word, she would be immediately blamed of plotting the situation with them. The end of the Kirijo… not only the group, but her family… all they ever fought for… all she was trained to succeed… all those years studying and trying so hard to be a worthy heiress of her father…

He shook Yukari once and again, making her let out a cry of pain. Without her Persona, she was a young girl against a man way stronger and older than her.

And as her thoughts went on, she noticed her deepest emotions seeping into them, revealing what she truly wanted. She'd fought her whole life to prove herself, to shut any condescending word, to be independent, without ever having to rely on a man to drag her around like she was a doll… and where had that led her? To this moment? To a man who saw no further than his own nose?

"I'm going to make sure personally none of you commoners ever bother me again!"

That was not what it meant to be a Kirijo. In fact, being a Kirijo meant absolutely nothing.

"Once I'm in charge in the Kirijo Group, I will shut the school and leave you out in the misery!"

For we are not defined by our family name nor our ancestors.

"Low-class scum!"

We are defined by our actions.

"I will make personally sure you and your stupid friends never see the sunlight again and—"

The decision was made.

* * *

><p>"That is quite enough."<p>

In a blink, Mitsuru grabbed the man's hand and pried it open without effort, freeing Yukari from his grasp.

"Mitsuru! Why, I should have known from the start you were involved in this too!" He yelled, taking a step back. "Apologize immediately or—"

"Or what?" She asked, following him. "I was foolish enough to accept a fate as pitiful as being your wife just because I felt I owed it to my family and was afraid of disappointing them, instead of facing you straight on, as I should have. But there's one thing I'm not willing to let ANYONE ever do."

She grabbed the collar of his white dress shirt.

"As they say around here, 'if you mess with my friends, you mess with me'."

Well it, uh… sounded awkwardly haughty when Mitsuru said it. But it still did the trick, as the man tried to escape by pulling away from her, effectively ending with his butt on the ground.

"I—I'll sue you! All of you!" He cried.

"I would like to see you try." She said, giving him one of her deadly glares.

"What do you want from me? I'll give you anything, just leave me alone!"

"Well, basically, run." She smiled smugly, and then added: "And don't ever let me catch you bothering us again."

The man got up the best she could and began running away like crazy, crying for his grandfather's help.

Mitsuru only stood there, contemplating the scene, until she suddenly lost all of her strength and rage and heaved a long, conflicted sigh. She then turned to Yukari.

"I'm… I'm really sorry…"

"Hush!" Yukari commanded, leaving Mitsuru flabbergasted.

…But it wasn't half the shock she had when the archer suddenly embraced her, crying some unintelligible words, among the noise of police sirens, the murmurs of the few businessmen left, scared as hell, and the noise of everyone running towards them to join a group hug and give their diverse jokes and reprimands to Mitsuru.

And then they caught the Fools and began running before anyone began making investigations other than Kurosawa, that's it, and they achieved so by bribing the one black haired policeman that arrived first to the scene. "Nobody has to know any of this", he agreed, as he let them run away with a heavier wallet.

…And that's how the afternoon ended, or that's what the Fools were told. They made a point to smile at the story while swearing at any divine being as Yukari healed their wounds and Mitsuru scolded them for being so reckless, putting themselves in such danger when the final battle was only a few days away. Oh well.

Upon, being asked, they both agreed that it was totally worth it, and, hey, so did SEES as a whole. And such a crazy adventure united them so much that the power of their friendship granted the Fools Judgement rank 8.

In another row of news, Hamuko spent the afternoon making jabs about Yukari and Mitsuru's relation and casually mentioning that schoolgirl lesbians were a normal thing in anime. She got a few jabs from Yukari as well, but of the literal kind, making her beg for forgiveness more times in a single afternoon than even Junpei in nine months. But Yukari was laughing all the while, of course, for such is the power of a friend accepting herself, with the inestimable help of the rest of SEES, all for Mitsuru's sake. Yes, indeed, "a well deserved Lovers level 10, Cybele", Minato pondered, as his dearest brunette screamed in pain as Yukari touched her wounds at any implication of anything deeper than a friendship between her and the redhead.

And speaking of Mitsuru, she managed to make the night end in an even happier note, with an Empress 10 trick hat, which granted them the power of Alilat. Despite all her harsh words and her demands that they paid the motorbike (jokingly, as she explained later, revealing that Mitsuru's jokes were harder to get than Aigis's) she thanked them with her heart for all they did. For helping her break her stupid misconceptions about them and everyone else. For being… true friends.

Albeit if they ever told anything Mitsuru specifically asked them not to reveal ever again, they would be executed and she didn't care to explain whether that was a joke or not, so they decided not to take the risk.

In the end, it was a good day for everyone in the dorm. A cheerful day, leading to the last week of a tragic time.

But, until the next day, our protagonists were willing to sleep all night for real for the first time in a long time.

* * *

><p><strong>Look forward to the next chapter, you guys *w* And review!**


	98. Heart of Glass

**Note from the authors: yo, people! Guess which author's writing this note 8D First off, a big applause to Evilshroom, who managed to get this behemoth of a chapter done in like a week! An example of patience and consistent work. Got a bunch of things to learn from him :I So like. I helped with a certain max Link. Pretty sure you'll recognize my choppy English as usual!**

**Next, check out that cover. You know you love it. There's a bigger version in my deviantArt gallery, SandraMJ.**

**Finally, thanks to SillyFudgeMonkeys as usual for updating the TVTropes Article.**

**And I ran out of stuff to say. Oh well. Shenjay out! See you soon, guys!**

* * *

><p>"I hate Mondays…" Hamuko grumbled, limping slightly through the front gates. Minato, with a bandage on his forehead, nodded.<p>

"Though somehow I think this one may be more bearable if we weren't bearing motorcycle crash wounds," he said, surreptitiously stepping on her heel as she walked.

She stumbled forward, catching herself on her palms, which still bore some signs of road rash.

"I hate you…" she groaned.

"The feeling is mutual at the moment. If I had known you planned to literally _crash_ Mitsuru's wedding, I'd have worn a cup."

"Oh, you always whine when I get rough."

"Only when you leave me with bruises."

"So I guess that makes 'em black and blue instead of just blue, huh?"

He stepped on her heel again. In her laughter, she failed to catch herself this time.

* * *

><p>The Fools finally arrived at the lockers at the entryway of the school, where they saw Aigis staring at some photos she held, looking quite irritated.<p>

"What's gotcha lookin' all upset there, Aigis?" Hamuko asked in curiosity. She peered over the android's shoulder at the photos.

"I have been conducting surveillance in an attempt to catch my secret admirer," she explained, opening her locker to show a camera hooked up to a blinking sensor. "Fuuka-san was kind enough to help me engineer a motion sensor to take a picture of anyone who interfered with this locker. However…"

She fanned out the pictures, all of which showed nothing but complete darkness.

"Despite having the flash on, the pictures have come out completely obscured. I suspect a forbidden ninja shadow technique used to completely occlude any light around him or her. The potential of such a technique…"

"You left the lens cap on," Minato observed, pointing at the camera, which indeed had a black cap over the lens.

"…I see." She sounded a bit disappointed. "I was hoping this newest letter getting into my locker was the result of a more clandestine action."

"What? Ya got _another _love letter?" Hamuko asked irritatedly. "Damn sneaky bastard, tryin' to get his paws on my sweet little Aigis. Lemme see that!"

"The envelope reads 'For your eyes only,'" Aigis said. "Perhaps the writer was observing when we found the last one?"

"Maybe, maybe… hey, maybe he's watchin' now, hanging from the ceiling!" Hamuko said slyly. Aigis's head shot up sharply, searching the ceiling. Instantly, Hamuko's hand flashed out and snatched the letter. "Yoink!"

"Misdirection…" Aigis lamented.

"Hey, this one's got a drawing of you in it," Hamuko said. "It ain't bad, either."

The other two leaned over, observing the full-page drawing. It was an exceptionally detailed portrait of Aigis, capturing her image quite well.

"Didn't quite get your jaw right, though," Hamuko pointed out. "Betcha the artist ain't real good at those."

"From the level of detail, I'd say he was drawing it off a photo of Aigis," Minato said.

"This person's actions are quite strange," Aigis said. "If all of this is to gain my attention, then why stay anonymous?"

"It's from fear of his feelings being rejected," Minato explained. "It's difficult for a lot of people to open themselves up like that to someone else."

"What are those feelings, though?" the blonde pondered. "Is it the 'love at first sight' that I have heard of?"

"Doubt there is a such thing," Hamuko snorted. "He just wants t'get in your pants, probably."

"There is no such thing?" Aigis asked. "So, it did not start that way for the two of you? How were you attracted to each other?"

"Harbinger of humanity's death trying to claw its way out of us," Minato remarked dryly. "We weren't in love then. That came later, born out of a combination of chemistry and shared experiences."

"I loved everyone a little then," Hamuko admitted. "But yeah, we got a lot closer with all the crap goin' on."

"So then, love is also born from shared experiences?" Aigis asked, looking thoughtful. "It seems to be such a complex emotion. Able to make one willing to give their life for another, only growing stronger with time… it truly must be a powerful bond."

She nodded firmly.

"Thank you. I understand much more clearly now. I think this admirer is mistaken in his solicitations, but he or she has helped me comprehend something which has bothered me for a very long time." She smiled slightly, looking at the ground. "Perhaps… we should get to class before we are late."

"Yeah, we don't want Maya to pwn us," Hamuko chuckled. Distracted by the voice telling her the Aeon Social Link had reached rank 7, she never saw the foot behind her about to step on her heel. Tripping on the stairs, she found, was a bit more painful than doing so on flat ground.

* * *

><p>The next day, as classes let out, Aigis approached the Fools, asking them to go to the rooftop. She assured them she would be up there shortly, but that she had something she had to "take care of" quickly first. As such, the Fools sat on the rooftop, enjoying the weather.<p>

"Goddamn it's fucking cold."

"You were the one who didn't bring her sweater."

"I still haven't gotten the bloodstains out of it from that crash!"

"So, still your fault, then."

"Hm... well, maybe you could warm me up..."

"Aigis will be back soon. I'm not going to scar her any further than we already have."

Hamuko huffed, her exasperation coming out in a white fog.

"What's takin' her so long, anyway?"

"I'm sure it's quite important."

"What kinda robot stuff could be takin' so long?" she demanded.

"Robot stuff?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"I dunno, maybe she's gettin' her oil changed or something!"

"That sounds vaguely racist. I think I'm offended _for _her..."

"Whatever," she grumbled. "I hate the winter..."

"I apologize for making you two wait," Aigis said, peering her head through the stairway door.

"Ah, no big deal!" Hamuko replied, a cheerful grin appearing instantly on her face as she whirled around to face the blonde. "We don't mind waitin'!"

"I am glad," Aigis said, smiling. "Though for the record, my regular maintenance does not involve an oil change."

"Eheh..."

"I apologize for the wait, but I did not want the two of you stumbling upon anything when I confronted my 'secret admirer'," Aigis explained.

"You found out who it was?" Minato asked in surprise.

"Who's the son of a bitch? Did he touch you? Or she? Do I hafta choke a bitch?" Hamuko demanded.

"I did find out who it was," Aigis confirmed. "As an interesting note, this school is wired with cameras much as our dormitory is. Perhaps Ikutsuki being the Chairman of the school had something to do with that. I simply had to access the school after hours to check the camera feeds. No great feat for one as accomplished in the art of stealth as myself."

Minato's mumble about doubting the legality of such an action was lost below Hamuko's renewed demands to know the identity of the heinous admirer.

"Forgive me, Hamuko," Aigis apologized, "but had I wanted you to know whom it was, I would not have asked you to stay up here while I confronted him. And he is not at all a bad person, though... misguided."

"What happened when you confronted him?" Minato prompted, patting Hamuko gently to get her to pipe down. The fact that he patted her directly on her road rash wounded thighs was a complete coincidence, of course.

"I wished to understand his feelings," she replied. "So many things seemed at contradiction to each other. How, for example, could he claim to feel something which seems as powerful as love does, for someone he does not personally know well? I think my line of questioning intimidated him... perhaps I was too direct."

She paused, gazing out over the railing.

"However, I did eventually get the information I desired. The boy was simply infatuated with a romantic version of me he seemed to have created from a brief impression he had of me. He confessed that 'love' was certainly too strong a word, which set my mind quite at ease. Though when he suggested we 'get to know each other better,' I feel I may have made the atmosphere a bit awkward by refusing."

"I'm sure the atmosphere was awkward for him long before that," Minato reassured her.

"Perhaps," Aigis nodded. "I am glad to have not made him too unhappy, though. He was misguided in his pursuit of me, but did not deserve to be crushed for it. He was smiling up until the end."

"He sounds like a nice guy," Minato commented. "Why not get to know him?"

Aigis looked resolutely out over the horizon, not turning her face to either of them.

"I... am not presently interested in pursuing a relationship with others I am not familiar with," she said, her voice halting.

"You could still have made a friend," pointed out Minato. "You're allowed to expand your social circle beyond us two, you know."

"Yeah, ya said you wanted to go out and live, right?" Hamuko encouraged. "I mean, I'll beat the crap outta anyone who wants to do stuff with you, but make lotsa friends!"

"Do you... do you wish for me to leave you alone on occasion?" Aigis asked, sounding as though her throat tightened. "I'm sure I get in the way... I obstruct the two of you from moving on with your lives. You just continue in the same series of events with me over and over again... it is a waste, isn't it?"

"Time spent with those important to you is never wasted, Aigis," Minato stated firmly. At last, Aigis turned around, her face clenched in a very human expression of turmoil.

"But I'm sure the two of you would rather be with someone human, would you not?"

"We're doin' that now, what're ya talkin' about?" Hamuko asked, smiling at her.

"I... I only appear as a human, and besides..." Aigis stammered. "I... d-don't want to be in the way of you both... you deserve to grow apart from me holding you still."

"You aren't in the way!" Simultaneously, from both Fools.

"You always say we're important and precious to you, Aigis," Minato said. "You are to us, as well. You are never in the way."

"That's right!" Hamuko affirmed.

Aigis could not stop a small smile from forming, though she still seemed in a bit of turmoil.

"That is... good to hear," she said. "However, when I say you are both precious to me, that is not quite... completely correct. But to use the proper words... it would be so pointless, and I...!"

She broke off suddenly, bolting for the stairs. Minato and Hamuko watched her leave in confusion and concern.

"I hope she talks to us about this soon..." Hamuko murmured. Minato nodded. A few moments of silence passed between them as they started trekking toward the dorm. Hamuko broke it as they exited the school.

"You wanna break in later tonight and check those cameras?"

* * *

><p>In the dark and quiet of the night, visible only by the dimmest glow of the far-off streetlights and the pale glow of the slowly growing Moon above, Ken knelt at Naganaki Shrine, silently paying his respects to the departed. He stayed there for a time, his mind occupied by his past and the foreboding future, both so full of death.<p>

"Little late t'be prayin', don'tcha think?" An amused voice cut through the silence, and the young boy's eyes snapped open.

"Hamuko-san!" he said in surprise. "You, um… what are you doing here?"

"Oh, ya know, Koromaru decided he felt like goin' for a walk," she explained casually, gesturing at the dog who now dug through the sandbox in the shrine's playground. "And we were all kinda wonderin' where the hell you went off to, so Koro-chan and I went hunting."

"I'm sorry," the boy said contritely. "I just felt… I had to… I had to get some air, I guess."

"Ya know, the atmosphere here ain't any less grim than it is at the dorm," she teased. "C'mon, why'd ya really sneak out?"

Ken hung his head, eying the shrine wistfully.

"…I haven't been here in a while," he admitted. "I used to talk to Mom all the time, you know? I didn't have much else to do. I didn't think about much else. I never really made many friends… I guess I really didn't try to. Things are different now, and I… I don't want her to think I've forgotten her."

"I think she'd be happier if you were happy with your friends than here," Hamuko said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We would be, too. I don't want my little bro out here in the cold, thinkin' too much about the past."

Ken remained quiet for a moment, shivering slightly as if he had only just noticed the chill in the winter night's air.

"Life is kind of cruel, Hamuko-san. I used to only think about the past, you know. And then, with… what happened…" A pained wince crossed his face. "…I finally started getting over things and enjoying the present. And just like that, pretty soon there might not be a present to enjoy. That's… that's not fair!"

The final outburst was so fitting for his age, a contrast to the mature front he always put up, Hamuko couldn't help but to smile. Then she punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" he yelped. "What was that for?"

"For bein' such a pesti… pesky… pess… for bein' such an emo kid!" she shouted, scowling down at him. "Didn't we decide t'fight? Why in the hell are ya gonna go into a fight for your life with that kinda attitude?"

She sighed.

"Even if we fuck it up and we do all die, why would ya spend the last few days ya have talkin' to the dead? At least come in outta the cold and spend 'em with the people that care about you. We want you there, y'know."

"Really? Even after I…" He didn't say it. He couldn't say it.

She knew what he meant anyway.

"He would want you there, too."

Ken bowed his head, biting his lip.

"I'm going down to see him on Sunday," Hamuko said offhandedly, though she watched him closely. "You could come with, if ya want. Maybe get some of this stuff off your chest."

"I'd… I'd like that," Ken replied, smiling weakly. "Thanks."

Hamuko smiled back down at him as her Justice Social Link reached rank 9.

"Now c'mon," she said, gesturing at him to follow her as she started walking out of the shrine. "Koro-chan, let's go! Damn freezing out here… feels like gettin' executed."

* * *

><p>Leaving school the next day, a faint noise started resounding from Hamuko's pocket.<p>

"…_me an endless song! As I feel s-"_

"Oh, I got an email," she commented, pulling out her phone. "Let's see… what."

Her flat statement of confusion had Minato peering over her shoulder at her phone's screen.

"_omg so xcite 4 our d8 2day come pick us up 3 ok ttyl ^w^"_

"…Why is Elizabeth texting you instead of me?" Minato asked.

"…It's from Theodore."

* * *

><p>"So, this is the building in which you reside! It is a truly magnificent structure," exulted Elizabeth.<p>

"Sister, it may seem a bit late to mention this, but are we certain it is permissible for us to enter?" Theodore asked.

"Of course it is!" she reassured him. "Minato-sama and Hamuko-sama would not have brought us here if it was not! And in any eventuality, we have prepared flawless cover stories if we are questioned by authorities."

"That's reassuring," Minato said dryly, as Elizabeth shoved the doors open dramatically, stepping inside with all the self-assurance of a resident.

This bold entrance, typical of the eye-catching attendant, caught an eye. Two of them, in fact, belonging to one Mitsuru Kirijo and not half a second before glued to the book she was reading. She opened her mouth to bring down her fury upon the two "intruders," before she saw them followed by Minato and Hamuko. Her glare instantly shifted to them. Their own eyes instantly went to the floor.

"My, what force of personality," Elizabeth murmured, admiring Mitsuru.

"Sister, this is almost certainly a woman of authority, judging from our guides' reactions," Theodore announced, proud as ever of his powers of observation.

"Indeed, brother," the female sibling agreed. "Perhaps we should… 'explain ourselves,' hm?"

This last line was followed by a sly wink, as Theodore suddenly threw his arms out dramatically.

"Forgive me this intrusion!" he cried. "As you may be able to tell from my attire, I am but a simple flight attendant. My flight crashed very near here, whereupon these two found me, the sole survivor, mangled and barely alive from my wounds. They pulled me from the burning wreckage, and knowing I hadn't long to live, asked me if there was anything they could do to make my passing less regrettable. As one from a foreign land, I conveyed to them to the best of my limited abilities in this language that I wished only to see how they lived. As such, they have brought me here."

"And I am a vampire who has feigned naivety to play upon the kind hearts of these two, in order that I may get them alone in their rooms and seduce them!" Elizabeth announced.

Mitsuru's flat stare rested on the Fools, who continued to gaze resolutely at the ground. She shut her eyes, counting to ten silently to herself in a drawn-out sigh. Finally, having not said a single word, she returned to her book, pointedly ignoring the Fools and their inordinately odd guests. Taking this as a dismissal, the attendants walked proudly up the stairs, patting each other on the back.

As the four entered Minato's room, the Velvet Room attendants paused.

"Goodness," Elizabeth remarked.

"You can tell as well, sister?"

"Oh, yes. It's very noticeable."

"What's with the smiles, you two?" Hamuko asked in curiosity.

"Ah, were we smiling?" Theodore asked, a bit startled. "Pardon us. Your… 'presence' is strong here. Perhaps one could call it… your scent?"

Hamuko whirled on Minato.

"You said you always washed the sheets!"

"If I washed them every time, I'd never have a set out of the washer! This one was barely used!" he defended.

"I do not believe my brother meant 'scent' literally," Elizabeth interjected. "It is a very unique presence, much like the two of you. There is much love in this room. And pain, as well. It is a most wonderful place because of it."

"Indeed," Theodore agreed. "This world is filled with exquisite brilliance. Such charming locations we have seen, even only in this one small corner of the world. Every moment we've spent here has been an unforgettable memory. We thank you for these excursions."

"The two of you have endured much turmoil and suffering over a very long time," chipped in Elizabeth. "It has clearly taken quite the toll on you. And yet, we have been privileged enough to see our precious guests in cheerful relaxation on these 'dates.' This may be the last time we get alone together… it is regrettable that it may end. But all things must end, eventually."

With this, the attendants looked expectantly at their hosts, as though waiting for something. The Fools hesitated.

"…It has been enjoyable for us, too," he admitted. "Despite all the chaos that ensued."

"We had a lotta fun," Hamuko agreed. "It was nice t'be able to lighten up like that, showin' you both around town."

The attendants nodded, and waited for a moment further. When neither Fool said anything more, they looked a bit taken aback, then they smiled.

"This concludes this chapter of our story, does it not?" Elizabeth said. "I do wonder… it seems as though the two of you are nearly ready to move on."

"We ain't tryin' to kick you out or anything-!" Hamuko started to hurriedly explain, before Theodore held up a hand.

"That is not what my sister meant," he said gently. "The two of you have grown quite a bit since we first met you. Be honest with me, you still harbor some hesitation over your great upcoming battle, do you not?"

The two looked at each other, grimacing slightly.

"But not for your own lives?" Elizabeth prompted. "You worry for others, correct?"

"…I'm afraid that we're going to fail everyone," Minato confessed. "I'm not so much concerned for my own well-being, but… if we aren't strong enough…"

"I just wanna save everyone," added Hamuko in agreement. "Even if nobody ever knows about it. Just… keep the damn world spinnin'."

The attendants looked at each other, smiled, and nodded.

"Minato-sama, Hamuko-sama. You have, up to this point, performed every task we have asked of you marvelously. However, we have one last favor to ask of you," Elizabeth announced.

"Within the depths of Monad, behind the great white doors beside Tartarus, at the bottom of that labyrinth, lies the ultimate opponent," Theodore continued. "This opponent rivals, if not exceeds, the power held by the great being you will face in less than a week's time. Your task is to make your way to this opponent and defeat it- with no aid but each other."

"For what reason?" asked Minato.

"We wish to gauge your prowess," Elizabeth answered vaguely. "The potential rewards are quite worth the effort though, we assure you."

"I… guess it couldn't hurt?" Hamuko said hesitantly. "We haven't been to Tartarus in a while…"

Left unspoken was the fact that the tower filled them both and the rest of SEES with no small amount of foreboding, reminding them that in a short amount of time, they would be fighting for their lives at its peak, as well as the lives of every living being on the planet. With no great motivation to go there until the 31st, they simply hadn't.

"We have the utmost faith that you will succeed," Theodore said. "You are… the most wonderful guests. We have been truly grateful for our time together. It is almost… a pity that it may soon end."

Hamuko stood silent for a moment, but her eyes suddenly lit up. "Don't move a finger, I've got an idea!" With that, she darted out of the room.

A few minutes later, she returned, holding a persimmon in her hand and a marker.

"This is Kaki-kun the Twentieth, the last member of the proud family of Persimmonia. He'll be our page and ambassador in the Velvet Room." She announced, handing Kaki-kun to Elisabeth. "This one's too fruity to have any legacy, so I'll leave his dynasty in your magic hands."

"Is that so?" The assistant asked, staring at the angry-faced persimmon. "Well-met, Kaki-kun-sama. Ah… such a delicious ambassador for every earthling."

"I suppose he'll have the juiciest secrets to tell us, sister."

Minato hid his face in his hands during the nonsensical discussion, but, truth is he was smiling in the inside.

Their goodbyes were not quite tearful, but there was a very wistfully sad note to them as the attendants and the Fools embraced, before the latter escorted their otherworldly guests back to the Velvet Room, hand-in-hand, at the Velvet Room denizens' insistence.

* * *

><p>In the middle of class the next day, a piece of paper precisely folded into the shape of a four-pointed star slid to a stop on Minato's desk. Raising an eyebrow, he looked in the direction it came from to see Aigis cocking her wrist back with another paper shuriken aimed at Hamuko's desk. Catching his gaze, the android gestured at him to unfold the paper. Minato shrugged and looked down to the paper as he unfolded it.<p>

"_I request to speak with the two of you on the rooftop again after school,"_ the note read. _"I shall not make you wait as long this time."_

* * *

><p>Upon the rooftop, under the bright sunlight, the still air didn't hold as much of a chill as the last time. The Fools stood by patiently while Aigis leaned against the railing, staring out at the ocean.<p>

"I have something very important I feel I must tell you," she said stiffly. "I tried to do so last time, but… my emotions got the better of me. Please, prevent me from running away this time. This needs to be said."

Hamuko shrugged, reaching over and clamping down the permanently unused padlock over the school's rooftop access door.

Aigis's rigid posture relaxed perhaps a nanometer.

"For… some time…" she said haltingly, "I have been confused regarding the two of you. Perhaps 'confused' is not as accurate a description as 'conflicted.' I have always known you were both important to me. However, with this… this recent change in my purpose, you should not be so absolutely important. My reason for living is now merely to live, not to protect you. You are no longer integral to my reason for being, and yet… you are integral to my self."

Her hand tightened on the metal railing.

"I have been seeking an understanding on what this means. On why, despite my independence from you, I still feel such dependence on your presence. Thanks to my recent time spent with you, I believe I have arrived at an answer. This bond… and these emotions, as complex as they are… you have explained succinctly what it is that I feel."

Aigis turned her back to the sea. Her eyes flickered between Minato and Hamuko, who looked back at her fondly.

"Minato, Hamuko, I love you." Her voice as she spoke those words was warm, emotional, and utterly, completely, human. "It is painful, because I know that for so many reasons, those feelings cannot be fully reciprocated. But despite this, I wish only to stay by your sides until the end of it all. I do not wish to hold you down, but… I wish even less to be left behind! So please…!"

As her voice choked off, the Fools as one rushed up to her, holding her tightly.

"We love you too, Aigis!" Hamuko assured her, petting the back of her head. "I mean… maybe not exactly like that… I think… but we definitely love you!"

"You're always saying how important we are to you, Aigis," Minato said calmingly. "Have you never thought that you're just as important to us? Don't ever worry about 'holding us down' or anything like that."

"We _want_ you here, you silly bot," Hamuko said with a weak laugh.

"…No matter how long?" asked Aigis.

"Forever if we could," affirmed Minato.

Aigis smiled, her face working oddly. As if it was a crack appearing in a dam, a small laugh escaped her. And then another. Her laughter built upon itself until she was held up only by the Fools' support, bent over gasping.

"This… this is one of the occasions I regret not being able to shed a tear," the android managed out, still giggling slightly. "I am quite certain I would have experienced 'crying from laughter' just now."

Mystified, the Fools looked at each other.

"Um… just what is so funny, Aigis?" Hamuko asked, concerned.

Straightening out and freeing herself from their grasp, Aigis shook her head, still smiling.

"It simply explains so much to me," she said enigmatically. "I am grateful that the two of you at least mostly share my feelings, even if I am only a machine."

"Quit talkin' like that," Hamuko scolded. "Ya just broke down laughin' in front of us after you said you love us. That's pretty damn human."

"You're just as human as we are, Aigis, regardless of your body," Minato said. Aigis beamed at the two of them, just before the Aeon link was announced to reach its penultimate rank.

"Now c'mon, let's go get some dinner or somethin'," encouraged Hamuko, reaching for the door to the stairway. She stopped dead, looking at the padlock. "…Um."

"Hamuko…"

"She said not to let her run away!"

"I don't think she meant _ever_!"

BANG!

The remaining fragments of the lock fell to the ground. Aigis stood pointing at where it was, the tip of her outstretched index finger smoking lightly.

"Y'know, I sometimes forget you have those…" Hamuko mused.

"You both recall the school is still full of students, right?" Minato pointed out. As Hamuko opened the door, the sound of mass panic and confusion floated up the stairway.

"Run?" offered Hamuko.

"Run," he confirmed.

The three fled the rooftop before teachers arrived to investigate the gunshot and made their way back to the dorm.

* * *

><p>After a depressingly dull session of school the next day, Aigis approached the Fools on their way out.<p>

"Minato, Hamuko," she addressed, fidgeting slightly. "I… wish for you to come by my room when you get to the dorm. There is… something I wish for you to do."

With that said, she bolted away, her head down. Minato and Hamuko stood staring blankly after her.

"Do ya think she meant it _that _way, or…?" Hamuko asked in trepidation.

"…Surely not. Our relationship isn't like that," Minato denied firmly, though he looked similarly hesitant. "Besides, she's designed as an anti-Shadow weapon. Why would her designers have made her… you know, functional that way?"

"Well, the designer was prolly an otaku…" she muttered.

* * *

><p>At the dorm, the Fools stood before the door to Aigis's room. Hamuko knocked cautiously.<p>

"Um, Aigis?" she ventured.

The door opened, and Aigis poked her head out, smiling upon seeing them both.

"Yes, come in," she invited, stepping back from the doorway.

The room was… not what the two had expected. A large, complex-looking chair with various diagnostic equipment dominated the center, as a bed would normally. Tucked in various corners of the room, like so much furniture, were crates of ammunition, spare parts, and maintenance supplies. Most unexpected was, atop these crates were framed pictures, all of them dominated by Minato, Hamuko, or both.

"Interesting room, Aigis," Minato commented, taking in the sights.

"Where'd ya get these pictures?" Hamuko wondered, picking one up. It showed her at tennis practice, cheering on Rio.

"A member of the photography club was kind enough to provide me with a copy of every picture the club had taken featuring the two of you," Aigis explained. "I was confused for some time why he would do so free of charge, but…"

"There's a lot of memories here," Minato said softly, smiling a bit at some of the pictures. "Though, none of the three of us. We should take one, I think."

"That is actually somewhat close to the reason I asked the two of you here today," Aigis said.

"You wanna take a picture?" asked Hamuko in confusion.

"I wish to record a memory," she corrected. She placed a hand over her throat gently. "Below this ribbon lies my core, the source of my emotions… the Papillon Heart. It is a very delicate instrument, so it is normally kept protected. The slightest smudge or scratch may affect my entire being. I wish for you… to touch it."

"Eh? Wait, why, if it's so delicate?" asked Hamuko in alarm.

"I… I am not especially fearful of the outcome of the upcoming battle," Aigis said. "However, I do know that after its conclusion… you two will not be the same. An event such as that is certain to change you. I wish to record within myself how you are now, as a precious memory to keep with me forever. By touching my Papillon Heart, and pressing your fingerprints and oils into it, I will always remember you as you are, regardless of what happens in the future."

"A-Alright…" the brunette stammered. "Seems simple enough, I guess…"

"Of course…" Aigis trailed off, flushing slightly. "You will be coming into contact with my very core, so… I may… make strange noises, or…"

Her mumbling became indistinct. Hamuko and Minato exchanged a glance.

"I… will disable movement of my limbs to avoid any spasms," she continued, settling into her chair. "So, um… whenever you're ready… just undo my ribbon."

Minato reached over, delicately untying the ribbon around her neck, and lifting the cloth to reveal the core beneath it. Softly pulsing and flickering with an ethereal light, the butterfly-shaped crystalline core seemed to react to the very air currents around it. However beautiful it was, the Fools picked up on a rather noticeable detail.

"Aigis, your core is… smudged," Minato mentioned.

"Yeah, it's covered in fingerprints! I mean, they look like they're part of the glass or crystal or whatever, but… what's the deal here?" Hamuko asked.

"Every one of those marks is a precious memory of mine," said the android, smiling nostalgically. "Every one, I value dearly. I feel privileged to have so many wonderful memories. And now, they'll be joined by another."

With a nod to the other, the Fools brought down their thumbs as one, gently pressing into the smooth crystal. The soft light within pulsed wildly, thrashing around in its confines. Aigis let out a gasp, her torso squirming slightly, but her limbs remaining motionless.

"Is it good yet, or…?" Hamuko asked, looking concerned.

"Just… ah! A little longer…! The process is nearly… oh!" Aigis gasped out.

Finally, the light settled down, and Aigis collapsed back into the chair, her breathing labored. She smiled wearily up at the two.

"Thank you, Minato, Hamuko. Now, regardless of what happens, I will be able to keep the two of you with me." With that proclamation, the final level of the Aeon Social Link was reached. Hamuko wondered briefly if she could fuse Optimus Prime along with this "Metatron".

Rising from the chair slowly, Aigis stumbled to her feet, walking over to the door. "I'm afraid the process takes rather a lot out of me, so I will need some time to rest."

Upon being escorted out, the Fools stood outside her closed door in an awkward silence.

"…I totally told you."

"Well, it wasn't _quite_ the same…"

"Oh come on, we just helped Aigis get her robo-rocks off! We're terrible parents, aren't we?"

"I am not talking about this."

* * *

><p>"Arisato, behind you!"<p>

The depths of Monad were swarming with Shadows stronger than any SEES had encountered before.

"Yo, heads up, senpai!"

The corridors were choked with them, floor after floor of unbelievably strong enemies.

"Enemy eliminated! Providing support!"

And yet, despite their strength, despite their numbers...

"Agh! Takeba, I'm wounded!"

"On it, senpai!"

_"There are three enemies remaining!"_

No force they presented could stop the combined, well-oiled machine that was SEES. Presenting a totally unified front, fighting with a bond forged by fire, they obliterated every Shadow before them, steadily making their way through the floors of what Hamuko declared "Tartarus's storage shed." With yet another floor cleared, they paused in a stairway, briefly catching their breaths.

"Ya know, I feel like we're more of a team now," Hamuko commented offhandedly. "It's like, we always fought with each other, but now we're actually fighting _together_, yanno what I mean?"

"We're a lot closer since we first went into Tartarus..." Yukari mused.

"Heh, Nyx ain't gonna know what hit her when the SEES dream team comes walking up those stairs!" Junpei cheered, swinging his sword.

Akihiko, leaning against a wall, grinned and pushed himself forward.

"And neither will whatever is at the end of this place. So let's go already."

On the walk up the stairs, Minato and Hamuko noted Judgment reaching rank 9.

* * *

><p>SEES entered the tenth and final floor of Monad warily. The entire floor appeared to not only be empty, but also open, like no other floor in Tartarus had been. It consisted of a single, circular room, a raised edge around the circumference, and a lowered section in the middle that was darkened. It looked like...<p>

"The hell's this, an arena?" Hamuko said, looking puzzled.

"It seems like this 'ultimate opponent' has been expecting us just as we've been preparing for it," Mitsuru said grimly, looking down into the center of the room.

"So then," Minato mused, peering into the darkness. "Who is it?"

On cue, a light emanating from an unseen source illuminated the arena floor below. A man and a woman, clad in blue, stood in the middle.

"Theo?"

"Elizabeth?"

"...Those two again?" asked Mitsuru.

"Welcome, honored Fools." Theodore's voiced resonated through the open arena. "You have slain twelve menacing Shadows, braved the perils of the depths of Monad, and defeated an incarnation of Death itself within its very domain. Your skills have caught our interest, and we two attendants of the Velvet Room, we keepers of power, wish to see them put to the test against the ultimate opponents- ourselves."

"Ooh, you have a wonderful flair for the dramatic, brother," Elizabeth cooed, breaking the atmosphere. "Perhaps I could try?"

"But of course!"

Elizabeth cleared her throat.

"Despite your incredible strength, most particularly yours, Minato-sama," here Theodore shot her a tight-lipped look which she ignored magnificently, "it should go without saying that we are mightier even apart, let alone together. So, we have placed considerable restrictions on ourselves. It will be a fair fight between equals, one that should prove to be a fantastic test of your skill."

"A fair fight?" Hamuko asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yanno, usually fair fights don't have like five or six people against two."

"The numbers will be even, Hamuko-sama," Theodore explained. "It will be you two against us. The others will not be allowed to interfere."

_"No way!"_ Fuuka interrupted. _"I can sense their power. They aren't exaggerating! Just one of them has enough power to defeat any of us ten times over with one attack!"_

"They DID say they'd be placing restrictions on themselves, though," Minato mused.

Hamuko rested a comforting hand on Aigis's shoulder, noting her worry.

"Ah, don't worry yourselves," she said reassuringly. "Theo and Liz won't let us die or nothin'. They help us out a lot. And... we owe them this last request, right?"

Aigis turned towards Minato.

"Minato, please talk some sense into-"

He cut her off with a hand atop her other shoulder, gripping it. He looked gently at Aigis, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Aigis. But I must agree with Hamuko. They won't hurt us badly, I'm sure. This is just a sort of test of our skills, to get us ready for Nyx."

She looked down, conflicted.

"Idiots," Yukari said without any venom. "If you're gonna fight, at least get completely patched up. Ken, give me a hand here."

The two healed the Fools fully, then stepped back. Minato rummaged in the bag of emergency items he carried with him into Tartarus and pulled out two glowing eggs. Handing one to Hamuko and eating the other himself, the two felt their spiritual power fully restore.

"Elizabeth. Theodore," he addressed, walking down into the arena. "We accept."

Elizabeth bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly, producing the grimoire that contained the Personae each had gained.

"Ooh, wonderful!" she purred. "Oh, this shall be most fruitful. However, as we are placing considerable restrictions on ourselves, we find it only fair that you have a few on yourselves, as well."

"Like what?" Hamuko shot back.

"You may not nullify, absorb, or reflect any of our attacks using the innate resistances or skills of any one Persona in your possession. Furthermore, nullification or reflection of said attacks using your equipment or the items in your possession is similarly forbidden."

"Those are some pretty substantial limitations," Minato said, looking aggravated. "If we're limited so much, then what have you prevented yourselves from doing?"

**HUMANS, YOU FOLLOWED ME HERE, THINKING ME WOUNDED.**

That horrible voice filled the air around them, choking it with menace. SEES instantly went on high alert. The Velvet Room attendants did not.

**FOLLOWING ME INTO THE PLACE WHERE I AM AT THE APEX OF MY POWER WOULD SHOW COURAGE...**

The Reaper emerged smoothly from a wall within the arena.

**...HAD YOU KNOWN WHAT YOU WOULD BE FACING BEFORE DOING SO. AS IT IS, IT SIMPLY SHOWS FOOLISHNESS. FOOLISHNESS BEYOND WHICH I WOULD EXPECT EVEN FROM FOOLS SUCH AS YOU. YOU MADE A MISTAKE IN COMING HERE, AND YOU WILL NOT BE LEAVING. SEVERAL OF YOU OWE ME RECOMPENSE FOR OFFENSES AGAINST MY GREAT BEING.**

The Reaper's one good eye locked onto Minato, as it fingered a revolver at its hip eagerly.

**YOU, BOY, YOU YET OWE ME RECOMPENSE FOR THE EYE YOU STOLE FROM ME. ONE OF YOUR OWN WILL BE SUITABLE. YOU WILL HAVE NO NEED OF IT WHEN I AM FINISHED. AND AS FOR THE SIMULACRUM, YOUR ARTIFICAL BODY SHALL SOON BY LYING IN PIECES.**

"Pardon me," Theodore interjected politely. "Could this wait for a while? We were preparing to test their strength in a fair fight. Your presence would imbalance things in our favor."

**...YOU CREATURES. YOU DO NOT BELONG IN THIS PLACE. YOU DO NOT BELONG IN THIS WORLD. BEGONE, AND LEAVE ME MY PREY. YOU SHALL NOT SNATCH IT FROM THE MOST WELL-KNOWN HUNTER.**

Theodore sighed.

"Your presence is not required. Go away."

He reached over and pulled a card forth from the book Elizabeth held, summoning a long-haired, robed figure clutching a katana forth. The air around Theodore glowed, thrummed with power, and then...

The explosion was beyond blinding. It didn't emit light, it destroyed it the same as it did everything it touched. The power called forth seemed to leave a white void, featureless, wherein nothing could or had survived. But reality seemed to return as SEES pulled themselves off the floor, looking down at the annihilated crater where the Reaper had once stood. There was nothing remaining. Elizabeth retained her cheerful smile.

"Our restriction is a pattern of attack wherein we only use that once every eight techniques. The other seven are more traditional Persona attacks."

"...Masakado doesn't learn Megidolaon," Minato said numbly.

"That was not Megidolaon. That was our own power, channeled through the Persona I myself like the most. It could have been done with any of them. As my sister said," Theodore said, his smile returning. "We are quite mighty, and as such, we will not be using much of our actual power. We have actual Personae of our own to put us on a more even playing field."

"Then why the light show?" Hamuko asked, still a little dazed.

"Well," purred Elizabeth, seeming a bit menacing, "You are, after all, more practiced with the use of these constructs than we are. We needed our own edge. And as long as you follow the restrictions set forth, so shall we. If you see fit to make the contest less fair... we will be happy to oblige you, as is our duty."

"Have you any further questions before we begin?" Theodore asked.

"What's the Persona Liz chose to do the Megidohshitlaon thing?"

Everyone looked at Hamuko. She looked back around herself.

"...What? Theo said he picked his favorite to do Explodylaon. Liz, didja pick a different one?"

Elizabeth blinked at her.

"...Pixie."

"Not Alice?"

"No, not Alice."

"'Cause ya both wear blue."

"I chose Pixie, regardless."

"Ain't Pixie kinda weak?"

A fire lit up in Elizabeth's eyes.

"You will get the opportunity to find out soon. Come now, honored Fools. Let us test your strength."

"Heh, this ain't gonna be a problem!" Hamuko boasted, taking up position beside Minato. "Minato and I, we got all kinds of awesome Personas! Let's do this already!"

* * *

><p>After precisely seventy-two attacks from the Velvet siblings, Minato and Hamuko stood, blinking rapidly in the aftermath of yet another Megidolaon.<p>

"Hamuko," growled the blue-haired Fool, "remind me to tape your mouth shut before we go fight Nyx, so you don't curse us there, too."

"Oww..." she mumbled back, rubbing her tender head.

Elizabeth and Theodore paused.

"Brother, I find myself growing slightly weary, both in stamina and attention," Elizabeth confessed.

"Indeed sister, I am a bit bored as well," agreed her brother. "Perhaps we should have set a time limit."

"Oh, excellent idea, and never too late!" enthused Elizabeth. "Minato-sama, Hamuko-sama! You have until the end of this set of eight attacks to end this battle, or else we will remove our limitations."

"I hate you, Hamuko."

"I kinda do too right now..."

"Let us end this!" announced Elizabeth. "Surt, come forth one last time!"

The Fools narrowed their eyes, evading the now-familiar wave of fire.

"Cybele!" Hamuko cried, perforating the attendants with a wave of arrows.

"Horus!"

The blast of ice blew Elizabeth back, and the grimoire out of her hand, but Theodore caught it deftly, spreading its pages again. Retaliating with a glacial chill from his own Jack Frost, Theodore froze Minato to the ground, not noticing Hamuko's follow-up attack.

"Susano-O!"

The jagged blade of the god of storms gave Theodore a shallow cut as he dodged narrowly backwards. He tossed a card behind him without looking into Elizabeth's waiting hand, allowing her to bring out Thor, who lit up the stadium with a lightning storm of Maziodyne. Semi-protected by the looming form of Arahabaki, Minato freed himself from the ice around his legs, sending Hamuko a grateful smile as she summoned Kohryu to heal him.

Cu Chulainn's re-emergence and the ensuing windstorm buffeted Minato and Hamuko, the former of whom sought some protection from Scathach. Recovering faster than the brunette, Minato fired off a Mabufudyne that staggered both attendants. His slight relief and triumphant smile were interrupted by a massive Mahamaon rune forming between him and Hamuko, forcing the two to leap apart. A further Mamudoon from Elizabeth's Alice, and a massive cloud of poison from Theodore's Nebiros, kept the Fools several meters apart. They looked in nervousness at the attendants, who sighed in disappointment.

"Pixie."

"Masakados."

For the past nine times that ungodly attack had fallen, the Fools had managed to keep close enough that their Fusion Spell Infinity let them weather the blast unharmed. But kept apart, they could not possibly manage that again. Minato desperately reached into his pocket, pulling out a small gem he had brought in case of emergency, purchased from the Antique Shop in the mall. As the all-encompassing light shone once more, the roar of the blast absolutely deafening, he felt the power of Valhalla keeping his body together.

The light faded, as did the energy of Valhalla, and Minato fell to his knees, looking wearily around for Hamuko. He found her, tossed in a bloody pile of clothes, somewhat near him. She was motionless.

"Hamuko!" he rasped out, crawling over to her.

"She will survive," Elizabeth said soothingly. "We would not be so careless as to outright kill our most precious guests. The two of you put up a magnificent fight!"

"Indeed, my sister and I are both quite injured right now," Theodore confessed. "Had we allowed the battle to continue as normal, you might have even overcome us!"

Minato didn't listen to a word they said, only shaking Hamuko fiercely.

"Cut it out," she grumbled.

Elizabeth and Theodore stopped dead, looking with curiosity where they heard Hamuko talk. She stood up tall, not a mark visible on her skin, though her clothes were quite tattered.

"Ya know," she said conversationally, lifting her Evoker, "I still think Enduring Soul is fuckin' cheating. But I ain't gonna complain. It's nice t' have a Persona that can keep me from giving up after one go. MARA!"

The phallic Persona materialized before her. She patted it fondly.

"Good girl," she cooed. "Get 'em!"

Mara jerked straight up, firing a curiously thick stream of green fire upon the Attendants, who struggled to remove the burning goo.

"Heh, shit's like napalm!" she cheered. "Now c'mon, Minato, getcher ass up, let's finish this! Here, have a Soma."

Rising to his feet, Minato just shook his head.

"Why am I not surprised you have that inside you? So, finish this, then? Fuuka, are they hurt enough that one of the Megidolaons they've been throwing out could knock them out?"

_"Um... yes?"_ Fuuka replied uncertainly. _"Do you have a method of reflecting it?"_

The Attendants, recovered from the surprise attack from the phallic manifestation of Hamuko's mind, opened up the grimoire. Minato and Hamuko never gave them a chance.

"Helel!"

"Satan!"

"ARMAGEDDON!"

The battle was over. Elizabeth and Theodore lay defeated in one crater of the many that had been added to the arena over the course of the battle.

"That... was most magnificent," Elizabeth murmured, looking up at the ceiling. "A truly splendid battle."

"It was quite the surprise, was it not?" Theodore agreed, in the same position. "And now it seems as though we are not even capable of moving. Most wonderful."

"And now, I believe we promised them a reward, as is usual when they complete a request," Elizabeth said, reaching with a wince into her dress. She pulled out, and held into the air, a small ball, the size of an orange, glowing in many colors. "The Omnipotent Orb you see here is an item of great power. You may not find use for it immediately, but... I can promise, it will be of use."

Taking the Orb into her hand, Hamuko shrugged, feeling no effect.

"Well, uh... thanks?" she offered. Perhaps it was just a magic fruit from another dimension.

Elizabeth and Theodore smiled, pulling themselves with a groan into a sitting position, looking a little loopy still.

"You have been most magnificent guests," Theodore complimented. "You will do fine against Nyx on the promised day. Have confidence, the same you approached the battle with us with."

"Your journey will not end in death," Elizabeth promised. "This you can believe. You have the entire universe at your fingertips."

Smiling at their reassurances, the Fools thanked them, going home to rest their bodies for the battle in a mere two days.

* * *

><p>It was Sunday morning, just after dawn. With one day to go before Nyx's arrival, Hamuko sat at the breakfast table, nursing her cup of syrup, half-awake. Most of the others had taken advantage of what could potentially be their last day to sleep in, and had not yet risen. Most, except one.<p>

The sound of footsteps tapping down the stairs drew Hamuko's bleary gaze over to where Ken descended, fully dressed and quite alert.

"M-Morrrrrnin'…" Hamuko yawned out, rubbing her eyes. "Ya look all ready t'go. Not gonna stay a little while and watch Featherman?"

The boy shook his head.

"I think… maybe I should have some priorities," he said hesitantly. "Are you not ready to go yet, Hamuko-san?"

Knocking back her caramel goop in one swill, Hamuko cleared her throat, rose, stretched, and smiled.

"Nah, let's get goin'. Carpe diem and all." When Ken said nothing, she paused. "This is the part where you correct me on messing up the pronunciation or one of the words or something. C'mon, Minato's not here, ya gotta fill in!"

"I think that was actually correct, though," Ken said.

Hamuko sighed.

"Maybe the world really _is_ ending tomorrow…"

* * *

><p><em>Beep… beep… beep…<em>

As it had for nearly four months, the EKG machine attached to Shinji continued its steady cadence, never once wavering from its rhythm. It seldom had much of an audience. A nurse, once or twice a day. On occasion, one of two others. This time, though, two stood, attentive to its constant report.

"Y'know," Hamuko said conversationally. "When this first happened to him, I pretended to myself that he was dead for so long. I mean, like, months. It was easier, see. Just told myself that gun-toting bastard killed him, and even Shinji's not so tough that he wouldn't die if ya killed him. See, 'cause him bein' dead let me ignore this one real bitch that would have just picked at me otherwise. Ya know her name?"

Ken shook his head, looking up at her, and away from him.

"Hope. Man, she's a bitch. That little voice that won't let your wound just scab over into an ugly, dead scar. Ya can't just let nothin' bother you when there's hope. So I pretended there was none. Pretended he wasn't layin' here, all alone, hooked up to wires and tubes and god knows what else. Pretended he could never wake up."

She grimaced.

"That was fucked up of me, and plenty of people let me know it. Hell, _Junpei_ let me know it. 'Cause see, he's right here. Look at him!" She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, peering over him. "He's breathin'. He's warm. That machine won't shut the fuck up, so his heart's beatin'."

She sat back up, stepping behind Ken and pushing him closer to the bed.

"You've been goin' around all guilty for months now. And yeah, ya did something wrong. None of us are happy with that. But we forgive you. And he ain't dead. Instead of goin' around all gloomy, why don'tcha focus on how you can survive, so _he_ can survive? 'Cause goin' to fight with the attitude you got is just gonna screw everyone over. Now c'mon and talk to him, see what you're fightin' for."

She stepped back and watched him stand there silently for a moment, gathering his thoughts while looking at Shinji's motionless body. Finally, he spoke up.

"I could never forgive you, I thought," he said. "You were the cause of everything that went wrong with my life. I never even realized, though, that I spent so much time hating you, that I was helping mess up my own life. I was so focused on revenge, I didn't think about anything else…"

His voice started to falter.

"I… I understand you a lot better, now. Losing control of a part of yourself… getting someone hurt because of it… I hate this guilt!" He started sniffling. "I hate it because I know it's just what I have coming to me. After all, I… I chose all this. I hated you when you lived with this same guilt for years! I… I understand you."

He wiped his eyes, and looked right at Shinji's face.

"And I forgive you… Aragaki-senpai. And I'm sorry for doing all this to you." He cleared his throat, standing up a little straighter. "I do think you did one thing wrong, though. You shouldn't have run away from everybody like that. I know why you did. I tried to do the same thing, but everyone just kept holding me there, especially Hamuko-san. She makes sure I'm not alone, and that helps a lot."

Hamuko smiled at him as he continued.

"I'm gonna be extra strong, okay? It's my fault you can't fight with us, so I'll fight twice as hard for you. Then, once Nyx is gone, you can wake up and I can tell you this again. And hopefully… hopefully you can forgive me, too. Maybe we can be friends. I mean…" He turned toward Hamuko, who was positively beaming at him. "Hamuko-san loves you, so I know you aren't a bad person."

Hamuko bent down slightly and hugged Ken tightly. While he blushed and smiled, the Justice link reached rank 10. Though she received no incredible Persona, Hamuko found she didn't really care.

"I'm gonna head out now," she said after separating from him. "You wanna come with? I'll getcha some burgers or somethin'."

He shook his head, smiling.

"No, you go on, Hamuko-san. I'll… stay here a little while."

As she left and went to shut the door, Hamuko saw Ken pull up a chair next to Shinji's bedside, reach for the remote, and turn on the TV on the opposite end of the room. She had a strong suspicion that the channel was the same one Featherman was on.

* * *

><p>The morning mist that covered Iwatodai since they departed that morning was thicker than any fog Hamuko had ever seen. Winter was coming, she guessed, as she walked out of the hospital. Hamuko wasn't a fan of hypocrisy, and even less so when she'd been reprimanding Ken less than ten minutes prior about people being alive and counting on them and all, but… spending so much time talking to him had to rub off in the end.<p>

And so, somehow, she found herself standing in front of the offertory in the Naganaki Shrine. Or at least what she thought was the offertory, since the fog was specially obscure in the area.

"The hell...?" Hamuko muttered to herself, peering into the mist. "Can't see my damn hand in front of my face..."

Deciding to try and forget the somewhat disturbing fog, she put her hands together and closed her eyes.

"Hey Gods, Igor, Igor's God, or whoever is listenin', no, I haven't come to get good marks today. Yanno I hardly ever pray, and you can guess that I'm not gonna do so now. But in the off-chance any of you other than Igor exists, I've got a message for you. Tell Ryoji… yanno, the god of death, that really cool guy… that we are gonna kick his ass a lot, and that… we really miss him. Tell him we miss him a lot. We miss everyone who's left. Tell him that he owes us all a favor for not tellin' us sooner and leavin' us like that. So like. Take care and all. And don't use any mega super Dyne skills in the last battle. That's all."

She stood still, opening an eye slightly to peek. Nothing happened. She looked back just in case. Nope. Nothing.

"…Well." The tip of her fingers grazed the ring she held in her pocket. "I dunno what I was expecting, but—"

As she turned around, she hit a metallic bar with her forehead and, as she backed away, tripped with something, thus falling on her back and hitting her head again against the ground.

"Ffff…" She looked up as she rubbed her forehead. "The bench. I was praying to a bench. A motherf—"

"Are you okay? Do you need help standing?" a kind, weary-sounding voice asked in amusement.

Her curse was cut short, as she realized there was someone else there. Who, she couldn't tell, since she could only see as far as the wood next to her face. "Eh, nah..." she mumbled, standing up and dusting herself off. "I'm used t'hittin' my head with random stuff." She smiled at the air, since she wasn't even sure about where the other person was. "Hey, ya mind movin' a little closer? Can't see a damn thing in this fog."

"Why don't you just come sit on the bench?" the voice replied, still sounding as though it was holding back a small laugh. "I'm sure you need to gather your senses a bit after that."

Shrugging, Hamuko walked the few feet to the bench and sat down solidly with a sigh, before glancing over at the source of the voice. Her eyes widened in shock.

"...I've been waiting for you for a long time, you know," Akinari said. "You and Minato used to visit the shrine more often. Have you forgotten about me?"

"A-Akinari!" she gasped out. "You... you aren't...?"

"Oh, so you do remember!" he laughed, suddenly changing the subject. "That's good. I was afraid you'd have forgotten me."

"What? No! Never!" She choked a little bit, knowing perfectly that their absence was her fault. "We've been lookin' for you everywhere! In the hospital, they said…"

He placed a finger over his lips, making Hamuko's speech stop.

"Do you remember my story?"

She kept quiet for a moment, moving her eyes from one side to the other as she struggled to remember, confused by the explosive mix of awe and happiness that filled her heart. "The... the pink crocodile... was it?"

"It was an alligator," he reminded softly, smiling at her calmly. Well duh, same thing. "But yes. I finally finished it, and I wanted to show it to you. Do you want to hear?"

"Y-yeah," she managed, wiping her eyes quickly. "Go ahead."

"As you know, I was having a lot of trouble with the ending... but I think I finally figured it out. Since the alligator ate his friend, the bird, he cried and cried for a very long time. In fact, he was so sad... that he drowned in his own tears. His tears became a beautiful lake, around which grew beautiful flowers, and a tree with delicious fruit. The other animals came there often to relax, but..." he paused, seeming wistful. "But none of them knew the alligator had created it, or that he was even gone. The end."

"That's... a really sad ending," Hamuko said quietly. The boy seemed oddly happy, though.

"It is, but... it isn't, as well," Akinari said. "The alligator never found meaning in his life, but the residents of the forest did, you see. Even if they didn't realize it. The meaning and significance of one's life... of my life... isn't something to be worried about, I realized. What is more important is how our lives affect others. For me, for you... for anyone... the meaning of our lives is something that we make, but not something we see. We, none of us, can survive without help from others. Everyone depends on each other. Do you understand?"

"Yes... Yes!" She nodded.

"I've depended on you a lot, over the past while," admitted Akinari. "You've given me strength I didn't know I have. And you've helped me decide on the meaning of my life. Perhaps it's different from the one you will find. But I hope you'll understand my point of view, at least."

"Akinari, you... you've helped us out a lot, too!" Hamuko exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're alright! We looked for you so hard!"

She threw her arms around him, wishing to hug him, but suddenly stopped. "Oh god. I have to tell Minato. He… he'll be so happy, oh my god! He's missed you so much and, and, and—"

"Hamuko."

He extended her hand towards hers as he smiled calmly. A contact as ethereal as a whisper, as she felt his hands almost passed through hers.

"N…no, Akinari…" She began blinking much faster as she desperately began trying to embrace the silhouette besides her, feeling something only barely more consistent than a cold breeze. "Why?"

She covered her face with her hands, unable to control her sobs. "It's my fault! This is all my fault! I wasn't there when you needed me!" She kept crying, louder and louder. "I'm sorry! You didn't deserve that! I'm sorry, Akinari! I'm sorry!"

"It's not your fault, Hamuko." He said, using all his ghostly strength to make her turn her face towards his. "It's nobody's fault. I'm not here to torment you, Hamuko. I came here to apologize. For keeping you hanging. For not being brave enough to put an end to this wonderful story."

"I don't like endings anymore, Akinari." She muttered with wet, bloodshot eyes.

"I didn't like them, either, but both of you were with me all along the story, and so… I want to be able to be with you in the end of yours." The ethereal boy caressed her cheek. "When I saw you today… I knew it was the right thing to do, and this was just the right time to say our final farewell. I'm glad to have gotten to see you again, one last time."

He pulled an item off his lap, pressing it into Hamuko's hands.

"This is the notebook I wrote my story in," he explained. "It's the only thing in this world I have to leave behind. I wanted you to have it, since you've affirmed that my life did, in fact, have meaning. Even as short as it was, in the end."

He stood up, looking upward as he always did, but for once with a smile at the sun that began to cut through the odd fog around the shrine.

"I'm really thankful for having met you," he said happily. "Thank you for everything. Coming to see me, talking... it may not have seemed like much, but... I can be glad that I was born. And I'm very glad of having finished this story, for once."

The fog began to clear slightly as he moved into it, his form obscuring.

"I have to go now," he called back, only slightly visible as his silhouette became more and more difficult to tell apart.

"No! Akinari!" Hamuko called, trying to follow him until she found the rails of the little park in the shrine.

"Hamuko... perhaps we'll meet again someday. I hope that we do. Until then…"

It cleared entirely, putting the shrine into view. Akinari was nowhere to be seen.

"Farewell…"

The surge of power that came with the finalization of the Sun Social Link and the access to the Persona Asura was no comfort to the weeping Hamuko. Amidst the tears covering her eyes, she did manage to see a little ring shining in her pocket.

"Thank you…"

She pressed the book against her chest with all her strength and got up making a last shout out to Akinari, telling him to watch them succeed.

* * *

><p>That night, all of SEES gathered in the command room and sat around the table. The silence was solemn. The next day, they would be in a fight for their lives; for the lives of all assembled on the planet. It weighed on them heavily.<p>

"Alright..." Mitsuru spoke up at last, her face set in a tight look, her lips pressed firmly together. "This will probably be the last time we meet like this, one way or another. Is everyone prepared?"

"Um, can I say something?"

The interjection from Yukari broke the solemn spell held over the group. Everyone turned their attention toward her.

"I know we have to defeat Nyx..." she said. "But, if you think about it, that means getting rid of the Dark Hour... didn't Ryoji say before that, if he dies, the Dark Hour will disappear, and our memories too? So, if we defeat Nyx... we might not remember any of this."

The group murmured among themselves softly, disquieted by the idea.

"True," Mitsuru said with a nod. "Our memories, at least those regarding the Dark Hour and Personas... they may disappear."

"But even if that happens!" cried Yukari, "Even if that happens, I want you all to know, I won't forget you. Even if it robs us of all our memories together... everything we've done... as close as we've become... I'll remember you all!"

"We know you will, Yuka-tan!" Junpei said with a laugh. "Come on, you never forget anything I do wrong. How could ya forget any of us?"

"I won't forget about you either!" Fuuka assured her. The rest of the group agreed in turn, save for Hamuko, who absentmindedly fingered the notebook in her lap. Minato watched her in concern.

"Yukari, even if you do forget about us, I'll remind you," Mitsuru said with a tone of amusement and a fond look.

"I'm... I'm glad to hear that," the brunette said, smiling.

"Okay!" Junpei cheered. "So then, after the battle, once we've won, let's all promise to meet each other somewhere again!"

"That's a good idea!" Ken agreed. "But, where should we all meet?"

"I don't think it should be the dorm," Fuuka mentioned. "We'll come back here anyway if all goes well. And don't we need a time to meet up, too?"

"Yeah, some day special," agreed Akihiko.

After a moment of contemplation, Yukari spoke up.

"What about Graduation Day? When the Dark Hour vanishes, our memories may not disappear right away. So, it shouldn't be some time too soon after the battle. And Graduation Day will be more significant to us than any other time."

"Yeah, that'll be easy to remember!" Ken said.

"So how 'bout the place?" Junpei reminded.

"I think the school roof is best," Minato said, speaking up for the first time. "It has a lot of memories for a lot of us... and we can see the whole city from there."

Aigis smiled at him.

"I would like to second that motion. It is a nice place."

"The roof it is," Mitsuru said. "And when we meet again... we should remember how we're feeling right now. That no matter what may happen, we will never look back."

"That's not all we'll need to remember," Hamuko said, breaking her own silence. All eyes turned towards her. "We need to remember everyone who's relyin' on us. Everyone who ain't able to be there t'fight for themselves. We all depend on each other, but there's a whole lotta people dependin' on us. So we gotta fight our hardest, and remember them, too. We gotta give everything we got."

"Even our lives, if it absolutely comes down to it," agreed Minato, placing a hand atop hers. "Though... I certainly hope it does not. All of us have a lot to come back to."

On that sobering note, the Judgment link reached its final rank for both Minato and Hamuko, granting them an incredible power. The group retired to their rooms, sinking into troubled sleep, resting up for the battle ahead.

* * *

><p><strong>Yours are the reviews that will pierce the Heavens! So you know what to do.<strong>

**Also, shameless shout out to Nights in Shirakawa! If you want a good laugh, check it out.**


	99. Battle for everyone's souls

**Author's Note: This is the last chapter before the three branching endings that should be posted VERY shortly. It was written by Evilshroom. As a final note, before you all go on to the endings, consider the following:**

**There has been a LOT of foreshadowing for a rather major plot point that will be unveiled in chapter 102, the last chapter. If it surprises you... maybe go back and read from... oh, about chapter 87 or so oughta do.**

* * *

><p>In the minds of SEES, the 31st of January dawned entirely too brightly. It was an absolutely beautiful sunny morning, lacking even the biting chill of winter. Despite there not being a cloud visible in the sky, the team woke up sensing a storm impending. No meteorologist could predict it. No old person would feel it in their bones. Not a soul on the planet, aside from those gathered under the roof of the dormitory, would ever guess that once the clock struck midnight that night, the world may well spin on, devoid of life.<p>

There would be no school for the members of SEES that Monday. They remained in their home, preparing in their own way for the battle to come.

Junpei was uncharacteristically silent, sitting at the dining room table with a bowl of cereal he occasionally picked at. Far more of his attention was focused on the familiar sketchbook before him he flipped through. His determined expression softened slightly every time he got to a certain page.

Yukari never left Mitsuru's side. Whether the latter was overseeing the team's final preparations or simply sitting down to rest, the team's medic stayed right beside her, to the point where Junpei asked whether the two showered together, as well. Yukari's furious blush and even more furious strike to the back of his head did little to dissuade his laughter.

Akihiko seemed unable to stay still. Having returned from as long of a run as he was willing to risk without being tired out, he instantly set to pacing about the living room, shadowboxing, and making occasional impatient grunts. Mitsuru's threat of an execution if he didn't calm down finally settled him… for about ten minutes.

Mitsuru herself was everywhere at once, obsessively checking, double-checking, and triple-checking absolutely every detail relevant to the battle to come. Yukari was finally able to settle her down before she exhausted herself mentally. Deciding to get some rest, she announced that she would be taking a brief nap before the battle. The rest of the team was too relieved at the respite from her exhaustive analysis to wonder where Yukari also disappeared to during that time.

Fuuka, as was to be expected from her, was an absolute picture of serenity. Concerned only for the state of her fellow team members, she first consulted with each of them, providing kind words of support, then settled herself in the kitchen, preparing a massive assortment of riceballs for the evening's dinner.

Aigis remained in her room for much of the morning, performing comprehensive diagnostics on every system in her body. Every weapon, every servo, every single component was scanned thoroughly. She would not let her beloved Fools down during this battle. She showed no signs of fear, nor even much foreboding. Rather, her eyes held a battle-hardened look, and a resignation toward another battle.

Ken refused to approach the shrine on that last day. He hung quietly around Junpei, or Akihiko, or Fuuka, conversing occasionally with them, keeping his spirits up. All of them were happy for his presence and positive attitude.

Koromaru offered his own presence to anyone who seemed to need comfort, offering them a rub of his belly or reassuring paw on the leg. A very comprehending dog, Koromaru.

As for the Fools…

"Gooooooood mornin'!" Hamuko lilted, cheerfully stepping down the stairs, a much less energetic Minato in tow. "How're my favorite Personabros doin'?"

She received a tired, bemused look from all present.

"Sheesh, ain't a smile t'be found," she said dramatically. "Come on, let's think positive! Me and Minato-"

"Minato and I," the sleepy blunet corrected automatically.

"You _are_ Minato… c'mon, wake up already," she said, rolling her eyes. "_Any_way, me and Minato are goin' down to the mall for a coupla last minute preparations, Personas and all. Y'all don't start the fight without us!"

With that, the exceedingly chipper brunette all but skipped out the front door, dragging Minato along behind her. As the door shut behind them, Minato stopped dead, jerking Hamuko to a stop. She looked back inquisitively at his flat expression.

"What are you doing?" he asked simply.

Her cheerful look resolved slightly into a more neutral one, before she continued guiding him along toward the monorail station.

"Come on!" she said, returning to a grin. "I'll tell ya on the train."

* * *

><p>As soon as the two boarded the train, her glowing smile fell flat. She exhaled heavily, leaning against the doors as the monorail started moving.<p>

"I know they ain't in the right mind right now," she said. "They're scared… I mean, that's not weird, but… I just wanted t'be, like, someone they could see who wasn't afraid."

"Even if you are?" Minato prompted. Hamuko stood quietly for a second. She looked around the monorail car.

"…It's busy today, ain't it?" she asked softly. "Lotsa people. They're all goin' somewhere. Maybe work, or a date, or somethin'. They all got families. There's a whole lot of 'em. And this is just one train fulla people, in this one city, in this one country. There's a fuckton more people out there, and all of 'em have lives they wanna live, and that thing comin' down in a few hours just _doesn't give a fuck._ Every damn one of 'em is just gonna get killed without a chance unless we do somethin' to stop it. I'm fuckin' scared, Minato… I'm really fuckin' scared."

Minato reached his arms around her from behind her, holding her tightly.

"We can do this, Hamuko," he whispered to her. "You and I, and the rest of SEES, we can do this. Just like you told Ryoji, we're gonna kick and scream and fight, and we're gonna win. We can keep everyone safe."

"So who's… gonna keep us safe?"

"I'll keep you safe."

"What about you?"

"I'm not worried."

She snorted.

"You're fulla shit."

"Perhaps."

Hamuko sighed, leaning back into Minato.

"Thanks."

"I can't keep that happy face in front of them, Hamuko," he admitted. "You keep their spirits up. I will keep yours up."

"And again, who th' hell's keepin' yours up?"

"Oh, you know you always keep mine up, Hamuko."

"Yeah, but I do a better job of gettin' it back down."

The two laughed, enjoying the closeness of the embrace, and the happiness they brought to each other even as the potential end of the world encroached.

* * *

><p>"Welcome, once again, to the Velvet Room."<p>

Igor's smile was as broad as the two had ever seen.

"I sense a _vast_ change within you," he said, his voice as close to giddy as Igor's could get. "And a great power to go along with it… you have formed, and completed, a large number of bonds, have you not?"

Standing alongside each other, the Fools exchanged a quick glance. Hamuko shrugged, looking at Minato questioningly.

"I… think we've finished nearly all of them," he replied. "All except the Fool link with each other. It's been at rank 9 for some time."

Igor chuckled, sounding quite amused.

"Yes, well… perhaps the two of you are not _quite_ as close as is possible. A shame. I would have been delighted to award you with a useful item, had you have." He sighed regretfully, before returning to his grin. "Regardless, you have formed a great many bonds. Tell me, do you think you have gained an increased understanding from those you have allowed into your hearts?"

"I… think so?" Hamuko ventured. "I mean… I definitely feel like I get things a lot more than I used to…"

"I certainly have a greater understanding of people now," affirmed Minato.

Igor chuckled once more.

"And what of yourselves? Have you reached a greater understanding of your own hearts, in the reflection of those you bonded with?" At their confused faces, he waved a hand, still smiling. "Do not trouble yourselves responding. I can see that you indeed are closer to finding your places in this World than the Fools I first met. Perhaps your journey may end soon… but regardless, you have been, are, and until the end will continue to be, our most _interesting _guests."

He inclined his head to the two, then looked back up.

"Now then. Let us here at the Velvet Room provide you our services once more, that you may face your battle as prepared as possible."

* * *

><p>The midnight hour came far more quickly than any of SEES were comfortable with. With two minutes to the hour, they stood outside the gates to the school, looking up to the skies, where the full moon hung, fat and pale.<p>

"So, when we win," Hamuko said casually, "Senpai owes us, like, a week of sushi."

The group chuckled nervously.

"I would certainly love to, Seikatsu," Mitsuru replied. "However… I'm afraid I will likely forget about it once we have Nyx defeated and the Dark Hour eliminated. It is a pity."

"Cheapskate," Hamuko shot back, grinning.

"Even Mitsuru couldn't afford to feed _you_ sushi for a week," Yukari shot at her, smiling a bit herself.

"Coming to Senpai's aid? Yukari-chan, did someone forget their shining armor back at the dorm?"

"Only armor Yuka-tan would wear for Mitsuru-senpai would be that high-cut set ya found way back in May," Junpei cracked, instantly ducking Yukari's swipe.

The atmosphere lightened a fraction as the final seconds ticked down. Minato gave the outgoing brunette a grateful smile, squeezing her hand.

**DOOM**

The school made its nightly transition to the labyrinthine tower. The moon shifted to its sickly verdant hue, seeming to loom slightly closer. SEES walked with purpose to the teleporter. Brought to the topmost floor they could, they gathered around for one last brief strategy meeting while Fuuka brought out her Persona to scan the floors above.

"I sense both members of Strega, separate from each other," Fuuka reported. "And, at the top… I sense Ryoji-kun."

"Tch. Nice of them to wait for us," Akihiko grunted out, starting for the stairs. "Where's the nearest one?"

"The, um… the one with the grenades is only three floors above us. Takaya is four floors above him."

"Let's go kick their asses once and for all already," Hamuko said shortly, her good humor gone.

* * *

><p>The climb was short and the pace was quick, set by Akihiko and Hamuko at the front of the group. In only a few minutes, they arrived at a wide, open floor, with no Shadows in sight, but one familiar figure with a silver briefcase standing before the stairs.<p>

"So, you came after all," Jin said.

"Where's your murderin' partner at?" Hamuko asked.

Jin shrugged.

"Takaya went on ahead of me. He's destined for greater things than this." He leaned back, looking over the group. "So, it looks like you're serious about fighting Nyx."

"How do you know about Nyx?" Fuuka wondered.

"I was the one who pieced together all the information Ikutsuki left behind… not that a lot of it made sense. He was a real nutjob."

"Everyone _is_ aware we have only an hour at most to save the world, correct?" Minato pointed out flatly.

There was a slight pause.

"Right, kinda got a point," Hamuko conceded. "Alright Gin, get the fuck out of the way _now_ or we'll move ya."

"It's Jin!" he raged. "And even if there's no way you can stop Nyx, I'm not letting you by. I can't let you interfere with Takaya's wish."

"Athena!"

A massive golden hand crushed Jin into the unforgiving ground. Several loud cracking noises were heard, though no mark appeared on the floor. All of SEES turned to look at Aigis, who anxiously stared forward, her lips set in a tight line.

"We have no reason to pause here," she said firmly. "There is a greater enemy before us."

"You… damn bastards…" groaned out Jin, unable to move from the floor. "At least… finish me off, since I failed him…"

"You ain't worth the time," dismissed Hamuko, walking up the steps, the rest of the group trailing behind her. As they all left Jin there, Shadows began to crowd up from the floor below.

"Ugh… it figures…" he grunted out, reaching with a grimace for his briefcase. "Look at all of you, crawling out with your nasty faces. I won't let you eat me! I believe in you, Takaya… fulfill your wish!"

* * *

><p>Two floors above, SEES felt a slight tremor beneath their feet. No one said anything, only continuing forward. Two more floors above, Takaya sat on a small raised section like a bench beside the ascending stairs. He watched the approaching SEES out of one eye with a bored gaze.<p>

"Is the top of Tartarus past here?" Akihiko asked.

"Indeed," Takaya confirmed, not rising from his position.

"Then let us through," demanded Akihiko.

"I am not standing in your way," the tattooed man pointed out. "I take it you defeated Jin… you are quite troublesome. What is it that you seek? These are your final moments. The end is nigh."

"We're kinda here to _stop_ that from happening," snarled out Hamuko.

"What a waste of energy…" sighed Takaya, casting his bored look toward the female Fool. "Why not join me in celebrating this wonderful moment? What better way to spend your final moments together?"

"Will you shut up already?" Yukari snapped, growing weary of the young man's melodramatic posturing.

"Let him have his last words," muttered Hamuko.

"My life was stolen from me," lamented Takaya, ignoring the irritated Yukari. "And in its place, I was given a power I never asked for… and so, I learned the future is only a delusion. Only by striving to live every moment to its fullest can the soul truly be satisfied. That is why we welcome this glorious revelation- to shed a light upon this darkened world!"

"You're so full of shit!" Junpei raged. "I'm not dying so you can have a friggin' night light!"

"The future is a delusion?" Hamuko mocked. "No, you fuck, it's something you're trying to take away from everyone. That you _did_ take away from lotsa people. No one else wants this shit you're tryin' to push!"

"Fool," Takaya sighed. "This is not my desire alone. So many others have gathered to rejoice in her arrival."

"That's just because all these weird things have been happening…!" Fuuka protested.

"That is untrue." Takaya's voice took on a menacing, gleeful tone. "Who is responsible for reviving Nyx? Can any one soul boast of this great accomplishment? Despite how you worked tirelessly to prevent it, you unwittingly aided in her coming. This is not just my will- this is the work of several people, and several others call her here. Man cannot face death without first finding meaning in life. But the world has realized that any meaning in life was lost long ago… Nyx has come because humanity has cried out for the salvation to be found in her!"

"That is, as Hamuko would say, a 'load of crap,'" Aigis said calmly. "You have given up. There is much meaning to be found in life, if one looks hard enough. You have given up because of your unfortunate circumstances, and project your failures onto every human being on this planet. However, others want to live for the reasons they find, for the meanings they find. Whether for themselves, or for others, as I do. That is what it means to live."

"We are not alone," Mitsuru agreed. "What may seem impossible becomes feasible with the help of one's friends. You lack even this much; thus, demise appears as salvation to you. In your solitude, you are shackled by your own limitations. In our bonds, we have no such limits."

Takaya's bored look became slowly replaced by an absolute fury.

"You… you utter fools!" he spat. "You, who rush into battle where death is certain, denying the Demise…! Very well! If you insist on your own superiority, then I shall prove my own! But whatever the outcome, your actions, all of them, are pointless. Nyx's advent… it is but moments away!"

Laughing maniacally, the zealot placed his revolver to his head.

"Come, Hypnos!" he gasped. The shriveled, twisted Persona loomed over his head, floating on wasted wings grafted onto its spine. Hamuko stepped forward, motioning to the rest to step back.

"Three shots," she called out to him, holding her arms wide. "I'll give ya three free shots to 'prove your superiority.' C'mon, lessee whatcha got, all alone up there."

His laughter renewed.

"You really are a complete fool, are you not?" She just smiled in return, still spreading her arms wide. "Very well then, if you wish to join Aragaki in death a few minutes sooner than Nyx would send you. Hypnos!"

The Persona launched an intense gout of fire at Hamuko, who stood there, defenseless. The flames, however, rebounded harmlessly off her, straight back into Takaya. He winced in the heat, standing somewhat singed as the wave passed.

"An amusing trick," he growled, placing his revolver back to his temple. "HYPNOS!"

This time, a Ziodyne split the atmosphere, careening for her head. Once more, it deflected straight off, striking Takaya in the chest and knocking him off his feet. He stood up on unsteady legs. His face was a mask of fury. Hamuko, in contrast, had a fierce smirk.

"My arms are gettin' kinda tired here," she mocked.

"You are a nuisance that needs to be _erased_," he spat in return. Once more, he set that gun to his head. "**HYPNOS!**"

The Persona formed once more, raising its hands into the air. The almighty power of Megidolaon coalesced before it, then detonated in a massive shockwave of energy. The light was not so bright that SEES couldn't see their female leader blasted off her feet, back a few meters.

"I know you are a fierce fighter, girl," Takaya said, shaking his head. "But your hubris is your weakness."

"Your lack of friends is yours," she grunted back, leveraging herself up. "Man, that _almost_ hurt."

"I suppose this shall sting a little more, then," Takaya said in self-satisfaction, leveling his revolver this time not at his head, but at Hamuko. A shot rang out. One screamed out in pain. It was not Hamuko.

"See, this is what I was talkin' 'bout," Hamuko said, her face growing darker. "Ya sit up there talkin' a buncha shit about how weak people are, how much we wanna die, and ya don't even have anyone really beside you. Even that Jin guy stayed back instead of fightin' with ya. Me, I got people beside me. People that wanna live. People that make _me_ wanna live. People with guns for hands. Thanks, by the way, Aigis."

Aigis nodded back with a smile, still pointing a finger toward Takaya. Hamuko walked over and leaned down, picking up the Model 500 revolver lying on the ground, dropped from his bleeding hand.

"You… struggle so futilely…" Takaya gasped out, kneeling on the ground clutching his hand. "Fighting like fools against death… why not simply embrace it?"

"Look, we get that ya wanna die 'cause you got nothing to live for." Hamuko's voice was colder than any had heard before. "Hell, I can understand that. You ain't scared of dying, big man that you are. But see, where ya fucked up was thinking no one else's life was worth shit just cause yours ain't. Oh, nothin' matters, right? Life's just all fuckin' pointless, so let's just cheer as everyone fuckin' dies. Hell, let's try to kill off a few of 'em on the way."

Here, her voice went from cold to deadly.

"No matter who they are. No matter what they mean to anyone. No matter who cries over them, layin' in their hospital beds. It don't matter, right?" She caressed the hammer of the massive revolver with her thumb. "Yeah, no, that's a load of shit. These people, their lives matter. They mean somethin'. Now, you? You don't mean shit. You got no one that cares about ya."

"You are… wasting my time… with this nonsense," rasped Takaya. "I will see Nyx's coming, and the look on your face when you realize what you defy."

"We'll see about that." The very air seemed to drop in temperature. "Ya know, Shinji survived you shooting him. This thing fires some big fuckin' bullets, but it got at least a little bit stopped. Hit this big, damn near invincible pocket watch he had sittin' in his chest pocket. I found that pocket watch for him like, a coupla days before. If he hadn't had anyone that cared about him, that would do things like that, he'd have died."

She stood over him and raised the revolver to his chest level, cocking the hammer back.

"You ain't got anyone. Let's see how you do."

Before the massive revolver roared out its sharp report, Takaya shut his eyes, not clenched tight in fright, but calmly, in acceptance. As it turned out, he had no pocket watch to slow the bullet down. Hamuko watched him for a moment as his body collapsed, the pristine white floors of Adamah becoming discolored with crimson.

"Let's go," she said shortly, turning away from the cooling body. "We ain't got all night."

The group following behind her was quiet, but voiced no objection. Minato caught up to her, and silently grasped her hand, giving it a brief squeeze she returned. It took only a few short flights of stairs for the group to reach the stairway leading to the very peak of Tartarus.

* * *

><p>"We're finally here…" Mitsuru said.<p>

"This is the place Ryoji told us about," Minato mentioned. Mitsuru nodded.

"We should regroup for the final battle. Is everyone prepared?"

Nods all around. Hands gripped weapons, readjusted Evoker holsters, clenched tight in preparation. As one, they ascended the last flight of stairs. They emerged atop Tartarus. The eerie night sky of the Dark Hour filled their vision. High, high up, the wind chilled their bones. The air itself even seemed thinner. Yukari, however, happened upon the important discovery.

"Hey, look at the sky!" she shouted. "The moon's… warped?"

Fuuka gasped suddenly.

"Something's coming!"

"Is it Nyx?" Akihiko demanded.

"I can sense how powerful it is… even without having summoned Lucia. That's never happened before…" Fuuka seemed quite shaken, which disturbed the rest of the group.

Appearing at first as a small dot hanging on the Moon, as if an ant on a monitor, the Harbinger of the Fall descended to the peak of Tartarus. An odd crown like an upside-down funnel rested on a head of shaggy black hair; the head itself obscured by a perpetually grinning white mask. A gown of black feathers draped over its body and ended in four wings which spread wide. Adorning the gown was an odd sort of armored skirt, splitting into several wide spikes like the coffins of Thanatos. The creature held a sword as long as it was high, at least twice the height of any member of SEES, effortlessly in one hand. It stared down at SEES behind the mask. And yet, that gaze was familiar.

"You…" Aigis said, glaring.

"Hello, Ryoji," Minato said.

"…**That was my name, for a time, and a time, and a time again…"** the Shadow responded. **"I never minded it…"**

"Ya don't look quite right," Hamuko said in a voice tinged with melancholy. "So I guess you're…"

"**I am merely a harbinger of the Fall… perhaps it would be more accurate to say that is once what I was. At the moment, there is little distinction to be made between Nyx and myself. I am merely her avatar on this world,"** the Avatar clarified.

"Is that so…?" Akihiko growled out. "Well regardless, I don't regret my decision. We'll defeat you, no matter who or what you are."

"**I see…"** Nyx Avatar stated. **"Then, I assume you must already know. What people fear most… what they try to ignore… that is what I am."**

"We know that already," Ken said, gripping his spear.

"Everyone here knows what we are up against," Minato said.

"You are the one certainty for all living things," said Mitsuru.

The Nyx Avatar cocked its head to the side slightly. It reminded the Fools a bit of Aigis.

"**Then, you must also understand it is futile to resist. To continue this struggle. All things will meet their end. But you insist on defying this inevitability, despite this knowledge? Are you not afraid of what may come?"**

"Of course I'm scared," Junpei admitted, his face set in a scowl. "But who cares about that right now? I got too much to live for!"

"I'm not gonna live in fear anymore!" Yukari agreed. "Being really alive means not turning away from death… so I won't turn and cower, not even from you!"

"The end you speak of will come about on _our _terms," Aigis said fiercely, stepping forward. "Whatever I must give to ensure you do not cut our time together short, I shall do so, and continue to do so, no matter who or what stands in my way! This is the life I have chosen to live!"

"…**I see."**

The Avatar flapped its wings, the winds picking up atop the great spire of Tartarus. A sudden pressure loomed, emanating from the mighty Shadow before them.

"_Get ready, everyone!"_ Fuuka warned from within Juno's protective shell. _"Nyx… she's coming! I also… oh no! I sense multiple Shadows approaching from the floors below!"_

"Everyone gotta come and meet Mommy," Hamuko grumbled.

"We need a team to keep our backs safe and intercept those Shadows…" Minato thought aloud. "Mitsuru-senpai, can you take three or so and lead them to cover us?"

"Of course, Arisato," Mitsuru replied. "Amada, Koromaru, Aigis, come with me! This is the final battle. Failure is not an option!"

"But…!" Aigis protested. "I must keep them safe!"

"Aigis. Keep us safe from behind," Hamuko said, grabbing her hands. "We're trustin' ya to kick those Shadows' ass quick and get back here to finish Ryoji here off, alright?"

"…I will comply," the android replied tightly, pursing her lips. She turned and ran to catch the rest of the standby team. Minato, Hamuko, Junpei, Yukari, and Akihiko remained behind, facing the towering Avatar before them.

"Failure ain't an option, huh?" Hamuko mumbled, looking warily at the massive blade the Avatar held.

"We had better win then, lest we face an execution from Mitsuru-senpai," Minato said, tossing her a small smile.

"Pft. God fuckin' forbid," Hamuko chuckled, pulling out her Evoker.

"**The moment Man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate,"** spoke the Nyx Avatar, holding its arms out to its sides. **"Entrusting his future to the cards, Man clings to a dim hope. Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed…"**

"_Nyx's Arcana is the Fool!"_ Fuuka informed them. _"It… doesn't appear to be weak nor resistant to anything, but light and dark won't work."_

"Typical, no easy kill," grumbled Hamuko.

"Let's just take it down the old-fashioned way, then!" shouted Junpei, evoking Trismegistus to slice at the Avatar from out of range. The Shadow flinched, but made no move to counterattack, only smiling incessantly out at them with its mask.

"What, ya just gonna stand there?" Akihiko asked in frustration. "Why don't you wipe that grin off your face? Caesar!"

The Ziodyne that blasted the Avatar still evoked no response, nor Yukari's Garudyne. The God's Hand from the frustrated Hamuko's Metatron finally brought about some form of reaction, as the Avatar bent over at the waist, as if panting.

"Ya feel like fightin' back now?" Hamuko shouted. "Or have ya decided to give up with this stupid damn 'kill everything' thing?"

"**Attaining one's dream requires a stern will and unfailing determination."**

Rising back up to its full height, Nyx Avatar lifted one arm to the heavens. All its wounds disappeared, and something about its posture seemed to… shift, slightly.

"_Nyx's Arcana just changed! It is now the Magician!"_

The chill in the air disappeared abruptly. Flames exploded into being around the Avatar, licking at anything close enough. The floor below it began to char black. Akihiko and Yukari winced against the heat, backing up on instinct. As if that were a signal, the Avatar lashed out with a fierce wave of flame that engulfed the party, then a single column of fire directly upon Hamuko. With a mocking laugh, she jumped out of the flames, utterly unharmed.

"Your fire only makes my Persona stronger!" she crowed, summoning forth Mara to unleash a Primal Force on her enemy. Minato sheltered Akihiko and Yukari behind Arahabaki.

"Hamuko, I need you and Junpei to attack that thing!" Minato called out. "Those flames are too hot for Akihiko and Yukari; I have to keep them safe!"

"On it!" Hamuko chirped cheerfully, taking another gout of flames head-on. "Man, I could do this all night! Guess Ryoji-kun here ain't too quick on the uptake."

As she said that, a small orange orb of energy collided with her.

"See?" she pointed out, standing there without a mark on her. "Nothing he does hurts! There's nothing too hot for Mar-"

The next blast of fire tossed her bodily across the floor, sending her dangerously close to an edge. She lay there smoldering for a moment.

"Partner!" Junpei shouted in alarm. "Man, hell with this thing! Trismegistus, let's slice it up!"

Weaving past another Fire Break orb aimed at him, Junpei and his Persona cut deeply into the Avatar, leaving gashes along its body. The teen leapt back from a swing of its massive sword, then evoked Trismegistus once more for a Fire Break of his own.

"Hey partner!" he called. "Get the hell up and return the favor on this thing already!"

"Urgh… fuck that hurt…" she grumbled, leaning up. "Right! Mara!"

Mara sprang forth once more from inside her, jubilantly jutting forward to spray its napalm-esque Maralagidyne onto the Nyx Avatar. The Shadow recoiled at the burning, thrashed around, then collapsed.

"I don't suppose there's any chance he's _not_ gonna get up…?" Hamuko muttered to Minato. She smiled at Yukari as her burns disappeared from Isis's healing waves.

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed…"**

"Figures."

"**The silent voice within one's heart whispers the most profound wisdom."**

With its Arcana shifted to the Priestess, the Nyx Avatar rose again. The chill in the air returned, and then doubled, to the point that all but the Fools, Akihiko especially, were shivering horribly. Minato saw Hamuko still a bit winded from fighting the Magician Arcana.

"Hamuko, protect them!" he shouted above the freezing wind. "I'll engage Ryoji!"

"Right, gotcha," she responded tiredly. "C'mon, everyone huddle behind the giant dick chariot. Yukari, lemme get some more of that healin'…"

Minato dashed forward, assuming Skadi so as to absorb all the ice thrown at him. Assuming her own ice attacks would be ineffective, he ducked beneath the sword thrust at him and drew his rapier. He kept nimble, staying inside the massive Shadow's guard, stabbing and slashing out with quick jabs as openings became available. As the Avatar stepped quickly back, it swung with full force towards the blunet.

"Just as planned," he whispered, evoking Skadi for a Tetrakarn. The blade smashed into the shield and rebounded, the edge careening into the Avatar's side. He squeezed the trigger once more, crushing Nyx Avatar with an Akasha Arts.

"Is everyone alright?" he shouted behind him.

"Miki, put that damn thing away!"

"I'm going to assume that's a 'yes.'"

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… Celebrate life's grandeur… its brilliance… its magnificence."**

"Pretty fuckin' ironic coming from the thing tryin' to kill everything!" Hamuko shouted.

A hurricane-force gale answered her frustration. While Yukari stood unconcerned in the whipping winds, Junpei huddled over, trying with all he had to remain on the ground.

"Kill this friggin' thing before I go flying off the damn edge already!" he shouted out.

An arrow flew just over his head.

"Dammit Yuka-tan, ya tryin' to kill me?" he demanded.

"Sorry!" she apologized. "I've got no hope of hitting this thing with these winds! They just blow right back!"

"Beelzebub!"

The Lord of Flies, summoned by Minato, brought a lightning storm crashing down on Nyx Avatar's head, then cocked its massive skull-topped staff back, and smashed it into the stunned Shadow, which fell over.

"There's our chance!" Hamuko yelled. "Now quitcher bitchin', partner, and join in!"

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… Only courage in the face of doubt can lead one to the answer."**

And so, the battle went on.

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… It is indeed a precious gift to understand the forces that guide oneself."**

For what seemed an endless time…

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… There is both joy and wonder in coming to understand another."**

Though had to have been less than an hour…

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… One of life's greatest blessings is the freedom to pursue one's goals."**

The designated members of SEES dueled with the Avatar of Nyx atop Tartarus.

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… To find the one true path, one must seek guidance amidst uncertainty."**

The battle was both exhausting…

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… It requires great courage to look at oneself honestly, and forge one's own path."**

"Oh god, is this ever going to end?!"

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… alongside time exists fate, the bearer of cruelty."**

And frustrating…

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… Only with strength can one endure suffering and torment."**

"Shut the fuck _up!_ You don't have to say that every time!"

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… In the face of disaster lies opportunity for renewal."**

But as interminable as it seemed, even the mighty Avatar of Nyx found itself backed into a corner by the fierce combination of those battling for the lives of humanity.

"**The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed… The moment Man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate. Entrusting his future to the cards, Man clings to a dim hope. Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed. Beyond the beaten path lies the absolute end…"**

"_It's Death! Nyx's true Arcana… is Death!"_ Fuuka said.

"No more damn switchin' around, then…" Hamuko mused.

"This will decide things," said Minato.

"**It matters not who you are. Death awaits you."** Without even moving, the now Death-aligned Avatar caused a Megidola to explode directly in the middle of the group, knocking them all in different directions. Stunned and dazed, the group stumbled to their feet.

"Uh... hang on!" Yukari shouted, gaining control of her senses first. "I'll heal us up in just-"

A Ziodyne screamed from the heavens and crashed into her. Yukari screamed aloud, jerking involuntarily as the electricity raced down her muscles. She collapsed in a heap, smoke rising from her clothes and hair.

"Yukari!"

"Yuka-tan! You sonuva-"

The windstorm Garudyne formed below Junpei so suddenly, he hadn't even the time to react. It hurled him bodily into the air, gravity doing the rest of the work in smashing his already injured body into the firm ground.

_"Junpei-kun! Minato-kun, Hamuko-chan, Nyx is taking advantage of your weaknesses! Please protect them!"_ Fuuka cried out.

The air around them began to chill. Hamuko narrowed her eyes at the Avatar, stepping between it and Akihiko.

"Don't you fucking dare hurt my brother, you piece of sh-"

"Ugh!"

She whirled around behind her. Akihiko stood there, looking at her with a confused expression.

"Something's... cold..." he said, seeming lost.

Two ice spears protruded from his torso, the points directed toward Hamuko. They had been formed behind him and launched where he could not see. He looked down at himself, his confusion fading along with the light in his eyes.

"Miki..."

"AKI!"

Minato watched this scene, struggling to rise to his feet after the Megidola. He saw Nyx Avatar observe the entirety with its perpetual grin. He saw his comrades fall one after the other. He saw the Shadow draw back its sword, ready to thrust it into Hamuko, who held Akihiko, desperately trying to steady her hand to summon a Persona to heal him.

"STOP!" he roared out, one hand forward, the other holding his Evoker beneath his chin. With the sound of glass shattering, a brilliant light formed between the point of the Avatar's blade and Hamuko, just as the Avatar stabbed forward. "Enough of this. We have _not_ come this far to be picked off one by one and fall just short of the finish."

The light began to fade. A form could be seen within it, standing unconcerned at the massive blade's point resting in its body.

"We have come to show you we intend to survive. We intend to protect all the people on this planet. And I intend to protect the people on this tower. If you want to strike down my friends, if you deem us and the others who live on the Earth as unworthy of living further...!" he shouted out loud, gesturing furiously as he walked forward, "...then know I will stand to intercept your judgment."

The light faded fully. The figure, only slightly larger than Minato himself, stood all in white, staring up at the moon in sadness. Despite having a sword thrust into it, it bore no sign of a wound. It held a chain of coffins so much like Thanatos's in one hand. Its legs seemed as robotic as Orpheus's. A spire at its back seemed so much like a cross.

"I will give all I have if it means my friends' Salvation!"

A glorious, warm light infused the entire arena atop Tartarus. As if time itself reversed, every wound, every old scar, every mar upon the flesh of SEES faded, leaving them as healthy and whole as they had ever been. Akihiko's eyes snapped open. Hamuko smiled down at him, then stepped up to Minato's side.

"Every damn one of us here feels the same way!" she screamed up at Nyx Avatar.

"That's right!" Yukari chimed in.

"Keep knockin' us down as much as ya want!" Junpei said.

"We're always gonna get back up. We won't give up!" Akihiko said defiantly.

In silent response, the Avatar of Nyx swung its massive sword down on the group.

CLANG!

The metallic ringing that filled the air brought a smile to the faces of the assembled fighters. Pallas Athena stood between them and the sword, her shield upraised.

"That, I have learned, is the way of humanity," Aigis said, walking up from behind them. The rest of SEES came up the stairs.

"Life is a challenge, and everyone has felt like giving in before," said Mitsuru. "But despite this, we stand tall atop every challenge set before us, with our loved ones at our sides!"

"And anyone who's actually wanting to die just needs someone beside them!" Ken added. "They don't need to be exterminated! We don't all need to be killed!"

Nyx Avatar stood before them, gazing at the entire group that defied its almighty will.

**"It is useless."**

Gathering its gown and wings about itself, the Avatar huddled into a ball, looking balefully at SEES as if in challenge. Hamuko growled, pulling her Evoker.

"Hey, we fuckin' said-!"

_"Wait!"_ Fuuka shouted in panic. _"Something doesn't seem right!"_

Hamuko stopped short, looking hesitantly at the Avatar, daring her to attack it. She lowered her arm, watching it intently. After a time, the Shadow rose back to its full height.

_"I think that was some kind of shield... a very dangerous one," _Fuuka said. _"It may... LOOK OUT!"_

The Avatar raised its arms to the air, roaring its frustration at having been found out. As if the night itself responded to its demand, bolts of darkness rained down all around. The physically frail Yukari, Mitsuru, and Ken were knocked out instantly, tossed to the ground in pain. Aigis and Koromaru evaded the attack successfully. As for the others...

Akihiko twitched violently at each sound around him, accidentally tossing his Evoker off to the side. Junpei curled up into a ball, whimpering in fear. Minato stood with an odd look in his eye, his arm twitching towards his own Evoker, and then back again, as if fighting with himself. Hamuko alone stood mentally unaffected.

"Thanks, Akinari," she murmured, grateful for Asura's protection. "Minato, are you...?"

Minato's eyes had taken on a clouded, shiny tinge.

"We are _not _fucking goin' through this one again," she muttered. "Garuda!"

The healing wave of Amrita passed through the party, removing the ill effects of the commands of the Night Queen. The affected members of SEES rubbed their heads a bit.

"Now quit fuckin' with us!" Hamuko shouted at the Shadow. With a quick mental switch, her eyes took on a light of their own, as if she was more comfortable in her skin than she had been before. The Avatar once more brought its sword up to slice down at her. "I ain't gonna give ya another chance to pull any more bullshit! C'mon out! Ardha!"

A brilliant glow similar to that of Minato's Messiah made Tartarus into a beacon as a Persona, half red and half blue, half man and half woman, took form and held the blade of the sword effortlessly in its hand. It yanked mightily, pulling the sword which measured twice its length from the Avatar's hand. With a fierce roar, the Persona snapped the blade from the hilt and held it aloft in both hands. Then, at Hamuko's command...

"Kill it dead!"

Ardha hurled the blade into Nyx's chest. The Shadow looked down with a seeming lack of concern at the sword protruding from its chest. It stared back down at the party as they all gathered once more around each other, wounds once again healed by the Salvation of Messiah. Minato stood next to Hamuko, his Evoker already in hand.

"Shall we?"

"Fire away, love."

For the last time, they cocked their Evokers to each others' heads, giving their fellow Fool a tender smile. As one, they squeezed their triggers. As one, they shouted to the skies the attack that split those very skies apart in almighty, cataclysmic destruction.

"ARMAGEDDON!"

The tattered remains of Nyx Avatar laid on the ground.

"...Did we do it?" asked Mitsuru tentatively.

Alas, it could never be so easy. Again, as it had before, the Avatar rose to its feet. But this time, it continued rising, to the sky above.

**"Such a pity..."** it said in its ascent. **"I at last understand your actions, just as it is too late. I cannot deny her will, any more than you can. Perhaps, in the next life, you shall have more luck."**

The moon above them all, having loomed larger in the past hour, began to crack open.

"Th-The moon!" Fuuka gasped.

"The hell...?" Hamuko mumbled.

"What is that?!" cried Yukari in alarm.

"Ryoji-kun is being swallowed by the moon..." Fuuka said. "Wait... no, that's not it! Is the moon getting closer?!"

From the odd crown in its head, the Nyx Avatar shot a beam of light to the odd structure revealed in the moon.

"Wait just a second here..." said Akihiko. "Is the moon itself Nyx?!"

Aigis just looked upon the scene with a sad expression, no surprise written on her face. All across the island, screams began to ring out from the streets as people awoke from their coffins and beheld the hell they found themselves in. But SEES had no time to concern themselves with their plight.

"Something is coming from the moon!" cried Fuuka.

A massive force of impact crashed into the peak of Tartarus. A shockwave that bent the knees of all atop that spire, one they struggled to remain standing for.

"Agh!" Akihiko grunted.

"What is this...?!" Ken whimpered. "Something's... crushing me!"

"Ngh... this... this is nothing!" Yukari shouted out. Her quivering legs belied her.

**"What good will it do to rise up now, right at the end?"** wondered Nyx Avatar. **"Give in. Let it end, and let a new beginning commence."**

"Nuh-uh!" grunted out Junpei. "I'm not backing down!"

"My mind's made up! I'm in this to the end!" Yukari agreed.

Another shockwave, twice as powerful as the last, slammed into them, as if to punish their impudence.

"Agh!" Ken was the first down.

"Ken?! Argh!" In his distraction, Akihiko fell next.

"Ngh...!" Yukari collapsed.

"Ugh!"

"Dammit..." Fuuka and Junpei in turn.

Aigis's Orgia mode even was insufficient to hold up to the force of Nyx's will. As the Fools began to lose consciousness, they saw Mitsuru standing up tall, glaring defiantly into the moon, crying aloud,

"We've come this far! I refuse to submit!"

Their vision darkened simultaneously, to the concern of their friends beside them. Just as the darkness filled entirely, a new light appeared, and a familiar voice...


	100. The Scientist

**Author's Note: This one was written by Evilshroom. Please note that it is only one of four endings, and no more or less canonical than the Bad End earlier.**

* * *

><p>"Are... we..."<p>

"There is no need to fear, my young guests." Igor's voice, soothing and gentle, reached them from across the table. "This isn't the afterlife. You are not dead."

"Igor..." Minato said. "What are we supposed to do against that thing? I thought we could win. Elizabeth, Theodore, you believed in us. Have we failed you?"

The Velvet Room attendants looked extremely sad, but shook their heads.

"Do you not remember what I told you?" Igor chided. "How the strength of your Social Links will determine the strength of your potential? Listen. Can you hear the many voices? Each one's power is limited, yet they all reach out to you. Can you feel them?"

The Fools listened carefully. Minato thought he could hear an endless hubbub of noise, hundreds, thousands of voices, all indistinct from one another. But... among them... if he listened just closely enough...

"Yes," he replied, awed. "I believe I can feel them."

"Close your eyes, and listen carefully," instructed Igor. "Their voices may be faint, but certainly you hear them."

The voices grew into a deafening roar, every one of them vying to be heard. The power of those emotions, flowing from all of the people they had ever helped, filled every corner of the small elevator with an absolutely blinding light.

"The power from the bonds you have formed has taken the form of the Universe," Igor said, leaning forward. "It is the power to bring about a new beginning, or the ultimate end. With this power... you may now defeat the one who can not be defeated."

Minato stood before the card silently for a moment.

"This is the end of our journey, isn't it?"

"It is indeed. Though the end of one may be the beginning of another."

"I think… I think I'm alright with that," he said after a moment of quiet contemplation. "I came here expecting it. And if it is for everyone else… that would be an end I could accept."

A hand reached out and seized the card. It was not his own.

"Hamuko! What have y- what are- why?" he gasped out.

Her arm was still outstretched, hand closed over where the card had floated. She turned to him with a small smile.

"'Cause I wanna save everyone too. And I wanna save you. Don't be so selfish with the heroism, yeah?"

"You can't…" he sputtered. "You can't die!"

"Bein' kind of a hypocrite," she said lovingly, caressing his face calmingly. "Who was it 'bout to grab the card before I did, again?"

"Just… just come back," he pleaded. "We have a promise to keep, remember? The rooftop at graduation?"

"That's right…" she murmured. "Okay. I'll make sure to keep it. Alright?"

Minato stepped back, nodding with a conflicted look.

"Alright."

Hamuko turned on the spot, seeing the open door behind her. She turned her head to face him as she walked out.

"See you later."

* * *

><p>"The breeze feels nice."<p>

"Mm."

Hamuko lay on her back, her head resting in Minato's lap, staring at the blue expanse above her.

"I bet Mitsuru-senpai's speech is gonna drag on a little while, huh?"

"Mm-hmm."

She frowned up at his tight-lipped replies, though he didn't see. His eyes remained firmly fixed forward, and his hands ran through her hair at a pace that seemed more to reassure himself that she was still there than to relax or comfort her. She sighed.

"Y'know, usually when we're in this position, I'm facin' the other way."

He finally looked down at her, his face wrenched somewhere between laughter and tears.

"Really?" he choked out, his voice strangled. "What could be your last words, and you make a sex joke?"

She laughed weakly, reaching an arm back to touch the hand worriedly petting her head.

"I just wanted to see you smile."

He looked down at her for a moment, taking in her weariness and her fragile smile. With a Herculean effort, the sides of his mouth tugged upwards somewhat, settling into what appeared to be more of a grimace.

"I'm sorry. I…" His throat constricted; his eyes burned. "I don't seem to be in much of a smiling mood."

Her arm fell limply to her side.

"S'alright…" she said softly. "Don't think I'd be much better… can ya do somethin' for me?"

"Of course," he croaked, the tears beginning to flow now with little resistance.

"Take care of Aigis for me?"

The indicated robot, standing near them silently, took notice.

"I will," Minato assured.

"Make sure she keeps on living?"

"Okay."

"And take her to th' movies every now an' then…"

"Right."

"Aigis?" she asked, though she didn't turn her head. Aigis walked into her field of vision.

"…Yes, Hamuko?"

"…Heh. Heh heh heh… I broke your poker face…"

Indeed, Aigis's expression nearly mirrored Minato's. In her school garb, with such a look on her face, no one would believe her to be a machine.

"…Make sure he's happy."

"Y-Yes, Hamuko. I will."

Hamuko sighed peacefully.

"Thanks. Love you both…" Her voice trailed off.

And so, one Fool reached the end of that journey.

* * *

><p>One week later, Aigis and Minato stood, clothed in black, in a field dotted with stones.<p>

One had freshly dug dirt before it.

"Aigis?"

"Yes, Minato?"

"What are some things that make you unhappy?"

"I… I occasionally feel lonely, I suppose. I do love you, but as the only one of my series left… I feel somewhat lonely sometimes," she confessed.

They stood quietly a moment in that solemn spot.

"She died for this world," he remarked at last. "We should… we should make sure we leave it in good shape, shouldn't we?"

* * *

><p>"Ooh, that blue-haired guy there is cute!"<p>

"God, I know. Don't bother, though. He hasn't been seen around anyone other than this one foreign blonde girl, who he seems _real_ close to, you know? Pretty sure they're dating."

"Ugh… all the cute ones are either taken or gay."

Oblivious to the hushed dialogue across the room, Minato sat at a table in the university library, intently reading a book on robotics.

* * *

><p>"I was shocked to receive your request for a meeting, Arisato," a gorgeous redhead in a suit commented from behind a desk in a grand office. "You've been somewhat reclusive since… since her passing."<p>

"I was engrossed in my studies," he said evasively. "I am sorry to have grown so distant though, Mitsuru-senpai."

A smile quirked near her lips.

"We are not in school any more, Arisato. But now, what do you have that you said required my resources? I admit, for it to excite you, I am intrigued."

His own smile grew, and he proffered a disc to her.

"What do I have? Nothing less than the shining future of this world and the people on it."

* * *

><p>"Kirijo Corporation unveiled today a hint of the future depicted in countless books and movies. The vaunted corporation revealed a line of fully autonomous, humanoid robots, designed by a young graduate student named Minato Arisato. The initial lines include various models specified for industrial, construction, and janitorial work. Other models are likely to follow, depending on the reception of those available, says Kirijo spokesman…"<p>

* * *

><p>"Ah, hello, Eva! How is that new arm working for you?"<p>

The robotic secretary in the purple dress smiled back at her, working her left arm up and down.

"It functions flawlessly. You're an angel, Aigis."

"I am happy to help with repairs on occasion. I certainly can't have learned nothing under Minato!"

As Aigis walked with Minato through the main production center of Kirijo Corp's new Robotics division, most of the robot workers there, and more than a few of the humans, stopped to greet her. The android had become the public face of the robotics revolution, speaking on behalf of the somewhat withdrawn Minato, who focused on his work. Said revolutionary smiled as he walked beside her quietly, seeing her popularity.

"Aigis," he finally spoke up as the crowds thinned out the closer they got to his private research laboratory. "We're going to do some tests today to examine your Papillon Heart."

"Really?" she asked, surprised. "I assumed you had learned all you needed from it once you created your own version from it."

"In general," he admitted. "I know _how _it works, hence the androids having their individuality. It's actually something regarding your Papillon Heart in particular that I wish to examine…"

* * *

><p>"Aigis."<p>

Minato, now an old man, addressed the android who had not changed in the seventy years he had known her. Not physically, at least.

"I would like to show you something."

He took her hand, partly to lead her, partly for support, and walker with her to a door in their lab that always remained sealed.

"Does this mean I finally get to see what it is you have been working on?" Aigis asked, sounding excited.

"That's right," he affirmed, opening the door. The interior was lit, lined with computers, a table covered by a cloth in the center. "For over half of my life, I have struggled with this project."

He stopped before the covered table.

"This is… my last gift to you, Aigis. I'm an old man. I don't have much left in me, and I

couldn't bear to leave you alone. Hamuko told me to take care of you. You can defend yourself, and you are in no longer the last of your kind. But… I know you will miss me, as you and I both miss her. So I created something for you to remember us by."

The covering was removed. A small robot lay underneath, inactive. A familiar mop of blue hair sat atop a familiar face.

"She takes most of her looks from her mother… a bit of a bias on my part," Minato admitted. "I did give her father's hair to her, though. Hamuko said it was her second-favorite of my features, and I refused to give the young lady Hamuko's absolute favorite…"

"Minato," Aigis gasped. "She's…"

"She has no specializations, no directives, no programming. Aside from the personality written into her core, she's a blank slate. And she has total free will, like you. Not even compliant with Asimov's laws. How she develops is entirely up to how you raise her, Aigis. She may even develop a Persona."

"Her… personality?"

Minato smiled, brushing a thumb over the top of Aigis's tie, where her Papillon Heart rested.

"It took me decades to isolate the imprint we left here. There was... so much digital noise, so to speak. All those precious memories of yours I had to isolate from our imprint. Still… I hope you'll-"

He was cut off by a crushing hug from the blonde android.

"Thank you, Minato," she whispered.

He smiled, kissing her forehead affectionately.

"You've kept me from drowning in misery and loneliness since Hamuko died. The least I can do is make sure I don't leave without you being happy."

That night, Minato drew his last breath. In his peaceful passing, he saw a brilliant light, and heard the voice of one whom he had missed for seventy years.


	101. A knight in rusty armor

**Author note: Shenjay here, this chapter was written by me.**

* * *

><p>Hamuko opened her eyes slowly, still in a daze. She saw Minato standing there, talking to Igor. So he really was a god in the end, huh?<p>

"There is no need to fear, my young guests." Igor answered as if guessing her thoughts. "This isn't the afterlife. You are not dead."

"Igor..." Minato said. "What are we supposed to do against that thing? I thought we could win. Elizabeth, Theodore, you believed in us. Have we failed you?"

Hamuko looked at the Velvet Room assistants. They seemed very crossed. She kept her lips pressed strongly against each other.

She felt some kind of déjà-vu as Igor fixed his gaze on her.

"Do you not remember what I told you?" Igor chided. "How the strength of your Social Links will determine the strength of your potential? Listen. Can you hear the many voices? Each one's power is limited, yet they all reach out to you. Can you feel them?"

The Fools listened carefully. Voices. Voices. She knew all those voices. A distorted bunch of voices. Too many voices.

But Hamuko just seemed to have lost hers. She was sure that this… no, it couldn't be. She was imagining things.

"Close your eyes, and listen carefully," instructed Igor. "Their voices may be faint, but certainly you hear them."

Like Goku asking for the strength of the whole universe, Minato stood still, observing the massive orb of light floating in front of him.

But… didn't she have one too?

"The power from the bonds you have formed has taken the form of the Universe," Igor said, leaning forward. "It is the power to bring about a new beginning, or the ultimate end. With this power... you may now defeat the one who can not be defeated."

What… what were those memories?

Minato stood before the card silently for a moment.

"This is the end of our journey, isn't it?"

"It is indeed. Though the end of one may be the beginning of another."

Igor was most definitely looking at her. She didn't miss the sound of a door opening behind her, but she didn't have enough time to turn around.

When she looked ahead though, every doubt was gone out of the blue.

"Guess this is the end of our lil' tourney, huh?" She asked, looking around the Velvet Room one last time. "Well… I CALL SHOTGUN FOREVER!"

She ran towards the card, knowing perfectly what awaited her. She'd killed two men. A million monsters. She'd hurt people, and people had hurt her. She was born to accept her fate, and to help others accept theirs, no? It was time… to let go… as she wanted all along…

The card disappeared.

Minato stood in front of her, his hand shining like his smile.

"Hope you don't mind if I drive, then."

"No. NO. Don't you fucking. Dare."

His grin stood as the only explanation.

"Why can't you never let me be the hero for once?" She sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Hamuko." He planted a kiss on her head. "But the hero of this tale is me."

"Stop being an egocentric motherfucker! I…!... I'm…!"

"Hypocrite."

"Come back, please." She cried. "Please!"

"…I will."

* * *

><p>The months after the final battle went by fast. So fast… Hamuko could only wish time had slowed down.<p>

There was no big ado when the time arrived. It was something that both of them had known for a long, long time. Like a dog waiting for its ill owner to pass away, they went on with their own lives patiently, comforting each other without even knowing it. And it only made it all the worse when she remembered… when the time to say things she though she'd have years to say turned into minutes at best.

And it was then when she finally dropped the bomb.

"I'm pregnant." She confessed, trying to hold back the tears. "Congratulations, dad."

Aigis's eyes opened wide as she looked at her. Minato tried to mimic her, but his eyelids were too heavy.

"Hamu, you… I… why didn't you…" Minato tried to shake his head, but he could barely move. "Well… this is… quite… unusual, I'd say." He chuckled nervously. "I'd have been a good…"

"You'll be. You'll be a great dad!" Hamuko nodded quickly, desperately even. "Everything will go okay! I… uh… I… will figure something out! I've been thinking a lot, yanno? Been planning stuff! Thinkin' ahead and stuff! See, I know how we'll tell the others and how we'll get money to do stuff and all the stuff needed and—"

"Hamu." He interrupted her, smiling. "…Stop that nonsense. If these are my last…"

"Are not!" She yelled, barely believing herself.

"Anyhow," He narrowed his eyes and looked away. "I want to hear you… sing. Yeah… I want to hear your voice."

"You want me to sing? B-but y-you hate my voice, don't you?"

"Acquired taste."

"Liar." Hamuko let out a chocked laugh.

She didn't have to… scratch that, couldn't cry. She wasn't allowed to cry at that moment.

"Alright… right… I'm lying," he snickered slowly, "… but I want my Hamtaro… Hamumko? Hah… I want you… to… be happy… look happy… when you... sing…"

His voice got weaker each second, just as Hamuko's breathing became faster and louder.

And so, with only a streak of voice, Hamuko began stuttering Kimi no Kioku. And if she ever sang well a song, it wasn't that moment. But Minato bore it patiently, and only smiled. Aigis stared in silence, as if admiring the scene.

"I… hate to… interrupt…"

Minato's eyelids finally closed, the steps of the rest of SEES echoing in the stairs leading to the rooftop.

"Hamu."

He opened his eyes once more. One last time to see those grey irises of his.

"I love you."

One last chance to observe his smile, so tired and calm.

"_Tk…ca…_ _o_…"

Minato's voice broke, and so did Hamuko, in that very moment.

Aigis, incapable to say much more than the brunette, decided to continue her sad song, eyes fixed on the sky and lips shut tightly to hold back the water in her plastic eyes.

"Minato…" Hamuko managed to whisper a last time, once Aigis finished. Unbelieving, she shook his arm.

"Mi… Minato…"

Perhaps that was all too dramatic. Perhaps he didn't die. Maybe he was just exhausted. That was very Minato-ish. He was such a drama queen. Maybe he was just taking a nap. Yes, Minato needed his sleep. But it wasn't the time to sleep. The Graduation… the baby… so many things going on…

"Minato, Minato, MINATO, **MINATO, MINATO **_**MINATO**_ COME BACK _**MINATOMINATOAMINATO GOD FUCKING DAMN IT MINATO OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES YOU'RE NOT FUCKING LEAVING ME TOO MINATO MINATO MINATO**_!"

She yelled nigh deliriously as she shook his arm, until Aigis simply grabbed her hand slowly, in a motion full of sadness.

The android looked at Hamuko in the eye. The girl just stared back at her.

"_Mina…_"

SEES opened the door, a huge grin on their faces.

"…_To_."

That was the day Hamuko stopped believing in heroes.

* * *

><p>"Uncle Aki!"<p>

A little brunette ran around the house, greeting all the people arriving to her party. She brushed her wavy hair into two little cute ponytails, held by red ribbons. Aki didn't take too long to notice this, and smiled as he kneeled down to hug her.

"Heeey, how's my little girl?" He lifted her on his arms and spun around until his back began resenting that. "Ow, not so little anymore."

"Where have you been?" She inquired, ready for the upcoming stories about wrestling bears and travelling the world.

Meanwhile, Hamuko just stared at the scene as she tried to find out what was the wrapped box her brother had left on the sofa.

"She's got the eyes of her father."

Mitsuru's comment startled her badly, but Hamuko turned around with a big smile to greet the president of the Kirijo company.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" She asked proudly.

Yellow hair could be seen right behind Mitsuru, and a familiar voice soon rang: "She… looks a lot like him."

Hamuko did not bother looking at Aigis, only directing an askance glance at her.

"Does she?" She asked sharply. "Well, I suppose that you would know better than anyone. He wasn't much older when you stumbled upon him, right?"

"I…" The android stammers.

The relationship between Hamuko and Aigis became unilaterally tense half a decade prior. Not that Hamuko'd let it show, though. She was more subtle. A stab here and there, occasionally, to the one who caused it all. Yet Aigis endured it, taking indeed the guilt as hers…

"…What are you waiting for? C'mon. Go say hello."

So the least she could do was make sure her daughter would appreciate the robot as much as her mother loved her once.

"She'll be really glad of seeing Aunt Aigis after so long."

The android marched away as Yukari walked towards her old friend. They chatted casually about their lives. Apparently, Ken was in cramming school or something, so he couldn't go. No one was too sad.

"So where's Junpei?" Yukari asked, looking left and right as she tried to catch a glimpse of the guy with the goatee.

"He offered to cover my shift at the station so that I could spend more time with her. He'll arrive later." Hamuko explained happily.

Yukari arched an eyebrow. "…He forgot to buy a gift, didn't he?"

Fuuka was the last to arrive, having had some problems taking a train from Tokyo, where she was studying.

"You sure that thing is safe, no?" Hamuko asked as she poked the gift she had brought.

"Of course." Fuuka laughed as she left the box with the others. "…Just make sure not to hog the toy I made this time."

"I-I didn't hog it!" She cried, stomping on the ground.

They finally seated around the table, ready to have dinner.

But as they were about to begin, the door bell rang, and the little kid couldn't help but run after Koromaru to see who was there.

Junpei appeared at the threshold.

"Yo, everyone! Look who I found!"

He moved away, to allow the others to see the person walking behind him.

"Daddy!" The girl exclaimed.

The tall young man stepped into the house and embraced her as he congratulated his child.

Hamuko observed the scene with a little wry smile.

"Welcome home, Shinji."

"Thanks."

He planted a little kiss on her forehead as he walked into his house, with his usual silent demeanor.

"Well then! Bring on the cake!" Junpei exclaimed.

"Stupei! We haven't even begun having dinner yet!"

A perfect little familiar scene, with all the dorm members gathered.

"So, uh, are we gonna pass a minute of silence this time too?" Fuuka asked.

"Heck no, I think we've had gloominess for enough years!" Hamuko laughed.

All but one. Two.

Everyone enjoying Shinjiro's food like back then.

Everyone together, knowing something one of them did not.

And as she blew the five candles on the cake, Hamuko could only smile as she whispered,

"Happy birthday, Minako."

It was precisely in that moment, when she saw a blue door in front of her for the first time.

* * *

><p>The doctors didn't expect Shinji to resist for so long as he did because of his weak condition. However, every life has an end, and they soon proved tragically right. Not even a couple years passed before he left as well.<p>

Hamuko was never the same, but she didn't let the others know that; she always had a smile for everyone, and all the more so, for her beloved child.

* * *

><p>The first day Minako came home with her friends from school, Hamuko began realizing that her youth was already withering. She was too old for games, the others said.<p>

It was Hamuko who decided to stray away from her child and her friends, for she couldn't hold back a tear, which she shed silently, every time she heard a "Mina-chan" here and there.

* * *

><p>"Mum, I miss dad."<p>

Hamuko glanced at Minako over her glasses, trying to ignore the door nobody else could see. Playing so many videogames was making her eyesight go worse day after day. But it's not like she did much after coming back from the police station everyday, anyway.

She extended her arms and surrounded her protectively, yet hesitatingly. "I miss him too, honey."

"Tell me something about him, mum! Um… how did you meet?"

"Honey, I don't know if we should…"

Her cold grey eyes compelled her to answer, like similar ones did in a past time.

"Well… I knew him since I was little, and… we didn't really see each other again until high school, but…"

* * *

><p>Koromaru was the next one in the queue of the gone ones. A new dog replaced him soon after, but he wasn't Koromaru. No one would ever become Koromaru for Hamuko.<p>

Young Minako didn't seem to mind, however. She was used to people passing away. She was strong, as Maiko-sensei said. Not like Hamuko.

* * *

><p>"When will you tell her?"<p>

Hamuko looked at Akihiko. Once her senpai, now just an officer, he worked under her orders in the station.

"I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout."

"Just like you don't know all those guys coming in and out of your house, right?"

Her glare focused on Yukari, her friend for so long, trying to ignore the door she was afraid to open. She knew her pain, oh yes, she did. But, Hamuko was an adult. She was old enough to decide for herself what kind of person she wanted to be.

"That's none ya business."

Yukari's eyes narrowed, but she added no word.

* * *

><p>"<em>I'mma study with some friends.<em>" Minako said when she left.

Now she is sitting on the sofa, angrily looking away.

Junpei had found her and his son drunken off their asses and in a rather compromising situation in his house.

"_Kids will be kids_." Hamuko tried to shrug it off.

And she got mad when Junpei implied that Minako was a bad influence. She really did. But it wasn't his fault. They said they were going to fire her.

"You don't even care."

Hamuko's attention is drawn immediately back to the girl from the blue door.

"The others say that having a mother so loose is great, hah."

"You lie to me, and you insult me?" Hamuko asks, incredulous.

"Well, so did you. Or you thought I'd never find out?"

The adult is speechless. So the teen merely adds three words:

"Yukari-san told me."

* * *

><p>It'd been… what? Fourteen? Fifteen years since Hamuko last visited a hospital?<p>

Her mind was too much of a mess. That's why she couldn't react sooner. That's why she couldn't protect her daughter.

That's why Minako had to awaken her Persona. To fight no other than _her_. Hamuko's shadow. The woman with golden eyes saying how hypocritical she was. The girl who wanted to be a hero.

"It has been a long time since we last saw each other."

Hamuko tried to jump from her bed, startled. "Sen…! …Kirijo-san?"

Mitsuru shook her head slightly. "Please, Hamuko. Just Mitsuru is _still_ fine."

"How did you…?"

"Akihiko called me."

The brunette gave her a petite grin, which decayed as soon as a blonde walked after the older woman. She hadn't aged a single day since the last time they met, so many years prior, yet you could somehow tell she was older. More mature. Unlike Hamuko…

…Yet her head hung as low as Hamuko's. Someone she swore to protect. Hamuko knew that feeling.

She had no job. No pride. No strength. She'd failed Minato.

…But she still had friends to rely on. And a blue door chasing her everywhere.

* * *

><p>"And your parents were the center of every rumor ever, you know?"<p>

Minako's laughs only made Hamuko's face go red as a tomato. She asked once and again for more stories whereas Hamuko begged for them to stop complying.

Her curiosity was satiated, and as the old friends of her mother just went on and on criticizing, praising or making fun of her parents, and telling her about their days fighting Shadows, she gave Hamuko a serene smile. The calmest she'd seen. The smile of her father.

And Hamuko smiled at her, no longer in pain, but still confused.

* * *

><p>The mischievous brunette soon transferred to Gekkoukan high school, following the petition of Mitsuru. She joined a new front. Made new friends. Even her marks raised considerably.<p>

Gekkoukan and the Persona users changed her daughter's life, much like they changed her own. Though she was pretty sure Minako still got hammered up and did stupid stuff like her parents used to, she knew Aigis was with her, once again a new foreign student. That robot never got bored, huh?

* * *

><p>On Graduation Day, Hamuko used all her strength to make her daughter get up way too early. She got her in the car, still half dressed up, and turned up the engine.<p>

"Minato Arisato, formerly known as Shirogane Kitaro." Minako read aloud. "This is… him?"

"Well, this is a rock." Hamuko said indifferently as her daughter signaled Minato's grave.

The old Fool reached into her pocket to take out her wallet. She got a photo in which she was simply resting her head over Minato's shoulder. "These are us when we were your age."

"Good God mum, where did all those wrinkles come from?"

"Shut up." She gave her a mocking reproachful look, which the girl ignored, looking so intently at the picture. "…So?"

"We've got the same eyes."

"And the same knack for making fun of me." Hamuko said out of the side of her mouth. "…He died this same day. Sixteen years ago."

A deep silence ensued. A tragic one.

"Honey, I never told you what to do with your life. I never wanted to repeat it all; never wanted to put a burden on your shoulders, because we never had anyone who told us what to do. No one who loved us, for so long…" She walked towards her child, her young adult, and put a hand on her cheek. "That's why, whatever you do, I'll always be proud of you. And I will always love you. So make me this one favor: live in a way that, when you look back at how you lived one day, will make you proud of yourself. We never really got that privilege."

A moment of stillness went by, and Minako suddenly threw herself at her mother's arms, wetting the crook of her shoulder with her tears.

"I will, Mum. I will make you proud of my being proud and..."

Hamuko laughed at the familiar antics. "One more thing: take care of Aunt Aigis. She will always be there for you. She's the most loyal person that exists in the world; whatever you do, don't leave her alone. She wouldn't do it."

"Yes, Mum."

A few minutes went by, and so Hamuko was the one to interrupt the embrace. "Mina-chan, if you don't mind, I wanna stay a little—"

"Got it." She nodded. She began walking away, and suddenly she turned around. "Hey, mum?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Hamuko stood still for a second, and then proceeded to reply stiffly. "I love you too."

With that the girl ran away, while her mother kept on staring the grave she had in front of her.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for the Graduation, Aigis?"

A rustling sound was heard behind some bushes. A blonde girl walked out of them. "How did you…?"

"Long year of fighting shadows, and more than a decade fighting criminals." Hamuko gave her an amused look. "I know you've been stalking us for a long time."

"I've been carrying out protective surveillance."

"Oh, that sounds a whole lot less alarming."

The cold winter breeze, now slightly warmer, made the borders of the picture ruffle slightly. They shared a little chuckle.

"That was really beautiful, Hamuko-san."

"It's how I feel. Really."

Hamuko hopped a couple times and rubbed her nose to shake away the cold feeling suddenly invading her body.

"So like... wait, you guys don't say 'like' nowadays, do you?"

"Hamuko-san, no one ever said 'like' the way you do." Aigis quickly responded.

"Ouch." She smiled. "…Heh. We gotta a lot of stuff to catch up on."

"We do."

"Yeah."

Hamuko sniffed. She looked at Aigis with an expectant smile. The android was giving her a difficult look.

"I guess I made a huge dick outta myself. It's my fault. All of this. Haha… ha…"

She had this huge grin on her face. Like she could take it all on.

But Aigis kept staring at her.

"That's right. Yanno how I'm feeling, don't you?"

Her laughs decayed with each word.

"I blamed it all on you. But you suffered as much as me. He died on your arms too."

Her smile disappeared.

To any outside viewer, two women stood a couple meters away from each other.

To Hamuko, a woman and a child stood a couple meters away from each other.

"I'm sorry."

Hamuko kneeled down on the ground, face hid on the grass. "I'm sorry for all these years! I'm sorry for how I treated you! I'm sorry for not looking after you! I'm sorry for all I did! I'm sorry because I know no matter what I say, no matter if you forgive me, I'll never forgive myself! I'm so—"

The blonde girl picked Hamuko up by her hood, and pulled her into a rib-crushing hug.

"A-I-GISsss! AIGIS! I said I'm—ack—sorry!"

Aigis lowered the strength of her embrace, just enough so that Hamuko could figure out how to return it herself.

"So what happens now?"

"Now?"

Hamuko directed her sight towards Minato's grave, much like her friend did.

"Now we go on to make him proud. And hey, maybe I'll enroll in Gekkoukan too and finish third grade. Yep. Not a bad idea…"

A new time would soon start; they were on the good path.

"Maybe I can pay back all those years of being an uncaring mother shaming my daughter by being in her class."

Mostly.

"…Maybe we will save the world again, too…"

…Mostly.

Hamuko looked at the sun, letting herself be blinded by its light. In the distance, though, she saw a blue door.

* * *

><p>Hamuko sat alone on the armchair, tiredly looking towards the beautiful green hills surrounding the area. The blonde robot she loved so much carefully placed a teacup on her lap. She thanked her with a smile. Then, both of them resumed their observation.<p>

"Aigis?" Hamuko spoke, startled for a second. She felt a little disoriented all of a sudden, but the feeling left as quickly as it arrived. "Aigis, have you heard anything from Minako lately?"

Aigis didn't reply. She only kept quiet.

"I swear I'll disown her if she doesn't call soon." She grumbled.

The skies were becoming darker. A storm would soon hit the old, unkempt country house she'd bought to spend some time with her daughter's family, once she had one. As it turns out, she had her own plans, and visiting her mother was apparently not one of them.

"Do you miss her too, Aigis?" She inquired quietly. "Sometimes it feels like it's been years since I last saw her there, running back to school on her graduation day. Sometimes, it feels like it's been only seconds. Time is such a funny thing. I feel like my life's been nothing but snippets since he died."

She glanced at the ring on her hand. The silver one. The one she didn't throw into the skies when Shinji died.

Aigis's silence was oppressive, and it eventually made her turn around. The robot looked somewhat conflicted. The same turmoil Hamuko had learned to appreciate in such a long time. Probably one much like hers. But different today, it seemed.

The robot looked at her hand, then up at her, and her eyes opened wide for a moment before narrowing again.

"Hamuko-san, I seem to be malfunctioning."

Hamuko immediately jumped to her feet and began running to fetch her car keys, but Aigis stopped her.

"I assure you it is nothing worrying, but if you took me to Kirijo they'd keep me away from you for a long time."

She hesitated and left the keys where they were. "But…"

"I am confident that you can mend this situation all by yourself. I believe in you, Hamuko-san."

She didn't need to say it twice.

* * *

><p>"Weird powder thing for bows… beetle shells…"<p>

Aigis had given Hamuko instructions to head to their storage, where they kept everything from their old lives as secret heroes, and retrieve a series of metallic suitcases which contained the documents which explained in full detail Aigis's components and how they operated and which she apparently had brought with her when they moved together.

"More beetle shells… man I'd swear I'd thrown this aw—there you are!"

Hamuko reached the first metallic container and opened it. There were only a few papers which displayed a really bad calligraphy inside, but no traces of any books.

"What the…"

She took a look around. Eight suitcases. All of them filled with papers.

"Wait, haven't I seen this before…?"

Of course.

The Eight Old Documents they found so long ago. And ignored as well, so simply, since they were just quest material. Or so they thought…

Why did Aigis…?

"Read them."

Hamuko froze on the spot. Her mouth hung open, unable to finish the sentence. That hollow voice... She hadn't heard it in such a long time. The voice of a machine. A weapon, standing between her and a sea of Shadows.

"What the…?"

"I beg you."

Aigis stood behind her, expectant, as Hamuko contemplated the sight of SEES reunited. The ones she loved the most, smiling at her. Or frowning. Or plain sad, depending on their mask. But she could see them for what they were: Akihiko, Mitsuru, Yukari and even Ken. Koromaru, Junpei, Fuuka and Shinji. Even Ryoji. They hadn't really changed a tiny bit in all those years.

But there was something amiss. Where was her daughter? Where was al the people she'd met?

Where was Minato?

"It is time to stop pretending this is real, Hamuko."

It took Hamuko a great deal of force to turn her head away from everyone, following Aigis's pleas.

And she understood. She was protecting her once again, like she did in the final battle.

Minato wasn't there. Of course he couldn't be. Of course they couldn't, either, but she wished they were so much… yet only his absence amongst the images nagged her. She had to be delusional…

Hamuko eventually managed to detach herself from the situation and focus on the familiar illegible calligraphy. They seemed some kind of reports, some of which were so old that the paper was becoming yellowish.

"What is all of this, Aigis?"

No response.

"AIGIS?"

"You know too much. I had to end this."

Hamuko could perfectly hear the steps walking towards her, but she was too afraid to move.

"I can allow you to see her again, though. All of them. And most importantly, _him_." A feminine voice whispered in her ear.

She turned around, but there was nothing but an empty world around her and the reports on her lap. A blonde woman in blue stood behind her, in Aigis's place.

'Margaret', if she recalled correctly.

"Just wish to go back." She offered.

"Go back… where?" Hamuko asked, confused. "What have you done with all of them?"

"…If you feel obliged to know, he left all the details in his entries, in hopes that one day they would be useful to himself." The brunette could almost feel her smile. "I suppose that paranoid boy was right, in the end."

"He…?"

Diary entries of some sort. Short reports talking about whom she feared they'd talk. There was a clear progression, from the cold words devoid of any feeling from the oldest documents, so carefully thought, to the sloppy ramblings of the newest one, which seemed rather old in fact.

Important events. Important dates, all familiar to her, repeated once and again over the documents. The same tale, told once and again. A tale of a quest which couldn't be completed. And towards the end of every unfinished tale, one word scribbled manically.

Shadow.

Yet in the last one, Minato had written a different word.

"Orb?"

"Did you forget it already?"

Margaret couldn't do anything to prevent it. It was unavoidable.

She remembered the orb. The orb shining in her pocket.

In a flash, she felt younger. Powerful. Beyond herself. Like nothing could ever even faze her.

And she remembered why.

"Shadow."

She let the power of the orb flow into her, vanishing in her hand as it turned into warmth running through her veins.

Her eyes opened, glowing red.

"Ahahaha… I see. So that's how it is, huh?" She opened and closed her hands, feeling the whole power of the universe in her. "So this was lil' Nato's reward, huh? Well, such a pity he's so stupid, right? How many lives have I been trapped there?"

A golden door appeared before her.

"Margaret, please. I know better than that now. Tsk, tsk, where's your policy of no-intervention gone to?"

Every paper was a memory. Every document a life.

"This world is over without him, Hamuko-sama. You are conscious that none of this is about you, are you not?"

"My, is it 'Hamuko-sama' now?" She smirked sarcastically. "Having an ego is marvelous, isn't it?"

"_Stop pretending this is real_." Aigis had announced with a hollow tune again in her mind, making her smile fade away.

Hamuko sighed and looked around. Still an empty space with only one door. "… But it never felt real, yanno? You guys did a poor job with my façade."

Minako crossed her mind, followed by everyone else she'd met. Nobody was real. Her feelings towards them, though… they were not the kind of feelings a Shadow was supposed to harbor…

"Then why do you insist on holding to your current existence?" She asked. "Minato-sama does not exist in this world. There is nothing you can do about it. Just go back and start a time anew."

Minato wasn't there. That's why it couldn't have been a good ending. Not even by far. Those were the rigged rules of the game set for them. Minato was the one that had to win.

"…That boy taught me that running away is no good. It's really high time I stop running away. Both of us. I need to teach him a lesson too."

She searched for Aigis amidst the darkness. Of course she wasn't there.

"You've been waiting for that for a long time, haven't you?" She yelled at the air. "You just couldn't say it aloud, could you?"

"That is not a matter where you can decide, though." The woman replied, opening her compendium. "I can't allow you to interfere with his training."

Hamuko cast a long glance around before finally letting her head tilt down ever so slightly, a confident, yet wry smile decorating her face.

"Try and stop me."

The red eyed shadow pushed the woman aside and walked out of the shed, as it reappeared alongside the whole world. She squinted.

And so a blue door waited for her again in the distance. The Velvet Room always meant to be his.

"I'm tired of having to be the princess in another castle, you know?"

She made her way through the tall grass and the weeds, shrugging the attacks falling on her.

"It's time for me to be the hero."

A young brunette walking through the blue egress.

Eyes of shadow, soul of nil.

A blonde woman, chasing her through the green grass.

Just a fantasy, a vision of his.


	102. True Ending: In the realm of the beast

**Shenjay here, everyone! I hope you liked the story. This is the final chapter, written by me. There's nothing left in the story (unless the fic reaches 1000 reviews. Then I would think of doing some sequel :3). **

**These two years have been quite crazy. My life's changed a lot. I've grown, I've graduated, and I've learnt the meaning of a lot of stuff. I've also improved my English quite a lot, hah. I fell in love, got a boyfriend who's still by my side, and learnt how much pain you can get from it. I'm also overcoming my alexithimia day by day, learning how to deal with emotions and recognize them much more easily.**

**I got to met Evilshroom, my best friend, and we both learnt a lot from each other. This fic's brought a lot of great things into my life. I'm very glad of saying, it's over now. I'm very proud of having reached its end, with his priceless help. **

**I'll move on now to another project, like the videogame Evilshroom and I are currently making. I'll also focus more on my career as a colorist.**

**To those of you who have been here from the beginning, thank you for sticking with me.**

**To those of you who just arrived, thank you for being there to support us as well.**

**If after reading this chapter you have any questions, post a review and we'll write a last chapter explaining any doubts you guys have.**

**So like. This isn't a goodbye. It's a see you later. Thank you. **

* * *

><p>Minato kept his eyes shut strongly as he laid on the ground.<p>

He was scared.

It'd been a while since he last felt like that.

Eventually, though, he decided that peeking was fine. It wouldn't hurt him. It couldn't do so if he was already dead, which was the most likely option.

Everything was dark. Empty.

With the sole exception of a girl in front of him.

Ah yes, there she was, as jovial as he remembered her. Standing out from the darkness, like a red eyed sun ray. So they finally met again…

"Hamu—"

Minato hadn't been surprised many times in his life. He'd been startled at the level of 'someone bring me a new pair of trousers' just three or four times at best. But he'd never known what being shocked truly meant.

Until the moment Hamuko smashed her hand against his perplexed face sending him back to the ground, that's it.

"What the…?" That was the only thing he managed to ask, his mouth gapping wide open as Hamuko leaned over him and grabbed his bowtie.

Bowtie?

What was he doing in his uniform? When…?

"You are made of STUPID." She yelled as she lifted him to his feet, with a strength he never knew she had. "Idiot. IDIOT. You are such an… idiot…"

The bluenet, back to his old youth as he could check with a quick glance to his hands, only stood awkwardly as she suddenly crushed his ribs between her arms, muttering words he couldn't quite hear.

"Are we…? Are we dead?" Minato finally dared ask. "Is this Yomi?"

Hamuko seemed to come back to earth after those words, and she pushed him away. "No, and not thanks to you, stupid!"

"What's wrong with you? I haven't seen you in an eternity!" Minato's eyes narrowed slightly, his expression turning into one of pain. "Of course you ARE dead. I saw you die. In my arms." He looked around. Was that a dream, perhaps?

"Haha… ha…" Hamuko looked down, covering her mouth with a hand. She seemed to find what he had just said quite amusing. "Oh yeah. Yeah. I was there too, yanno? It's just been… a _longer time_ than you think."

Her eyes emitted a faint glow. Her smile offered a threat.

"You know, that's curious. I saw you die too. And then I had a daughter. And you named your robo-daughter like her."

"What? What are you saying?" Minato inquired.

Then… what was going on? Were both of them dead? …Wait, Hamu did what…?

"Oh, but that's okay. You don't understand. You don't remember. That's okay, really." She nodded to herself. "I know what it feels like. But now everything's crystal clear. It's crazy how wearing someone else's lenses ends up making your own eyesight worse, yanno what I mean?"

"Have you gone crazy?"

"No." She poked his nose with a finger. "It is YOU my dear boy who went nuts." She looked away and rolled her eyes. "And of course that rubbed off me, so I suppose that means I went crazy too. Pshaw. Humans. Always rubbing off things, up things, against things…" She chuckled. "No wonder Ryoji turned out as he did, he had to stand you for ten years."

She froze on the spot. A revelation hit her.

"No! No! Wait, wait, I got it, scratch that!" She grinned. "It was you who _**BEARED**_ him for ten years!"

The silence became tangible. Hamuko looked expectantly at him. She shook her hand in a 'go on' gesture, waiting for him to laugh.

"Bore."

"What?" She asked, visibly disappointed.

"The past form of 'bear' is 'bore'."

"Huh? No, that can't be… I mean, you are _boring _me but you had him in you for ten years so you were _bearing_ him and..."

"Stop with the stupid puns and the cryptic stuff already! What the hell are you trying to say?"

She cast a long glance at him, from shoes to head. "You become denser time after time, huh?"

"ANSWER ME!"

The questioning look on her eyes vanished. Her expression turned into a glare.

"Yanno that moment in spy films when the bad guy knows something the secret agent doesn't, and he decides to strut his ass around to make some time before finally telling his evil plan, but it's already too late because the secret agent is a genius and he had managed to pull some trick out of his ass and freed himself before the bad guy finished speaking?"

He looked at her just as seriously.

"Well, you are an idiot."

Hamuko turned around and began walking away.

"WHAT? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU—?"

Minato darted off after her, but he crashed against something.

It was the frame of an enormous golden door.

"Go ahead, take a look."

Minato looked up. That crazy girl was sitting on the door, which seemed to lead nowhere but the darkness.

"What, were you expecting a TV?" She folded her arms. "Look inside the damn door."

He stared at her for a few seconds. Then he directed his sight to the open door ahead of him.

Aigis. Little Minako. Himself, until a few minutes prior. Chatting happily, hugging each other. It looked so real, that he felt that if he reached out he could…

The door slammed itself shut.

"I'm not letting you back in, honey." Hamuko hissed spitefully.

The girl jumped down the door as it sunk into the darkness. She looked at him and smiled.

"Yanno when—"

"SHUT UP! I'm fed up with your 'yanno's and your stupid arrogance!"

Minato was almost sizzling of anger. A hint of satisfaction appeared in her eyes.

"WHO are you and WHAT have you done to Hamuko?" He demanded.

"Hah, well isn't that just one heck of a question?"

She sat down on the air, in some kind of throne he just couldn't see.

"I am Hamuko, of course."

Minato eyed her silently. "You are NOT her." He growled.

"Well, CERTAINLY!" She grinned, resting her head over her left fist. "And that's because she's you."

That answer left Minato so out of place that he barely had time to register the noise of a shadow creeping behind him. The girl on the invisible seat smiled as she repositioned herself on it, like it was some kind of hammock.

"The. FUCK. Are. You. SAYING?" He managed to ask as he avoided the claws of a beast he just couldn't see.

"Oh, now, now, Mr. Bond." She laughed as she tilted her head towards a few incoming red eyes. "I'm pretty sure you've had this thought before. After all, _yanno where I'm coming from_, don't cha?"

Minato kept struggling against the multiple arms trying to grab him and the ferocious red eyes surrounding him. Hamuko let out a sigh.

"It's no fun if you don't understand my puns. You really dunno what's up?"

"**How am I going to know that IF I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE HELL I AM?**"

Minato's volume control exploded. Hamuko clapped slowly.

"Wow, I'd never heard you yell THAT much before. Now that explains a couple things about me, huh?"

Before the Fool could yell any louder, she jumped to her feet.

"Welcome to the Last Door. The dungeon of your own mind. A realm I created just for me and you."

The boy just stood there, puzzled. Hamuko smirked.

"I suppose you deserve a little explanation, that'd be fair, yeah?"

She walked towards him with great confidence. The Shadows immediately began moving away from her path, leaving Minato alone.

"You see, I got tired of waiting for you to catch me, so I decided to make up a place with my own rules. I'm in my right to do so, am I not? After all, you can chase your shadow forever, or run forever from it. It will still be there nonetheless."

He could only stare blankly at her as she stopped an inch away of him.

"You still don't know who I am?"

She locked her radiant red eyes on his grey ones.

"Do the words 'Vision Quest' ring a bell?"

* * *

><p>"It all began <em>on the<em> _sixth of April, 2009_. Minato Arisato arrived to Port Island. Lonely as ever. Never did he care. For all he was after was escaping his reality.

However, as it's usual for those who want to be left alone, greater powers had greater plans for him, from the moment an even greater power made its way into his heart such a long time before.

A boy who never spoke a word out of place. A boy as efficient as a silent assassin. A boy who didn't need anyone. Who could be better to save Earth than someone who's yet to find the true value of his world?

That is what Phil thought. Probably. Maybe. Igor never talked much about his master, but you could guess that it was about betting on the least expected horse and all.

And he didn't disappoint. The boy fought the shadows with all his might to protect the world. He got everyone on his side. He increased his power, oh so much. And even so, in private he still had time to indulge on his own personal dreams, thinking himself a great detective from the novels he loved so much, that perhaps he had a family out there. That maybe everyone lived, for once.

But the brighter the light is, the darker are the shadows it casts. A boy who pleased everyone. A boy who never cared about the people whose power he had obtained. A normal teenager in some part of his brain, and a child who had to grow way too fast in some other. A million secrets he had, well kept under lock.

A whole sea under a desert.

But someone would end up noticing this. Oh, you bet, someone always does. And, unfortunately, they always tend to be the wrong people. The darkness in the hearts of those who fight for the light are always the most useful.

So, the powers that be, had to do something to prevent that. A bearer of the darkest darkness needed to have light in his mind, as well as in his actions.

That's when a woman with gold eyes led him to the Desert of Doors. That's when he was given the ultimate quest, the one that would ensure his victory against the Snow Queen.

Fight your own Shadow. Defeat yourself.

The reward? Power without end.

And arrogant little him, couldn't help but run in head first, without even hearing anything about the place, following the silhouette of _me_. Darkness? In him? Impossible. An offense. Yet he didn't know that 'fight' meant 'find first'.

Let me tell you, though, it was their fault somewhat as well. They made a little mistake naming the place. The lands where I roamed should have been 'Labyrinth of Doors' instead, for there's no figuring out how to get out of that place on your own.

But he went alone, indeed. He entered a door. And another. And another as well. And he passed every test, oh yes, for every door had a different untold condition. If you failed it, you'd repeat it, alright. After all, there was no rush: time is a different thing, in the Desert of Doors, since visions are visions, and they were just quests, that's all.

A little loop, erasing memories; failure happened oft.

But fight me, they said, and all I had to do was run as he chased. What a stubborn boy he was, wanting to break my taunts with his sword, all while denying every word that came out of my mouth.

But you hadn't played all those games and read all those books for naught, no. You knew how the place would work. There had to be a final level, a boss, something where I'd be cornered and wouldn't be able to escape anymore. Guess what, you were right. But there was something new:

Forget everything. Forget there's another world.

The one way to catch me, was changing it all.

And so he forgot. There was no Shadow. There was no purpose. It was just a life. A world where everyone could be happy. Not only you, but everyone else.

A world where he could have a family.

A world where everyone lived.

A world to make up for all the mistakes he committed himself.

But I was still there. A new whisper in the air. A silhouette which acquired a steady shape. Someone whom he had no way to recognize, but whom observed him every little while.

And I watched him fail. _HARD_.

Fail at being a good person. Fail at mending it all. Fail at being anyone but himself. Fail at making me manifest, in the end.

I watched him fall and repeat his steps so many times, my own purpose became a blurry memory, and year after year I did forget too, in the end. I bid goodbye to my memories. I stopped being a whisper. I became a YELL.

I obtained myself.

And doing so, I ended up getting your attention. And not only yours, Theirs as well.

I don't really know why they made me, your Shadow, a girl. Dunno what they were thinking. Maybe they just thought it'd be an amusing change. Maybe they just wanted to make a test. Maybe they really knew it would happen, and that's why decades ago they gave me a name. Seikatsu. Irony has always been a forte for the Velvet Room denizens.

Whatever the reason, I believed in myself. I was the hero! I wanted to save everyone!"

The glow of her irises was so intense that it obscured completely the rest of her eyes.

"Because you really did. But no one had told you that. Nobody cared to remind me. That you wanted to be a hero. That you wanted to be the star. That you were just a horny teenager sometimes. That you were so sad and lonely that life was miserable. That you cared very deep in your heart. That childish games were fun and you wanted someone to think so. That fear and aggressiveness were also part of a person."

"That you wished for someone who understood it so hard that even your Shadow ended up believing it."

A long silence followed those words. Or may be it was short. It was difficult to tell, since Minato's brain worked only and exclusively on processing every single word she said.

"But of course my change in importance in your history supposed an addition there never was in the first place. You could save dead people by leaving them mortally wounded outside your story, but alive. But how do you make up an identity for the big bad?"

"Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." He muttered back, at the same time she did. She smiled weakly and nodded.

"They set up a perfect scenario… for you and me to shred each other to pieces. They wanted to see who would win in the end. The ego, or the shadow. If they could somehow even cooperate. After all, a Shadow who wishes to befriend humans is rare, but not unheard of.

But the destiny that was set up for us too dictated that it wouldn't be so easy. We are two parts of the same thing which wish to overcome each other, in a story where we were two parts of the same thing that wish to overcome each other. An explosive mix.

You got a bit too literal with the over_come _part. Death in us wanted to unite and…" She couldn't fight back the snickers and the mocking smile on her face. "I doubt they foresaw just how_ narcissistic_ you could get. Only you could want to bang your own shadow, haha."

"Hey, I resent that! I loved you!" As confused as Minato was, he replied. "You… you fell in love with me too, didn't you?"

"Well I love _many_ people." She smirked. "Wonder what THAT means, Mina-chan."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He quickly looked away.

"Oh, so you dunno?"

A surprisingly accurate throw made a silver suitcase crash against Minato's head. Well, it couldn't be a dream, since he felt an intense pain. Once he felt a little better, he opened the case and grabbed the documents.

"What are these?" He asked.

"The papers that certify that I'm not the only one who wants to hit everything that moves."

"This was… written by me…" He muttered.

Hamuko observed him silently.

"You get surprised by the most stupid things, but you got angry when I told you I'm your Shadow."

"Igor showed me." He intervened. "He showed me a world where you killed Ryoji. He called it a vision, though."

"A vision, huh?" She looked down for a few seconds, and then nodded. "That may have happened before."

"What? How?"

"I dunno how many times we've looped. I can only remember the lives which you wrote back when you still had a feeling you were after something, and that was long ago." A frown appeared on her face. "WHY didn't you didn't notice sooner?"

"What? Hey, it was YOU who forgot her identity!" He defended himself.

"I am a Shadow. I have no obligation to do anything other than torment you." She stated seriously.

"Well congratulations! You did that just fine over the course of a billion lifetimes! You are the best Shadow of them all!"

Silence became a thing again. Hamuko was a polite Shadow, since she knew Minato so well. Nothing he said was probably anything more to her than an accomplishment.

"So… how come you could use Personae?" Minato inquired after a while.

"Back in that world… I had an identity."

The slightest hint of sorrow clouded her inhuman eyes.

"That's all you need to summon a Persona. Believing you exist. But not even that was true. Nobody is real, so forget the people you love."

She dissipated in the darkness.

When silence fell again, Minato spent hours without an answer.

He didn't dare move, for he knew that shadows lurked around. He could hear them in the distance.

He didn't ask, for he was sure Hamuko had left him there alone.

So he just sat on the ground. Waiting for anything to happen.

And so he waited.

The darkness of Hamuko's domains made his brain think faster, as time just seemed to remain still. In the utter nothingness of the last level, as she'd so kindly named it, he just repeated her words once and again in his mind. Eventually he began reading the papers, since that was the farthest he was allowed to see.

And so he learnt. He learnt about a familiar stranger. For hearing about yourself in a past time usually feels like looking at a distorted carnival mirror. An exaggeration. A caricature.

And he could feel how the memories slowly crept into his mind. Not everything, not every life, but he could remember very far.

And in a moment of lucidity, pondering everything inside his mind, knowing so much about so many different, yet identical people, he could only throw a question to the air.

"Who is the real me, Hamu?"

She immediately stepped into his field of vision, but she didn't answer. Instead, she crouched down next to him.

"This is the dungeon of your soul. Every person has a labyrinth inside, but yours is pretty straight-forward." She looked around. "Barren. Dark. Lonely. You can walk forever, and find absolutely nothing."

"Other than the shadows, right?"

Hamuko gave Minato a kind look. "Well, yeah, those will be everywhere, no matter where you go." She nodded. "We're still in the Desert of Doors. I just built a… private room, if you may, and decorated it judging by your tastes."

"I don't like it." Minato replied bitterly.

"Your heart does." She answered calmly. "And nobody knows your heart better than I do."

Minato didn't say anything else, but Hamuko stood up, ready to answer the impending question in his mind.

"I am a Shadow. The true self."

His eyes were wide open. Hers were devoid of any expression. His hands trembled as her body seemed to turn even more akin to the environment.

"You are not…"

He swallowed, feeling his mouth dry.

She merely stared down at him.

A sigh was the only sound that came after that sentence. He couldn't hold her gaze anymore.

"No, there's no point denying it." He looked at her with a mix of disappointment and relief in his eyes. "You really are me, aren't you?"

They wouldn't move a finger, for they were afraid that wonderful moment would break.

"…Yes." Hamuko nodded.

Yet another golden door emerged out of the darkness, which began dissipating slowly. He felt like he could somehow see more clearly.

A key materialized in his hands.

"Congratulations." A disembodied woman's voice announced. It sounded rather… familiar. He was sure he'd heard it before somewhere. "You found and defeated your Shadow. Not on your own," her voice sounded amused, "but it was a victory nonetheless. You have earned the right to leave."

"Then… that's the exit?" Minato asked euphorically. Hamuko gave him a soft 'hm' of affirmation. "…We're free! Hamuko! We're free!"

He ran towards the door and quickly unlocked it.

But great was his surprise when he noticed Hamuko wasn't following him. She emitted a soft blue glow, and her features were again those of the girl he remembered, but the blue light tinting her made him realize just how similar they were.

"Hamu…" He muttered. "Don't you want to leave with me?"

She smiled kindly as she nodded her head, but her eyes were full of sorrow. "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? The door's right there!" He said, foreseeing her reasons. "We… we could escape together! Have a life together, a real life…"

"I don't exist in your world, Minato."

He stood frozen on the spot.

"I won't be able to be with you like this, ever again."

He opened and closed his mouth, failing at forming words.

"You're so cute when you don't understand anything…"

She advanced towards him and grabbed his face softly. Her touch was as ethereal as everything which surrounded him.

"I don't want to leave, Hamu. Not without you…"

"Live. Live for me."

Their lips met as timidly as the first time. But the contact felt even more unreal this time.

"Make sure to listen to your heart a little bit more, Mr. Perfect."

"…I will."

She smiled, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Run, you clever boy, and remember…"

A voice, no other than clearly his, informed him that the Fools Social Link had reached level 10. His was the voice that had sounded a million times, distorted from being repeated in his mind an infinite amount of times, whenever he walked over the footsteps of his previous attempts.

Orpheus Telos could be summoned by him.

"…I love you."

Her image exploded into a million crystal shards, which Minato desperately tried to grab.

"Hamuko!"

"HAMUKO!"

The shards danced around him and began forming a steady shape.

A mask.

"Cipher's Mask." The voice announced, next to him, now in the form of a blonde woman, similar to Elisabeth. "A completely blank slate which you may adapt as you wish."

However, he wasn't listening to her.

He was staring at the Persona right in front of him. So similar to his Orpheus, but with red metal instead of blue. All gold where it was white, and all white where it was black. The long white hair on his head was the same. An Orpheus, so similar to Hamuko's one.

"Orpheus Telos." The woman continued. "Telos means goal in Greek. Only fitting, as you obtained your purpose."

"…At what price?" He asked himself, immersed in the floating figure.

A price too high.

The golden door opened. A white light emerged from it.

_Live_.

_And remember._

That was Hamuko's curse.

* * *

><p>"Man, I can't believe that it's Graduation's Day already!"<p>

This is the tale of Minato Arisato.

"Stupei, stop jumping around! You're embarrassing me!"

The tale of a boy who lived a million lives, and so he forgot his own.

"Duuude! I'm just so excited! Mnato, are you excited? I'm excited!"

The tale of a stranger in his own shoes.

"Too much information."

Minato came back to Earth on the same 30th of January he left. Not a second had gone by in his world. Everything remained the same.

Except him. He was completely different.

And so was everyone else, in his eyes.

The version of SEES he knew. The strange and unstable family he'd learnt to love…

They weren't the same in this world.

One may say they were certainly saner. Less of an insufferable bunch.

Akihiko never found his sister. She was dead, with Shinji and Chidori.

Yukari never crashed a wedding.

Rio and Kenji never were together, and neither did Yuko and Kazushi.

Ken was as insufferable as ever, but he didn't know how to play poker.

Minato never had a family to call. Detective Kuzonoha; he looked into the accident, his granddaughter always by his side. He gave Minato his number.

But that didn't make him his grandfather.

The only lifesaver was Aigis.

Aigis, remained just as weird as she was, and so he easily learnt to love she whom Hamuko had loved so much.

"Man, Mitsuru-senpai's speech is boring, but you'll be dead if Ms. Toriumi catches you zoning out like that."

And so the fateful day arrived in which they faced Nyx.

There was no big ado. Orpheus Telos got rid of her easily enough. He was acutely aware, however, that defeating Nyx required yet another tribute.

"Give up, Stupei; you have more chances getting an answer from a wall than from Minato-kun."

But that wasn't a problem, either.

And now there he was. Resting his head on Aigis's lap. Ready to give up his soul and his body.

"…Am I dead yet, Aigis?" Minato asked, staring at the blue eternity over him.

"Do you wish to be so, Minato-san?"

The bluenet didn't respond. He just kept looking silently.

"I don't belong here." He confessed sadly. "Not anymore."

The soft breeze made Aigis's blond locks move slowly.

"…I had a wish, Minato-san. I often wished that we would have a life together. You may even call that… a dream."

He closed his eyes again. "Dreams are just visions." He stated. "They may seem beautiful, but no matter how much people dream them, they just won't become real."

"I'm sorry, Aigis, but I'm tired of walking among strangers. I have my own dreams, too."

"…Then, perhaps, a familiar face will do you good."

Aigis stopped caressing his hair, and instead produced something out of her pocket. She placed it on his chest.

A persimmon… with a face.

Minato jumped to his feet, almost sending the fruit flying. He did manage to catch it though, his energy suddenly replenished again.

He could only stare at the perpetually angry face scribbled on the persimmon.

"Kaki…kun?"

"Kaki-kun-san the Twentieth, delicious ambassador of Earth."

He stared at Aigis, his eyes wide as saucers. Finding his voice took him a few seconds.

"H-how…?"

"Early this morning, a strange woman dressed in blue sneaked into my room by climbing the wall of the dorm. She entered through the window, and as I was about to exterminate an immediate ninja threat level blue, she adjusted her dress and asked me to take care of him."

Minato was only gaping, incapable to say anything.

"She asked me to tell you that due to a loophole in the rules of the Vision Quest you could not be rewarded with an Omnipotent Orb, but that she could award you with the second most powerful thing that exists: memories, and Kaki-kun-san is imbued with them."

"I only believed her because I'd already seen images of this quest she spoke about. Alive beings communicate in more ways than just exchanging words, Minato-san. That is why I am able to understand Koromaru." Aigis explained calmly. "You keep projecting images of that place in your mind."

Before Minato could intervene, she continued.

"One of the strongest memories you have is about Hamuko-san asking you to live and remember. So I decided to accomplish her request as well and accept the strange woman's gift."

"Then…" He began, a rush of energy hitting him so strongly that he could barely begin forming words. "Then you know about…?"

"I have a hard disk with the same space of memory storage of a human mind." She made a weird expression. "I cannot remember 'everything' you show me, but I remember an amount of memories which one could designate as 'quite amazing'."

The boy was over the moon. He just ran from one part to another of the rooftop, until a thought hit him.

"I have something to do!"

But first, he ran to Aigis and gave her a strong hug.

"Minato-san, if I may."

"Yes?"

"There was another question in your heart. One so strong it was almost overwhelming."

"Which?" He asked, excitedly.

"…You both were actually equally stupid from my point of view."

Minato pulled away and looked at her. Then he nodded at her and ran away, finding every member of SEES in the way down as he muttered his "sorry" and "I'll be back in a few minutes, I promise" once and again.

* * *

><p>"Young boy."<p>

"Why?" He asked simply, not letting Igor say another word. "_Why am I alive?_"

"I supposed the chances you would remember my words were quite unlikely, but I did forewarn you long ago, in a different time and reality." He said mysteriously. "You have the endless luck of being under the favor of a divine being. And that means… rules can always be bent for a price."

"…A price?"

Igor heaved a long, tired sigh. "Take a polite guess at who is occupying your job as a guard."

Minato looked up. Then he looked at Elisabeth, who was playing with an empty orb, previously Omnipotent.

"But… she said… she wasn't…"

"We recognized Hamuko-sama as a human quite a long time ago, Minato-sama. The very moment she stopped being a mere reflection of yourself and your thoughts."

Something in Igor's eyes made Minato feel that he was holding back a snicker. He did remember the day the mirror disappeared.

"She is indeed not a real, flesh human in your current reality, but your reality is not all there is to the universe. She is protecting your world from her own. Do not worry about her, though; she is not alone. The boy you once called 'Ryoji' promised to make sure of that."

Hamuko. Protecting the world with …Ryoji? "But… how did all of this happen?" He asked, desperately trying to make sense out of the situation. "When did she get so strong?"

"Well, it is not called 'Omnipotent Orb' without reason. The powers of the whole Universe were stored in that sphere, to which we have to add the power she had as a Shadow, coming from the potential all your previous failures had." He sighed again, looking endlessly conflicted. "I suppose she forgot to tell you this, as well: Before heading to your rescue, she burst into the Velvet Room, used all the power of the Universe Arcana you had accumulated in both realities over the course of your Quest in order to create a new door, threatened me and every denizen present so that we would never endanger your safety again in your current reality, and managed to escape and drag you into her own room before I had time to forcefully reset your world so that you would be obliged to be the winner on your own, thus ensuring a flawless victory over Nyx and Erebus."

"Ere… bus…?"

Igor was most definitely laughing at him. He could feel it. Perhaps it was the laughter of a man who had to deal with a big headache.

"While you try and digest all that information, let me make a summary of its consequences: Hamuko-sama has used all the available power in the universe to ensure you are alive and safe by creating an ersatz seal, while she enjoys the company of Nyx's herald to keep Nyx from doing any damage to her own dimension. Therefore, you are under the favor of a different divine being now. That means you are no longer a protege of my master, nor a welcomed guest of the Velvet Room. This is the last time we will see each other like this."

The burst of energy was gone. Minato just didn't know what to do anymore.

"Wait." He begged. "Answer me just one more question."

Igor nodded solemnly.

"If Hamuko is protecting my _current _world from her own reality, and this Velvet Room transcends all realities… how can I know if this is _**the**_ real world?"

That was the point he stopped hiding his smirk with his hands.

"Simple. You cannot."

He stared expectantly at Minato. The boy stared back at him.

And he knew very well where his strength came from when he said: "Then I'll make the best out of it."

Igor nodded again, seemingly pleased, or perhaps amused, and made a courteous gesture.

"Farewell, Minato-sama. You have been a truly honored guest."

Minato was a normal boy, once again.

Life would be normal, if you can consider living with a blonde robot, a dog and SEES to be a normal thing.

The tiles and the walls of the elevator began vanishing from his mind, changing into a different shape as he was teleported away. Minato briefly looked up, though, to where he felt the sky should be.

Hamuko would be fine. She had Ryoji. She had everyone they had. She had learnt to face herself, and she taught him how to do so as well. And so, he could only wonder if his beloved world kept looking the same. He could only wonder if she was the same as well. But he was sure that he'd never have to worry about her again. He'd live for them both. He'd always remember to be happy, sad, and even angry, for them both.

As the Velvet Room disappeared in the distance, Minato saw a blue butterfly flying away, perhaps looking for another person to choose. No divine being would look after him again, other than a girl a million dimensions away from him.

Because, where a journey ends, a new journey begins. It's a cycle. Nothing ends forever in the world, for there's plenty of Fools who have a journey ahead of them.

But his epic was over; his adventure, on hold.

And he could wait patiently for a new story to be told.

_**The End**_

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone, Evilshroom here. It has been... an experience, let me tell you. Closing out this story is an unbelievably melancholy, yet happy feeling. It's a chapter of my life that has both directly and indirectly led to a lot fo changes for me. It's helped me come into my own as a writer. Through it, I met my best friend.<strong>

**I'd like to thank everyone who read the story. Everyone who reviewed it both after I had started working on it, and before, as they helped keep Shenjay going until I COULD start on it. I'd like to thank whomsoever put this story up in the TVTropes recommended fics section, so I could find my way to it.**

**And I'd like to say goodbye to Minato and Hamuko. The two of you have been some of the most influential characters in my life, and I'll miss the hell out of your fucked-up, batshit crazy incarnations in this fic. You were some truly, truly terrible people... and that makes the people you were at the end all the more amazing. So long, you neurotic fuckers. I'll always love the both of ya.**


	103. Questions and Answers

Hamuko: Ah, man… that felt so long!

Minato: Our story certainly spanned a long time.

Hamuko: Right? I mean, like, a whole two years? And fucktons of words, jeez. Damn thing's, like, Lord of the Rings long.

Minato: Hm? Actually, our story went on for much longer than two years, technically… are you as confused as the people whose questions we're trying to clear up here?

Hamuko: Silly Minato, no one could be as confused as those people.

Minato: It _was_ an odd set of events our story went through. Perhaps sitting down and clarifying some of those events will help things along.

Hamuko: Erright, let's do this! Maybe you oughta start off.

Minato: Very well. Essentially, the entirety of the story as we have told it, up unto the final bit, did not take place in reality.

Hamuko: So it was all a dream? Laaaame.

Minato: Not precisely. It was more of a… vision, if you will. It was, after all, set in the Vision Quest. Long, _long_ before we first started telling this story, the me in reality found himself woefully underprepared for the coming of Nyx. So, our good friends in the Velvet Room prepared a set of challenges to ready me for the battle. This was the Desert of Doors. Behind each door in that wasteland was another challenge, and I surmounted each one. The last, however… the last was quite the issue.

Hamuko: Enter me, ain't that right?

Minato: Unfortunately for me.

Hamuko: Dick.

Minato: Yes, the challenge of that last door should have been a simple one. Find your Shadow, face it. But, well… the stipulations placed upon that challenge were the real issue. It wasn't real, so failure carried no real price. Instead, every time I failed, I just got to try again. I suppose the Velvet Room felt that made things a little easy for me. So every time I failed, I was forced to forget everything. Start from scratch. 'You will be given one year. Go forth without falter with your heart as your guide.'

Hamuko: What, the mighty Minato couldn'tve caught me?

Minato: Indeed. Even then, before you'd taken on a real form, you were quite slippery.

Hamuko: So then… basically, they slapped you in a world that was just like the real one, told you to catch me if ya can, and looped back time every time ya fucked up?

Minato: …Essentially, yes. Though I think you'll notice, it wasn't _quite_ like the real one on occasion. As time wore on, although I didn't retain the memories of past attempts, the strain of the years started to wear on me. By the time you grew fed up of my failures and took actual form in the world, I'd become a bit… messed up. And since the world was something of a reflection of my mind… well, the replication of the people within took on a similar slant.

Hamuko: Ya mean how everyone was batshit crazy one way or another?

Minato: Yes. Though two of our good friends did that all on their own, with no help from me.

Aigis: I believe that is my cue to enter the stage.

Ryoji: Just 'friends,' Minato-kun?

Minato: Ah…

Hamuko: Ahahaha!

Minato: Oh, shut up, Hamuko. Anyway, Aigis and Ryoji here are special exceptions, and were somewhat exempt from the loops. This was the source of their odd dialogue, especially with each other. Perhaps they would be willing to explain themselves.

Aigis: Affirmative. The source of my memory retention is a convenient plot device- the Papillion Heart. As the scene wherein the two of you imprinted on it showed, I recorded the memory I had of you onto my very core.

Ryoji: As for myself, being part of Nyx, I am somewhat… outside the influence of those of the Velvet Room.

Hamuko: Hey, so y'all two are the only ones that know just how long Minato was inside that door, right? How long _was_ it, exactly?

Ryoji: I honestly lost count…

Aigis: My chronometer does not record numbers that high.

Hamuko: Maaaan, you'd have been up shit creek if I didn't snatch ya out, huh?

Minato: Perhaps you should continue now, Hamuko, now that the stage has been set, so to speak.

Hamuko: Right, right. So basically, Minato here got trapped in a buncha timeloops 'cause he couldn't face his Shadow- that'd be me- until I finally formed up and started joinin' him in the loops. Forgot a whole buncha important shit in the process. Stuff like, what am I, and why am I here. Started thinkin' I was Miki Sanada, who little Mini-nato killed and stuffed me in while under the influence of Ryoji, who was tryin' to bust out after Aigis stuffed him inside a five-year-old.

Ryoji: Perhaps you should have kept explaining, Minato-kun… she has quite the talent for making all three of us seem like assholes.

Hamuko: Anyway, after every time Minato fucked up and failed to find and accept me, one or both of us would nab the Universe, seal Nyx, and die. Then the other would live on and do whatever, till they died and the world reset.

Aigis: Provided Hamuko did not lose control and kill Ryoji, thereby dooming the entire world except her to a horrible death and a fate as a Shadow.

Hamuko: Eheh…

Minato: _Thank you_, Aigis.

Hamuko: Right, uh… anyway, y'all got to see one of the ways our lives would go, dependin' on who snagged the Universe. But a lot of the confusion seems to be comin' from the last chapter there.

Minato: What is she going on about…?

Aigis: She is breaking the fourth wall.

Hamuko: Alright now see, even if we got sorta reset in memory every time, we grew a little as people. Even me, heh. And by the time we were on the loop you saw throughout the entire story, we were actually able to grow enough as people to do somethin' we never had before- we got close enough to each other and everyone else to be strong enough to beat Liz and Theo.

Ryoji: _That_ was the turning point?

Hamuko: Sad, ain't it? Yeah, we beat them and got ourselves a little Omnipotent Orb. Stacked to the damn brim with power, too. Funny thing is, every time we'd loop, that power of the Universe would stack up. Igor kept the power of all our bonds to use as a gift for Minato once he finally pulled his head out his ass and finished the challenge. Guess he didn't expect he'd take so long that we'd get good enough to beat Liz and Theo. So I snagged myself a little Super Sphere, since Minato snatched the Universe card that loop, and when Aigis got me checkin' inside our stash, I found it and the Old Documents, and used its power to rip my way into one of Minato's visions from when he survived the fight and pull his ass out into our own little world.

Aigis: You used a power that was being slowly increased by timeloops to break said loops? Tell me, did either of you form a contract during the duration of this ordeal?

Hamuko: Anyway, I yanked Minato into that little world to give him some introspection and a smack upside the head, and tell him outright to fuckin' accept me already. Long story short, he did and got to get his ass out of the Desert of Doors finally. Then I was nice enough to take his place in the Great Seal, since I was sorta-semi-real-ish and had alla that power from th' Godly Globe.

Minato: As for what happened after… well, I led my life. Elizabeth was kind enough to give Aigis the memories her counterpart from the Vision Quest had gathered, so I wasn't all alone.

Hamuko: Man, I was trippin' balls when I learned about those loops, lemme tell ya. Made a lot of sense, though. How'd I ace those damn tests without studying? Taken 'em a hundred times before. How'd you always know the right damn thing to say to people? Had the same conversation a fuckton of times.

Minato: So, I suppose that covers just about everything.

Hamuko: Yep! Just send any other questions to the author!

Minato: I am not even going to pretend to understand you.

Hamuko: Hey, hey, Minato. I just realized! I pulled you out of the vision and was the reason the loops stopped and you were able to move forward. You know what that means?

Minato: I shudder to ask.

Hamuko: I was the hero of this story! Ha!

Minato: That is completely irrelevant, Hamuko. …And incorrect.

Hamuko: Oh yeah? So you think _you_ were the hero?

Minato: That would be obvious to anyone. The story ended up revolving around me.

Hamuko: Oh, so you ended up saving the day at the end?

Minato: Well-

Hamuko: Sacrificed your life to live in a seal forever on behalf of the one you loved?

Minato: I-

Hamuko: Didn't you try to rape me at some point?

Minato: You did that too! And it was Ryoji's fault besides!

Hamuko: _Someone_ is sure sensitive that they're the villain.

Minato: I hate you, Hamuko.

Hamuko: That's okay. As the noble hero, I forgive you your hate.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Shenjay here. By the way, guys. Totally shitting you. This fic isn't over.**

**I mean it would have been. But then I had an idea. And my moron beta listened to it. And now we're hyped.**

**WELP 8D LOOK FORWARD TO MORE.**


	104. Epilogue: Rise of a new dawn

"Been a long time since anyone last summoned me, yanno?"

The girl hit her left foot against the ground a couple of times to make sure she was on solid ground. All she could see was a dense fog, about as thick as the one where she encountered Akinari.

"Back in the day they used to call me Hamuko. Hamuko Seikatsu."

She looked around. No trace of Ryoji, he probably was still up there. And it wasn't Minato who was calling for her help through an Evoker. In fact, she didn't even wear her Orpheus Telos 'skin' now.

"But that was before I became an overlord. Now 'My Goddess' or 'My Savior to whom I'll be forever grateful' will do just fine." She smirked. "You don't need my assistance as a Persona, do you?"

The woman in old-timey drags didn't seem amused by her speech. She just floated away, surrounded by the thick fog.

"I AM the guardian of the Desert of Doors!" Hamuko growled. "And I demand to know your name and why you invoked me!"

"…I have great plans for this place."

She extended a hand as she walked away.

"What are you even—"

Hamuko jumped away as a black claw suddenly reached out from the ground. She couldn't stand still, for yet another, and then a dozen more, tried to get a hold of her.

Finally, one managed to grab her leg, pulling her to the ground. It was quickly followed by a lot of other shadowy arms restraining her movements.

"LET ME GO!" Hamuko demanded. "YOU'VE GOT NO BALLS! YOU'RE FIGHTING ME AS A WEAK INVOCATION! FACE ME WITH MY TRUE POWER!"

She was just being ignored. That woman had managed to trap a weakened version of her, as invocations are mere weakened representations of the creature they call. Most of Hamuko's power was in one of the many doors of the desert, keeping Nyx away from Erebus in her dear reality.

" I'LL HUNT YOU! AND I'LL KILL YOU!"

The lady in grey kept marching away, ground trembling behind her as a big spherical silhouette began coming out of it.

The ground below Hamuko disappeared, converted instead into nothing more than a black mass absorbing her.

"Good luck with that."

Hamuko began feeling slowly deprived of what little power she had, like a massive spirit drain was taking place.

"I'LL—"

The world went black.

By the time Hamuko woke up, she had already been left completely alone.

The desert where she was standing had turned into a barren wasteland covered by yellow fog.

And getting lost in the infinite she could see spotlights and platforms.

She opened and closed her hands a couple of times. Nope. Nothing.

She was just a shadow-persona-whatever again.

"Well, fuck…"

Hamuko looked up to see the silhouette of some kind of one-eyed disco ball standing high in the sky.

"…Guess we're gonna need a bigger boat."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Shenjay here. Alright the fic is over now. The sequel will start in a couple days, so, if you aren't following me as an author, get doing so :3 It'll be co-written by Evilshroom, of course!**


End file.
